eTransactions record a huge jump: Benefit

Manama : The Benefit Company (Benefit) yesterday announced recording a remarkable growth in Electronic Funds Transfer transactions during 2017, when compared to the prior year.  

A jump of 182 per cent was recorded in Fawri+ service with over 370k transactions in comparison of 131k transactions in 2016.

A total of 4.9 Million transactions were carried out on Fawri with a growth rate of 87pc as compared to 2016. Fawateer service has noticed a significant growth in 2017 to reach 1.8 Million transactions.

Helped by the introduction of new services and organic business growth, the company said it alsoachieved a growth of 13pc in the consolidated operating profit of BD4.1 million in 2017 from BD3.6m in 2016. The consolidated net profit also increased by 16pc to reach BD4.36m compared to BD3.77m in 2016.

During the year 2017, Benefit acquired the 49pc shares held by Network International (NI) in SINNAD WLL (SINNAD), a leading third party payment processing company incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain with a local and international customer base. As a result of the acquisition SINNAD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Benefit.

Benefit launched the National E-Wallet, “BenefitPay”, in July 2017 in coordination with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). BenefitPay is a mobile-based application service that allows users to make or receive payments without the use of a physical card or actual cash. The Electronic Wallet system (BenefitPay) facilitates electronic payments using QR codes allowing customers to purchase items using only their smart phones in a convenient and secure manner. 

Looking ahead, the company said it has initiated more than 6 new services for execution during the year 2018. 

It will focus on enhancing its platform towards digitization, and enabling online integrations with its core services such as BCRB and Electronic Funds Transfer System, enabling members and financial institutions to promote their services online. 

Benefit in coordination with CBB and the local commercial banks will implement the second phase of the BenefitPay wallet to include real-time transfer Person to Person (P2P), or sometime referred to as (Peer to Peer) in addition to value added services.