The state of cards in the Middle East

The GCC built one of the world's most cashless economies by design, and the card sat at the centre of it. Non-oil activity now accounts for 73.2% of GCC GDP, Saudi Arabia passed its Vision 2030 non-cash target two years early, and the regional card market is projected to compound at 11.2% through 2030. Cards stopped replacing cash some time ago. They became the primary way customers experience their bank.

That position is now under pressure from a direction most issuers did not plan for. Wallets, super apps and digital-first competitors reset what fast feels like, and cardholders benchmark every interaction against the best digital service they use, not against other banks. Card scale grew. Card experience did not keep pace.

To understand what cardholders now expect and where issuers fall short, Stitch partnered with IBS Intelligence on independent research across six Middle Eastern markets, surveying more than 100 consumers on their card usage and expectations and interviewing senior banking executives across the region.

The gap shows up early and compounds. Only one in three cardholders describes their last card application as straightforward. 68% expect instant or same-day issuance and 27% have already abandoned an application and gone to a competitor. 74% would move their everyday spending to a digital-first provider for a better experience at the same cost. This whitepaper traces where the card journey fails, why those failures share a single root cause, and what separates issuers who hold top-of-wallet status from those quietly losing it.