Payment methods by country · Payment methods
How do shoppers in Qatar pay online?
Checked
Shoppers in Qatar pay online by card and through QPay, the national e-commerce gateway for Qatari debit cards. Qatar Central Bank launched Fawran in March 2024, an instant payment service that runs 24/7 and sends up to QR 50,000 per transaction using a mobile number or alias instead of an IBAN. Since October 2024 QPay accepts Fawran, so shoppers can buy online without a bank card.
- Currency
- Qatari riyal (QAR)
- Local gateway
- QPay (Qatari debit cards)
- Instant payments
- Fawran: 24/7, up to QR 50,000 per transaction
- PlatformDTC offers
- Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay; MyFatoorah for Qatari stores
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC checkout takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay from shoppers in Qatar; PayPal can't charge in Qatari riyals. QPay and Fawran are not in the Stripe card form, but a Qatar-based store can connect its own MyFatoorah account, and the local methods offered then depend on that account.
QPay and Fawran
Checkout.com describes QPAY as a gateway developed by Qatar Central Bank for Qatari debit cards, processing in riyals. Paying QPay through Fawran uses a phone number or name alias.
Selling into Qatar from abroad
A foreign store usually reaches Qatari shoppers with international cards and phone wallets, since QPay serves Qatari debit cards.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a store based in the Gulf use MyFatoorah on PlatformDTC?
- Yes. Stores based in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan or Egypt can connect their own MyFatoorah account as a card gateway. Which local methods shoppers see then depends on what that MyFatoorah account has switched on.
- Who launched Fawran?
- Qatar Central Bank, in March 2024.
Sources
- QCB Launches 'Fawran' Instant Payment Service — Qatar News Agency
- QCB Offers QPay Payment Through Using 'Fawran' — Qatar News Agency
- Payment methods: QPAY — Checkout.com
Related
- Saudi Arabia — mada cards, owned by the central bank, lead; sarie instant transfers and Tamara instalments follow.
- United Arab Emirates — Cards, the new Jaywan domestic card, Aani instant payments, and Tabby or Tamara instalments.
- Kuwait — KNET local debit cards carry most online payments, with Wamd for instant transfers.
- Egypt — InstaPay instant transfers, Meeza national cards and Fawry cash payments, alongside cards.
- Israel — Payment cards first, then bank transfers and payment apps such as bit.
- South Africa — Cards, plus bank-to-bank payments through Ozow, PayShap real-time transfers and SnapScan QR.
- Argentina — Mercado Pago, cards and bank-app QR payments that work across wallets under Transferencias 3.0.
- Chile — Debit cards lead, with electronic bank transfers and transfer-based checkouts such as Khipu.