Transactions in UAE Banking System Soar to $3.74 Trillion in One Year

The total transactions in the UAE money transfer system affiliated with the Central Bank exceeded a whopping $3.74 trillion in one year – between March 2022 and March 2023- according to the data from the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE).

This has been a great momentum in the UAE’s banking financial transactions in the local market that reflected the fluidity in the money transfers that showed enhanced competitiveness in the financial sector in the country.

The CBUAE data said that inter-bank transfers constituted lion’s share of 62% ($2.32 trillion) of these transactions while individual transfers concerned a share of the remaining 38% ($1.42 trillion).

There has been a gradual increase in the money transfers between 2022 and 2023, especially in the first quarter of this year, which witnessed total transfers exceeding $1.06 trillion, an increase of 35.2%, or more than $272 billion, compared with $780 billion during the corresponding period in 2022.

The inter-bank transfers amounted to $670 billion during Q1 of 2023 compared with $480 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The month-wise distribution of these transfers during the first months of 2023 were $211.93 billion in January, more than $213.64 billion in February and $249.10 billion in March respectively.

The total individual transfers during Q1 of 2023 amounted to $390 billion compared with about $300 billion during the same period in 2022. Month-wise transfers in Q1 of 2023 are; $119.06 billion in January, $117.07 in February and $149,891 in March respectively.

Cheque Clearances

The data revealed that the value of 5.56 million cheques in circulation, which were cleared, stood at $83.42 billion, during the first quarter of this year. The data showed that the month of March was the most active, with 1.986 cheques being cleared whose value was more than $30.41 billion.

This was followed by January with 1.825 million cheques cleared with a value of $26.65 billion, while in February, 1.752 cheques were cleared whose value was around $26.33 billion.

Even the cash issued in the first quarter of this year was $35.18 billion compared with $32.73 billion at the end of 2022. The cash in circulation outside the banking system during the current year included $30.44 billion and $4.74 billion within banks.

The cash deposits amounted to $176.29 billion while part-cash deposits exceeded $280 billion. The government deposits increased to $110.81 billion at the end of March 203 from $108.11 billion at the end of 2022.

According to the World Bank figures, outward remittances from the UAE grew 9.7% and totalled $47.54 billion in 2021 compared to $43.34 billion in 2020. The transaction value of digital remittances market is projected to reach $6.95 billion in 2023, Statista said.