RIYADH: The overall customer payments made through the Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express in May increased 28.98 percent to SR1,075.13 billion ($286.61 billion) compared to SR833.63 billion in April, revealed the latest data from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA. According to SAMA’s May 2023 monthly bulletin, single payments made by customers increased 35 percent to SR590.47 billion from SR437.06 billion in April. SARIE is the RTGS platform used for interbank transactions in Saudi Arabia. It facilitates the settlement of large-value payments between banks in real-time, with immediate funds transfer. Bulk payments made by customers increased 22 percent to SR484.65 billion in May from SR396.56 billion in April. The total volume of consumer payments through the real-time gross settlement system increased 10.96 percent to 17.22 million in May from 15.52 million in April. However, interbank payments made through SARIE declined 11.19 percent to SR2,699.54 billion in May from SR3,040.02 billion in April. Nevertheless, transactions increased 32 percent to 122,517 in May from 92,813 in April. Saudi Instant Payment System also registered a 15 percent rise to SR42.9 billion in May from SR42.95 billion in April. Called SARIE Instant, the system is a domestic retail payment platform that enables individuals, businesses and government entities to make real-time, instant payments to one another. Launched in February 2021, the platform allows users to send and receive funds instantly at any time, including weekends and holidays. The number of transactions over SARIE Instant increased 14.97 percent to 35.13 million in May from 30.55 million in April. In February, SAMA announced that the share of electronic payments in the retail sector reached 62 percent of total transactions in 2022, exceeding the 60 percent target set by the Financial Sector Development Program, one of the main pillars of Saudi Vision 2030. This achievement reflects the continuous and accelerated development of local payments over the past few years. “The progress in e-payments would not have been possible without the significant improvement in payment infrastructure, the enhancement of existing systems, and the introduction of new systems and services,” said SAMA in the statement. The apex bank also maintained that the progress in the sector’s regulatory, technical and operational aspects has contributed to the recent transformation toward electronic payments.