7 Iran PSPs Among Largest 150 Acquirers Worldwide

Nilson Report Magazine, a publication specializing in payment industry news and statistics, has listed seven Iranian payment service providers among the world’s largest 150 acquirers in 2016.

Beh Pardakht Mellat, affiliated with Bank Mellat, ranked 23, recording about 2 billion transactions during 2015. Nilson Report also ranked Parsian E-Commerce Company, affiliated to Parsian Bank, as the world’s 27th top acquirer with 1.8 billion recorded transactions in 2015.

Asan Pardakht Persian ranked 28, Saman Bank’s Saman E-Payment Co came in 34th , Pasargad Electronic Payment, afflicted with Bank Pasargad Iran, was 63rd, Bank Melli Iran’s Sadad Informatics was placed 68, and Iran Kish Credit Card Company finished 74 in the Nilson Report.

The seven companies recorded a total of 7.9 billion transactions in 2015.

Vantiv, based in the US, is the world’s top acquirer according to the journal as the company recorded 17.6 billion transactions in 2015. JP Morgan Chase with 17 billion transactions and Bank of America with 14 billion transactions came next.

Iranian PSPs have also recorded considerably higher number of transactions, compared with other Middle East payment service providers.

Garanti Bank, Yapi Kredit Banksi, T Isbank, and AKBank all from Turkey are the only Middle Eastern companies taking spots among the top 75 acquirers. Garanti Bank with about 725 million transactions ranked 57.

Domestic Market

Twelve PSPs are licensed by the Central Bank of Iran to operate in the market. PSPs process about 1 billion transaction each month worth about 1 trillion rials ($31.7 billion) on average.  

The latest monthly report of Shaparak Company, Iran’s national payment network operator, indicates 30% growth in total number of transactions during the month to July 21, compared with the same period last year.

The value of transactions also grew by 20% during the period.

Shaparak Company, affiliated with the CBI, is in charge of technical supervision of the market.

POS terminals are the most favored payment tool in Iran. About 4.6 POS terminals processed 86% of total transactions in the said period. Mobile payment gates and online payment gates accounted for 11% and 2.5% of total transactions, respectively.

According to Shaparak data, Beh Pardakht Mellat accounted for 24.6% of total transactions during the month to July 21. Saman E-Payment Co. and Asan Pardakht Persian accounted for 16.3% and 14% of the transactions respectively.

Bank Mellat’s affiliate also managed to take the lead in online transactions market, as it hosted 28% of online transactions in the same period. Parsian E-Commerce Company had dominated this category for a long time.

According to Shaparak, Bank Mellat has been the top recipient bank, as it received 36.67% of total transactions. Bank Melli Iran and Parsian Bank accounted for respectively 7% and 6.75% of the transactions.

The payment industry in Iran, with an impressive performance in recent years, is expected to pick up in the post-sanctions era as the economy opens up to the outside world after years of international restrictions.