Annual number of credit card transactions in Saudi Arabia 2013-2021, per capita
The market share of credit cards in Saudi Arabia POS sales did go up between 2020 and 2021, but was far lower than that of cash money. Cards were more commonly used for online payments, however.
Saudi consumers performed roughly nine credit card payments per capita in 2021, a big increase from 2020. This is according to estimates based off credit card figures from the country's central bank. No information is provided why precisely this number went up during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.