For example, a woman in the UK sued her bank when it allowed her to authorize a £700,000 ($963,000) payment from her account to a fraudster’s account in the United Arab Emirates. The High Court found that the Quincecare duty did not extend to cover the payment the customer made. The customer appealed, and the Court of Appeals ruled that the bank did not properly apply the Quincecare duty.

PC ownership also rose in India, UAE, and Vietnam. These are all countries where PCs and tablets entered the mainstream after mobile phones, and remain aspirational, particularly in middle- and higher-income households. Smartphone penetration remains stable. Rates of smartphone ownership were much the same as in 2020 and almost uniformly high.

Splitit partnered with UAE-based BNPL provider tabby, and Singapore-based fintech Fave launched its BNPL service in Singapore and Malaysia as global appetite for installment lending services increases.