70pc of Bahrain residents proficient in basic technologies

Seventy per cent of Bahrain’s residents consider themselves proficient in technologies and the increasingly tech-savvy population is keen on technology-based alternatives such as mobile banking and other Fintech solutions replacing traditional channels, a local study revealed.

Technology based alternatives such as Fintech could gain serious traction in Bahrain in the coming years as residents say they are highly proficient in the use of technology and prefer services such as mobile banking over traditional services. This is according to a first-ofits-kind study conducted by the newly formed Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB).

According to the Bahrain FinTech Ecosystem Report, which includes a comprehensive survey conducted in Bahrain, 34.60 per cent of the residents say they are ‘very highly proficient’ in use of technologies, while 35.70pc say they are ‘highly proficient’ and 23.90pc say they are average. Only 4.90pc said their proficiency is ‘low’ and only 0.90pc said ‘very low’.

“Bahrain’s population appears to be confident in their awareness of modern technologies. However, there are still concerns towards technologies especially with regard to data privacy and cloud computing,” the report stated.