More Kuwait Consumers Using Digital Payments, Yet 24% of Transactions Still in Cash: Visa’s Latest ‘Where Cash Hides’ Research

Kuwait City, Kuwait, 27 January, 2025: While Kuwait is at the forefront of digital payments, around a quarter (24%) of transactions of consumers surveyed are still in cash, according to the second edition of Visa’s ‘Where Cash Hides’ research.

The research, based on a survey of 2,800 individuals across GCC, examined the overall frequency of and motivations for cash usage. It identifies cash-heavy categories and proposes easier, more secure digital payment solutions for both consumers and local businesses. The first edition of Where Cash Hides was conducted in 2023.

Key survey findings

Cash in specific transactions (by % of consumers surveyed):

In Kuwait, P2P transactions (47% vs 40% in 2023) and everyday spending (40% vs 35% in wave 1) form a large portion of cash usage.

• Within the P2P segment, tips (71% vs 48% — biggest increase in cash usage), and money exchanges between friends and family (53% vs 38%) are the prime areas where surveyed Kuwait consumers use cash. International transfers through exchange houses saw the biggest drop in cash usage (24% vs 32%) with rent also showing a decline (38% vs 40%), indicating progress in digitizing payments in those categories.
• Offline taxi (68% vs 49% — biggest increase), farmers markets (42% vs 35%), and restaurants (37% vs 29%) are top everyday spending categories for cash usage and where the highest increases in cash usage were seen among respondents. Discretionary spend also saw significant increase in overall cash usage (34% vs 23%) — top categories include events (45% vs 31%), education (42% vs 34%), luxury retail (39% vs 16%) and travel (34% vs 13%).

Motivators for cash usage (by % of consumers surveyed):

• The top reasons respondents prefer cash for P2P are convenience (32%) and small purchases (26%). For everyday spends, the top reasons are convenience (25%) and speed (22%).

Implications and solutions:

• Efforts to introduce convenient and secure solutions such as Visa Direct (P2P, tips and other disbursements, and remittances), Click to Pay (better online checkout experience) and Tap to Phone (low-cost acceptance solution for SMBs, freelancers and taxi) will further drive digital payments and increase card acceptance.
• Encouraging mobile and contactless payments also presents a pathway to increasing digital payments usage for everyday expenses. This requires education on acceptance and security of digital payments for both banked and unbanked populations.

Shashank Singh, Visa’s VP and General Manager for Kuwait and Qatar, commented, “Despite progress with digital payment adoption in Kuwait, 24% of consumer transactions are still in cash. For Visa, this represents an opportunity to further drive financial inclusion and digitize commerce in the country. Our second edition of Visa’s Where Cash Hides research pinpoints precisely where and how Visa, together with our partners, can help grow the digital economy. At Visa, we remain committed to supporting the Kuwait government’s cashless agenda and enabling local businesses in creating a better payment experience for everyone, everywhere in Kuwait."

Despite cash usage, consumers’ overall reliance on cash continues to remain low.  For 55% of respondents, only 1–2 out of their last 10 transactions were in cash. Only 5% of respondents claimed that all (10 out of last 10) transactions were made with cash.   ​

For more information and details on the ‘Where Cash Hides’ Survey click here.