UAE - Mubasher: A total of 88% of small and micro businesses (SMBs) in the UAE have expressed their optimism about the future of their business, including 64% who are very optimistic.

Around 49% of SMBs in the UAE referred to the importance of contactless payments to meet consumer expectations, according to Visa's Back to Business global study.

The study is based on a survey conducted to SMB owners and their customers since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has changed consumers' habits.

The majority of 84% of SMBs in the UAE expect that customers will continue to prefer contactless payments, with three in four Emirati consumers expected to stop shopping at a store that does not have contactless payments,

Meanwhile, 33% of UAE consumers have not used cash in the last week, marking the second-highest level among all markets.

Visa’s General Manager for the UAE, Shahebaz Khan, said: "With an 18-month view into the pandemic now, we have seen that small businesses that have embraced digital commerce and cross-border selling have generally weathered the pandemic and that seemingly small pivots toward digital commerce can continue to make the difference between a small business surviving and thriving."