Bahrain Benefit-s from national payment system
Bahrain’s Electronic Network For Financial Transactions (Benefit) has launched a national electronic wallet payment system, BenefitPay, to allow consumers and merchants to transact without the use of cash or cards.
User can download an app on their smartphones (iOS/Android) to either send or accept payments as it attempts to encourage spending in the national economy.
The BenefitPay app works by using QR code scanning technology. There is a one-time step of the addition of the card, which is saved. Then a customer scans a QR code from the merchant app, enters authentication, and the transaction occurs.
Any customer of a participating bank can pair their debit card with BenefitPay.
Participating banks include Ahli United Bank, AlBaraka Islamic Bank, Arab Bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank, BMI Bank, Citibank, ICICI Bank, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Kuwait Finance House, Mashreq Bank, National Bank of Bahrain, National Bank of Kuwait, Standard Chartered, and State Bank of India.
Benefit – aka The Benefit Company (TBC) – is the nation’s switch for handling ATM and POS transactions, and other services. It was established in 1997 with a special licence from the Central Bank of Bahrain as a “provider of ancillary services to the financial sector”.
By the way, back in January, there was a look at growth, wealth and modernisation for fintech innovation in the MENA region. In Bahrain, this included the launch of Bahrain FinTech Bay.
