Banker Muatez Howidi confirmed that the use of unlicensed point-of-sale systems disrupts official electronic payment systems and threatens trust in the banking sector. He stated that trust is the capital of the banking system, and any illegal manipulation harms monetary stability and weakens the state’s ability to finance its economic and social projects, in exclusive statements to the Qatari website “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.”
Howidi warned that operating POS systems outside of licensed frameworks disrupts approved settlement channels and undermines the credibility of payment services among the public and the private sector.
He explained that compromising the integrity of payments affects liquidity and reserve management and weakens monetary policy tools, which limits the state’s ability to finance economic and social programs.
Howidi pointed out that the impact is not limited to reserves but extends to the growing activity of the parallel market for foreign currencies and transactions outside of banking supervision, which encourages speculation and raises exchange rates.