The share of Saudi digital payments is well on track to fulfill the 70 per cent target by the end of 2025, which reflects a robust performance of the Kingdom’s e-commerce sector and SMEs, according to Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
Speaking at the opening of the two-day event Seamless Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, vice governor for supervision and technology at SAMA, Khalid Walid Al-Dhaher, said:
“We have witnessed a significant increase in the number of financial technology companies, reaching 183 companies by the end of the second quarter of 2023.
“This achievement represents 80 per cent of the target set for the year 2025, which is 230 companies.”
The growth of fintech will support “institutions and enable small and emerging businesses to introduce innovative and modern financial products such as e-wallets and digital financing platforms”.
According to Checkout.com, the steadily growing e-commerce in Saudi Arabia presents expanded opportunities for both emerging entrepreneurs and well-established financial institutions.
“Ninety-one per cent of consumers in the Kingdom now prefer to shop online and 14 per cent of them shop every day,” Checkout.com’s general manager for Middle East and North Africa, Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, told Arab News.
“When the trend started to boom in the region, specifically in Saudi Arabia we saw homegrown companies such as Tamara growing and taking the lead. That is why we wanted to support these payment methods.”
Saudi Arabia is leading the NFC payments, as the Kingdom has experienced a staggering rise in mobile payment usage accounting for around 45 per cent of transactions, according to vice president of Thales, Banking and Payment Services, Nassir Ghrous.
“The fintech segment is key to drive and steer innovation in the payment industry. I think this is something that is fully aligned with Vision 2030, and that has been promoted by the Kingdom very successfully. So, what we do with the fintech is to allow them to get the space and to help modernisation.”
