Compared to the month before, the transactions registered 1.58% and 0.49% fall in volume and value, respectively, according to the monthly report published on Shaparak website.
The transactional value rose 13.96% compared to the same period last year when 1.79 billion transactions worth 2,213.67 trillion rials ($17.70 billion) were processed. In volume terms it showed 24% growth on a year-on-year basis.
The report attributes annual hike in the value of transactions mainly to rising inflation, increase in the number of receiving instruments and debit cards plus the growing tendency among the public to use electronic payment tools instead of cash, according to Financial Tribune.
It presents figures in real value terms by factors out the inflation effect to provide more precise information.
Given the galloping inflation, the real value of transactions fell 2.02% on a monthly basis.
Likewise, the real value of transactions fell 6.8% compared to the same period last year.
Shaparak offers services via Internet, cellphone and point of sale (POS) devices.
The number of instruments for processing payments showed 1.25% increase compared to a month earlier, reaching a total of 10.18 million.
With the biggest contribution to growth, the number of internet payment gateways and mobile instruments increased 2.25% and 1.44%, respectively.
POS in Pole Position
Reaching 7.8 million, POS devices in shops experienced 1.08% rise during the aforementioned period.
As is usually the case, POS devices topped the list of instruments with the biggest market share -- 76.8%.
This was followed by mobile instruments with 12.37% and online payment gateways 10.74% share of the market.
Higher number of POS devices is mainly ascribed to their larger spread compared to other devices as well as their use without the need for supplementary devices such as PC or cellphone, which may not always be accessible.
Processing more than 1.96 billion transactions worth 2,281.62 trillion rials ($18.25 billion), POS devices accounted for 88.23% of the total number of transactions.
Second on the list, online gateways accounted for 5.95% of the total number of transactions followed by mobile instruments at 5.82%.
Figures indicate that 83.83% of transactions were conducted for “buying goods and services”.
“Buying cellphone recharges and paying bills” represented 11.04% of the total transactions during the period under review and “checking account balances” accounted for 5.14% of the transactions.
Penetration
Based on the report, there were 1,707 instruments per 10,000 adults (above 18 years old).
As always, POS terminals held the lion's share with 1,312 instruments per 10,000 adults.
Online gateways had the lowest penetration rate with 183 instruments per 10,000 adults. Tehran Province topped the list of provinces with the highest number of POS terminals.
There were 1.63 million active POS devices in the sprawling metropolis, which indicates 0.67% rise compared to the earlier month.
This was followed by Khorasan Razavi with 597,631 and Isfahan with 548,699 active devices. Ilam Province had the lowest number of POS devices with 57,342 devices.
PSPs
Shaparak also covered the performance of payment service providers in the month.
In volume terms Beh Pardakht Mellat, a Bank Mellat-affiliated PSP firm, ranked first as the PSP with the highest number of transactions, accounting for 22.9% of all transactions.
This was followed by Saman Electronic Payment, a Bank Saman-affiliate, which accounts for 18.75% of all processed transactions.
Likewise, in terms of value, Beh Pardakht Mellat held the biggest share with 24.04% of the total value of transactions.
Saman Electronic Payment was next, representing 15.43% of the overall value of transactions.
Asan Pardakht Persian held the top slot in volume processing via online payment gateways and accounting for 37.96%.
Beh Pardakht Mellat accounted for 23.93% of all transaction via POS devices.
Likewise, Saman Electronic Payment ranked first in terms of volume of transactions processed via mobile instruments, accounting for 26.81% of the total transactions.