RIYADH: The value of point-of-sale transactions in Saudi Arabia reached SR40.5 billion ($10.8 billion) in October, up by 1.2 percent compared to the previous month, the Saudi Central Bank reported. Some of the sectors that helped drive the increase were restaurants and cafes, hotels, food and beverages, clothing and footwear. For example, sales in restaurants and cafes reached their highest level since at least January 2016. The number of transactions rose markedly to over 495 million in October from the previous month’s 469 million transactions. Some of the point-of-sale transactions could be conducted using mobile phones and cards, otherwise referred to as near-field communication technology. The number of mobile phone transactions continued its expansionary trend, recording a monthly increase of 1.9 percent to hit 179 million transactions in October. Meanwhile, the number of transactions using cards was up by 8 percent to stand at 293 million transactions. The value of transactions using mobile phones witnessed a 2.5 percent drop to SR11.5 billion in October while those performed using cards recorded an increase of 3.2 percent with the value reaching SR25.7 billion.