Tapping opportunities in Fintech Filed on January 18, 2021 With global lockdowns, work from home arrangements, and fear of infection, most commercial activities have moved online. The foundation for this digitisation is a quick, reliable and secure online payments infrastructure. With Covid-19 confining people indoors this year, e-commerce and digital payments portals have seen a vast surge in growth, globally. More people are using smartphones, e-commerce, digital wallets and mobile and QR-code payments to avoid contact with others. Many businesses were also forced to shift online from a traditional brick and mortar setup. There is untapped e-commerce potential in the region, as Forbes Middle East and Marmore MENA Intelligence revealed. Only an estimated two per cent of the overall retail sales are from online sales in the Middle East versus 15 per cent in developed markets.