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An employee counts Saudi Riyals bills at a money exchange office in central Cairo, Egypt, March 20, 2019. Image for illustrative purposes.
Saudi-based fintech company, Geidea, has acquired a license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) that enables it to process end-to-end payment solutions directly to merchants.
The company said in a statement on Monday that it was the only non-bank institution in Saudi Arabia to be granted such a license.
In addition, Geidea has developed an app based contactless ‘Tap on Phone’ solution which will empower SMEs with a simple way to process customer payments. The app-based solution will allow merchants to securely accept payments on their mobile phones without the need for a separate payment terminal or connection.
All of Geidea’s contactless, e-commerce and online payment solutions are open and made available to Geidea´s existing banking partners in Saudi Arabia, as well as offered directly to merchants and SMEs across various sectors. The company aims to rollout the service across other markets in the Middle East and North Africa by the end of 2021.
The founder and chairman, Abdullah Al-Othman, said: “With over “85 percent smartphone penetration in KSA, the development of ´Tap on Phone´ mobile payment acceptance will help realize our vision of making payment technologies accessible, affordable and intuitive for SMEs. No matter what merchants do, or where they sell, we can provide them with new and easier ways of accepting digital payments that fit the way they do business.”
Fahad Al-Aqeel, CEO of the Saudi Payments Company, a SAMA subsidiary said: “We look forward to seeing Geidea and other payment companies licensed by SAMA to complement our efforts to encourage the acceptance and adoption of digital payments in the Kingdom, and to actively contribute to completing the transformation of SMEs to adopt electronic payment methods, in order to achieve our ambition to shift towards a cashless economy.”
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Daniel Luiz)
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