Middle East Gift Card market exhibit strong growth potential

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Backed by several innovative businesses, the fintech space in the Middle Eastern region has become increasingly competitive over the last few years. The region continues to show encouraging growth and has been attracting several partnerships that are in line with the growing digital age. The trend is more evident in the gift card space which is projected to record strong growth over the next three to four years. For instance, 

• In October 2022, one of the gift card providers in the Middle East, YouGotaGift, announced to collaborate with buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, Tabby to help its users get the benefit of Tabby’s flexible payment system. Under this partnership, all the customers of YouGotaGift residing in UAE and KSA will now be able to spread out the cost of their purchases in several installments while purchasing gift cards on their YouGotaGift mobile app.

In today’s world, customers are more attracted to convenience and flexibility, and consequently, the provider of the gift card marketplace entered into such a partnership, intending to acquire more customers in the region. YouGotaGift, at present, has around 700 brands under its banner, catering to several customers with their everyday purchases and also for several special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, and many more. 

Notably, Tabby has been witnessing strong customer adoption over the last few quarters and thus, this strategic decision of the BNPL provider to team up with YouGotaGift will help it to accelerate growth in its business. YouGotaGift, which has an array of gift cards from global brands, including categories such as electronics, beauty, retail, and many more, will now enable more consumers to purchase products abolishing the need for upfront payment. Thus, PayNXT360 anticipates, this partnership will inject an immense amount of flexibility; at the same time will boost the usage of YouGotaGift gift cards in the region.

• In August 2022, Zamzam.com, a platform based out of the Middle Eastern region facilitating booking of hotels and flights for Umrah, announced to enter into a partnership with Merit Incentives, a global company focusing on employee engagement and strategies. Through the partnership, all the clients of Merit Incentives will now be able to provide their customers an option to use their loyalty points for Zamzam gift cards. Consequently, Zamzam.com will be able to achieve its strategic goal of expanding its network, at the same time providing a religious tourism experience to a wider set of audience. Umrah, which is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, can now easily be planned by customers through Zamzam gift cards, and also can be redeemed for travel to Hajj and Madina.

Notably, Merit Incentives has a network of 5,000 partner brands with more than 8000 retailers in about 100 countries. This partnership comes under the Merit programs in Saudi Arabia and it leverages Merit Incentive’s B2B marketplace service to exchange loyalty points for Zamzam gift cards.

Merit Incentives, which has innovative personalized redemption options, appropriately strategized to partner with ZamZam.com to attract the Muslim community in the region. Thus, PayNXT360 projects, this unique partnership will attract several customers to redeem their gift cards that match religious preferences.

• In October 2022, an India-based fintech platform, Prepay Nation focused on gift cards, mobile airtime, data bundles, and utility top-ups expanded its services to the GCC countries. For this business expansion, the platform entered into several partnerships in the region to bring prepaid products and services to GCC consumers. 

Notably, the fintech platform helps several loyalty programs, gaming-streaming-gifting platforms, digital wallets, super apps, prepaid airtime distributors, etc. to attract new customers through their engaging reward platform. Consequently, it partnered with Mango, Resal, Unipay, Solutions Gulf, and many more platforms to create channels to sell its prepaid products and services in the region.

• In November 2022, Turkish Airlines introduced the Turkish Airlines gift card, bringing a newer channel of online gifting for guests. Through the launch of the new gift card service, the guests of the airlines will now be able to gift their friends and family members any flight of their choice.

Moreover, the airline is planning to add a new gift card section, called corporate gift cards. Employees and business partners can use the gift cards for purchasing flight tickets from Turkish Airlines. Furthermore, another gift card called a compensation gift card is also proposed to be launched for the guests to compensate for any mishaps during their travel time.

• In August 2022, an innovative partnership was formed between Mall of Qatar and Qatar Airways Privilege Club to introduce a rewards program that will allow customers to earn Avios, a travel reward while making purchases across the mall. Through this partnership, the club members, who are using the Mall of Qatar Gift Card, are supposed to receive 1 Avios for spending QAR4 each. Together with this, the gift card also includes other benefits and discounts for multiple stores and outlets. Consequently, the customers can redeem their Avios for purchasing any flight, at the same time, can use special discounts and offers provided by the gift card. Since this unique partnership will elevate the customer experience, PayNXT360 expects, the usage of Mall of Qatar Gift Card will increase in the region.

• In August 2022, Mintroute DMCC, an online voucher, and digital cards aggregator, based out of UAE, raised an investment from Razer Gold, a platform that offers credit services in a virtual form, particularly for gamers. Notably, Mintroute DMCC provides technical solutions to several retailers, and mobile operators to manage their gift cards and e-vouchers via online channels, POS terminals, etc. Consequently, through this investment, United States-based Razer Gold plans to expand its business globally, starting with the MENA region. 

Under this acquisition, Razer Gold will leverage Mintroute’s network of platforms and user base to maximize the usage of its e-vouchers and rewards throughout the region. Importantly, Razer Gold has observed a substantial demand for its product in the GCC and MENA region and thus, strategized to go for this partnership. Since Mintroute has an array of around 100 online vouchers and digital gift cards, PayNXT360 expects, this acquisition will significantly benefit Razer Gold to see growth in its business over the four to six quarters in the region.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the gift card market in the Middle East, click here.