UAE Online and In-App Payments Reach 55% of Domestic Card Volume, Visa Report Finds

Buying from the sofa is now the main way many UAE consumers pay. Online and in-app purchases account for 55% of domestic payment volume in the country, up from 35% in 2019, according to a Visa Business and Economic Insights report.

The study, titled "The Great Indoors: How the 'Couch' Is Redefining Consumer Spending Habits," examines what it calls the couch economy: spending tied to home-centred consumption across digital shopping, food delivery and entertainment.

The Great Indoors: How the 'Couch' Is Redefining Consumer Spending Habits,

Mohamed Bardastani, Visa's principal economist for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the shift reflects how far the country's digital infrastructure has advanced and how firmly consumers now expect convenience. Technology accelerated the trend, he said, but those expectations are themselves increasingly steering where money goes. As online and in-app payments claim a larger place in daily routines, he added, digital rails are what allow the connected commerce experiences shoppers have come to expect.

How often cards get used

The report tracks payment frequency, not just spending totals. In 2026, 25.7% of active UAE cards were used for at least 10 online or in-app payments a month, compared with 4.5% in 2018.

That places the UAE close to two much larger markets. In the United States, 25.4% of active cards crossed the same threshold. In the United Kingdom, 27.8% did.

Delivery apps and subscriptions

Food delivery shows the sharpest change of any category in the study. The share of UAE cards used on delivery apps rose from about 2% in 2018 to nearly 30% in 2026. Most of that growth came from everyday spenders rather than cardholders who were already spending heavily, suggesting delivery moved from an occasional purchase to a routine one.

Entertainment shows a similar pull toward the home. A larger share of UAE cards carried streaming or pay-TV subscriptions than recorded spending at cinemas and concerts.

What the numbers cover

The findings rest on anonymised VisaNet transactions made with Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards. Domestic payment volume, the measure behind the 55% figure, counts transactions made with domestically issued cards at merchants inside the country. That definition leaves out cross-border spending and cash, and because the data comes from one card network it describes Visa card activity rather than the entire payments market.

Read together, the figures describe a market where a trip to a store or a restaurant is frequently replaced by a tap on a phone, and where habits formed around delivery apps and streaming services keep directing a larger share of weekly spending through the same channel. For merchants, the practical question is less whether consumers will keep buying online than whether their checkout, delivery and subscription operations can hold up as that traffic grows.