Doha, Qatar: The total payment system transactions reached 81.063 million in May 2026, representing a 32 percent increase compared to 61.641 million in May 2025. This growth reflects rising adoption of digital payment channels and increased economic activity.
The card payment systems continued to dominate transaction volume, accounting for 89.2 percent of total transactions, although this marks a slight decline from 94.5 percent the previous year. In contrast, transfer payment systems expanded their share to 10.8 percent, indicating growing reliance on account-to-account transfers and digital banking solutions, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) said recently on its X platform.
In terms of value, the payment system recorded a surge totaling QR95.799bn in May 2026 compared to QR67.316bn in May last year showing a 42 percent increase. Transfer payment systems were the primary driver of this growth, comprising 74.5 percent of total transaction value, up from 64.7 percent the previous year. Meanwhile, card payments represented a smaller share
of total value at 25.5 percent, suggesting that while cards are widely used, higher-value transactions are increasingly processed through transfer systems.
On the other hand the total payment system transactions reached 73.533 million in April 2026, representing a 29 percent increase compared to 56.869 million in April last year.
The card payment systems continued to dominate transaction volume, accounting for 88.8 percent of total transactions, although this marks a slight decline from 94.9 percent the previous year. In contrast, transfer payment systems expanded their share to 11.2 percent.
Whereas in terms of value, the payment system recorded a substantial surge, more than doubling from QR63.302bn in April 2025 to QR111.854bn in April 2026 showing a 77 percent increase. Transfer payment systems were the primary driver of this growth, comprising 80.2 percent of total transaction value, up from 67.6 percent the previous year.
The card payments showed a total value at 19.8 percent and the total card transactions reached 65.322 million, with a combined value of QR22.2n in April this year.
The Qatar Central Bank remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering leading and valuable initiatives by providing the necessary infrastructure and legislative support for the growth of the financial technology sector in the country, supporting companies within this sector to introduce innovative solutions, drive sectoral development, and enhance operational efficiency and innovation in banking services, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
QCB’s vision is based on developing, diversifying and increasing the competitiveness of Qatar’s financial technology and services sector through pioneering infrastructure and providing solutions that positively impact the customer experience.
Significant progress has been made in implementing the strategic objectives outlined in the Third Financial Sector Strategy, QCB’s 2024-2030 Strategy, the FinTech Strategy, and the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Strategy for the financial sector.
As part of the commitment to support the emerging national companies in the field of financial technology, which contributes to building an advanced digital financial and banking system, QCB continued to grant licenses to financial technology companies to conduct their services.
