MENA Consumers Want Seamless Payments, but Security Remains the Top Priority
Consumers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are increasingly expecting payments to be fast and nearly invisible, but security continues to shape online shopping decisions, according to Checkout.com’s latest report, MENA Digital Commerce 2026: The New Era of AI in Payments.
The report found that 97% of consumers in the region value payment experiences that do not require manual credential entry or page redirections. At the same time, 62% said a safe and secure payment process is the most important factor when shopping online, ranking ahead of fast delivery.
Checkout.com said the findings highlight a clear tension in digital commerce: shoppers want frictionless checkout experiences, but they are unwilling to compromise on trust and protection. Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, said merchants that succeed will be those able to balance simplicity with strong safeguards.
False declines and cart abandonment remain costly
The report also shows that payment friction continues to have immediate commercial consequences. According to the data, 62% of consumers abandon a purchase after a false decline, while 35% switch directly to a competitor. In addition, 28% of shoppers said they abandon carts specifically because of security concerns.
These findings suggest that even small disruptions at checkout can lead to lost sales and weakened customer loyalty. For merchants operating in competitive digital commerce markets, the ability to process transactions smoothly and securely appears increasingly central to conversion rates.
Digital wallets and remittances are becoming part of everyday behavior
Beyond checkout preferences, the report points to rising adoption of digital wallets across the region. Checkout.com said 64% of consumers use digital wallets at least monthly for budgeting and purchases, while 74% use them for money transfers.
The company also reported strong growth in its own regional activity. Processing volume in MENA increased by 62% year on year, while remittance volumes processed in the region rose by 169% between 2024 and 2025.
Consumer appetite for convenience remains strong, with half of respondents willing to store their card details for faster future purchases, provided there is robust fraud protection in place.
Online spending expands across categories
The report shows that digital commerce in MENA is also broadening in terms of where and how consumers shop. Food delivery was the most frequently purchased online category, cited by 59% of respondents, followed by clothing and travel. A quarter of consumers also said they now shop through social media platforms.
Consumers show growing interest in AI-driven shopping
Checkout.com’s research also examined interest in agentic commerce, a model in which AI tools assist or act on behalf of consumers in shopping decisions. Half of those surveyed said they would be willing to let AI agents help with tasks such as finding better prices, comparing products and creating shopping lists.
However, adoption is not uniform across demographics. The report found that high-income earners and men are more comfortable delegating shopping tasks to AI than lower-income consumers and women. Privacy was identified as the main barrier to wider adoption, cited by 55% of respondents.
Industry Analysis
The findings point to an important direction for payment providers and merchants in MENA: seamless checkout is becoming an expectation, not a differentiator. However, trust remains the deciding factor in whether consumers complete a transaction. This means payment innovation in the region will likely depend on technologies and processes that reduce friction without increasing perceived risk.
For merchants, the data also reinforces the need to address false declines and security-related abandonment as operational priorities. As digital wallets, social commerce and AI-assisted shopping gain traction, providers that can combine speed, reliability and protection may be best positioned to capture future growth in the region’s digital commerce market.
