Worldpay from FIS, a leading payments technology company, has recently unveiled its plans to expand its payment processing capabilities into the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This strategic decision enables Worldpay to extend its top-notch payment services to domestic merchants in the UAE, allowing them to enhance their offerings both locally and internationally. Additionally, this expansion welcomes international merchants with global aspirations and rapidly growing enterprises seeking to establish a presence in the UAE market.
According to the latest edition of The Global Payments Report, the e-commerce market in the UAE is projected to reach an impressive US$43 billion by 2026, with credit cards playing a significant role in driving this growth. To succeed in this thriving market, merchants require a reliable payment partner who can navigate consumer preferences and capitalize on emerging trends.
Expressing excitement about Worldpay's entry into the UAE market, Tausif Ahmed, the Merchant Country Leader at Worldpay from FIS, highlighted the vast growth opportunities available to both domestic and global businesses, remarking, "The UAE presents new growth opportunities for domestic and global businesses, and it's an exciting time to be entering the market." He emphasized that Worldpay's expertise in payments empowers local merchants to expand their offerings and enables international merchants to understand local consumer payment preferences, staying ahead of evolving trends. This knowledge equips merchants to optimize their performance as they venture into new markets, both domestically and internationally, thereby accelerating global commerce.
Merchants in the UAE now have access to Worldpay's advanced acquiring capabilities, which encompass authorization, clearing, payments settlement, dispute management software, and data insights. Through a single integration point, merchants can enhance acceptance rates, elevate the customer experience, and mitigate the risks associated with fraud.
Worldpay's expansion into the UAE aligns perfectly with its growth strategy of strengthening its presence in merchant acquiring across new markets. By actively supporting the UAE market, Worldpay aims to empower merchants to thrive in the digital economy and extend their global reach, reinforcing their position as a leading force in the industry.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost:Â Dh567.25 -Â around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30Â
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
