- According to the latest research from Checkout.com, the booming digital economy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is driven by consumers’ demand for an “invisible” payment experience when shopping online.
- 97% of consumers want payments to be completed “invisibly,” while payment security remains a decisive factor.
- 50% of consumers are ready to let AI agents shop on their behalf, but 55% cite privacy as the primary barrier to adoption.
DubaiJune 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region evolves from mere digital adoption to a complex ecosystem driven by AI agents, a successful payment journey is being redefined. Checkout.com recently released its latest report, the 2026 MENA Digital Economy Report, which reveals that the MENA region is ready to embrace AI agent-powered e-commerce, but the future of e-commerce will heavily depend on consumer trust in payments and payment security.
As the digital economy accelerates across the MENA region, consumer signals are clear: they want payments that are simple, invisible, and embedded, but not at the expense of payment security. According to Checkout.com’s latest research, 97% of consumers advocate for “invisible payments”—a transaction experience that requires no manual entry of payment credentials or page redirects during checkout. However, this demand for a “frictionless” payment experience coexists with the need for guaranteed payment security. This further confirms that trust is the true foundation of the e-commerce economy and a prerequisite for the MENA region to enter the era of AI agent-powered e-commerce.
“In the new era of e-commerce in the MENA region, trust is no longer just a preference; it is the ultimate currency,” said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com. “Consumers want payments to be both fast and invisible, but our data shows that 62% of consumers consider a ‘secure and trustworthy payment process’ the most important factor in online shopping. Merchants that strike the right balance between ‘simplicity’ and ‘strong protection’ will be the ultimate winners.”
Trust: The Foundation of E-commerce in the MENA Region
As online shopping scales up across the region, “delivering simplicity while providing strong protection” is becoming increasingly critical—currently, 45% of consumers shop online at least once a week, and 63% expect to increase their online shopping frequency over the next 12 months.
Digital wallets have become deeply embedded in daily life: 64% of consumers use digital wallets at least once a month for shopping, budgeting, and personal finance management, while 74% use them for cross-border digital fund transfers. This momentum is also reflected in Checkout.com’s performance in the region: total transaction processing volume in MENA has grown 62% year-over-year.
However, consumers’ demand for “simplicity” is not unconditional: 97% of consumers want payments to be “invisible” in the background, but this demand must be built on trust. Once trust is broken, consequences are immediate: after a false decline, 62% of consumers immediately abandon their orders, and 35% switch directly to competitors.
Concerns about transaction security continue to disrupt the payment journey—28% of consumers abandon their shopping carts due to worries about payment security. In fact, 62% of consumers prioritize the security of the payment process over speed. This result also reflects that efficiency in the payment process is valued by consumers, but never at the expense of trust.
Additionally, 50% of consumers express willingness to save card information to simplify the payment process, highlighting a strong demand for convenience. But this willingness is also conditional, relying on robust anti-fraud capabilities. For merchants, success is a delicate balance: the experience must be frictionless enough to drive conversions, yet secure enough to earn loyalty.
Readiness for AI Agent-Powered E-commerce
The report positions AI and agent-powered e-commerce as the next frontier for the region’s e-commerce. 50% of consumers are ready to let AI agents shop on their behalf, but widespread adoption depends on trust—55% cite privacy as the primary barrier. Despite these concerns, the appeal of AI agent-powered e-commerce is rooted in efficiency: in a market where 56% of consumers habitually use their phones to compare prices while browsing in physical stores, AI agents are emerging as “super shoppers,” scanning and recommending the best options in real time.
Consumers are most willing to delegate the following tasks to AI: finding the best prices (50%), comparing products and reviews (41%), and creating shopping lists (30%); acceptance is also growing for AI handling daily groceries (27%), travel bookings (25%), and subscription management (24%).
However, AI acceptance is not uniform: men (54%) and high-income groups (67%) are significantly more comfortable using AI than women (44%) and low-income groups (38%). This suggests that AI agent-powered e-commerce will first be driven by digitally confident, higher-income consumer segments, then spread to broader populations.
Consumers’ Online Spending Landscape
Across the MENA region, broader consumption trends point to an accelerating digital economy. Social commerce is rising rapidly, with 25% of consumers shopping through social media platforms. Meanwhile, mobile-first financial behaviors continue to expand, with digital wallets becoming central to payments and fund management.
The report shows that digital consumption in the region is notably diversified: food delivery is the most frequent online shopping category (59%), followed by clothing and accessories (54%) and travel (40%)—reflecting that consumer groups are increasingly leveraging digital platforms to cover a wide range of daily needs.
Overall, these trends point to a deeper behavioral shift: consumers in the MENA region are no longer just using digital channels for “convenience shopping”; they are increasingly relying on them for essential, high-value, and recurring core transactions. This reflects both an evolution in lifestyle and the growing normalization of online shopping in daily life.
Furthermore, cross-border digital fund flows in the region continue to experience extraordinary growth, highlighting a shift toward faster, digital-first methods of moving money. Checkout.com’s cross-border digital fund flow transaction volume in MENA grew 169% year-over-year between 2024 and 2025, further confirming the accelerating role of digital payments in driving fund flows.
The report concludes that, in the context of the digital economy, trust is no longer a differentiator but a baseline for entry. As payments become faster and more invisible, the brands that will truly succeed in the MENA region are those that deliver an invisible payment experience without compromising on security. In this market of rapid growth, digital leadership, and rising demand for payment experiences, trust has become the ultimate currency.
“What we are seeing in the MENA region is a clear redefinition of what constitutes a good payment experience,” Remo Abbondandolo summarized. “It’s no longer just about speed, but about being trustworthy at every step. Consumers tell us: they want payments to fade into the background—but only if they can trust what’s happening behind the scenes. That’s why security, intelligence, and reliability have become inseparable from the growth of digital commerce.”