Saudi Arabia Payments & Fintech Regulation

SA schema world-payments-v1 trajectory: not yet assessed

Last updated · 14 modules · 134 sourced findings · 149 sources in the cumulative register

Jurisdiction brief

Latest update · 25 October 2026

Lead Signal

Saudi Arabia's payments regulator is moving to formalise systemic oversight of the payment systems it already licenses. The Saudi Central Bank has opened a consultation on a modernised Oversight Framework for Payment Systems and their Operators that would introduce a formal Systemically Important Payment System classification aligned to internationally recognised Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, together with an annual self-assessment duty for systems and operators caught by that classification. The consultation closes 27 November 2026. This finding currently rests on a single specialist-commentary source rather than a directly retrieved primary consultation page, which keeps the finding at probable rather than confirmed confidence, but the direction is consistent with the Kingdom's broader pattern of building out formal prudential infrastructure for its payments sector following the March 2026 transition to a licensing regime for open banking.

Key regulatory facts for Saudi Arabia
Regulatory DimensionSaudi Arabia Standing Position
JurisdictionSaudi Arabia (SA)
Regulatory ScopePayments & Fintech Regulation (14 modules, 134 sourced findings)
Licensing, Authorisation & Market AccessSAMA licenses payment service providers and payment system operators under the Law of Payments and Payment Services and its Implementing Regulations (PFMI-aligned).
Conduct, Safeguarding & PromotionsConduct and safeguarding for KSA PSPs sit within the Implementing Regulation of the Law of Payments and Payment Services, which includes dedicated parts on consumer protection, financial inclusion, e-money...
Stablecoins & Digital MoneySAMA's Rules for Electronic Wallets (in force from 11 February 2025) require electronic money companies to classify customers and ensure no customer holds e-money or performs payment transactions exceeding SAMA-set...
Operational Resilience & Critical InfraOperational resilience for SAMA-regulated entities (banks, PSPs, finance and insurance firms) rests on the SAMA Cyber Security Framework (v1.0, May 2017), the Business Continuity Management Framework, and the Cyber...
Primary Instruments CitedSaudi Arabia Official Instrument (rulebook.sama.gov.sa law-payments-and-payment-service), Saudi Arabia Official Instrument (rulebook.sama.gov.sa implementing-regulations-payment), Saudi Arabia Official Instrument (lexology.com detail-aspx-g-36edd3a6-fb14-4556), Saudi Arabia Official Instrument (rulebook.sama.gov.sa guidelines-apply-payment-service), Saudi Arabia Official Instrument (practiceguides.chambers.com saudi-arabia)
Last Confirmed / Updated2026-11-04 (149 sources in cumulative register)

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SAMA licenses payment service providers and payment system operators under the Law of Payments and Payment Services and its Implementing Regulations (PFMI-aligned). An updated supervisory framework (self-assessment + supervisory assessment methodology) now governs payment systems and operators, replacing the prior framework, with scope tied explicitly to the Payment Systems and Services Law (Royal Decree M/26).

Key judgment — Probable · impact Saudi Arabia operates a comprehensive, SAMA-administered payments licensing and prudential regime (Law of Payments and Payment Services, Implementing Regulations) covering payment institutions, electronic money institutions and BNPL providers, with tiered capital requirements and mandatory customer-fund safeguarding.claims: none recorded
Horizon · 2026-11-27 (± a quarter)SAMA Oversight Framework for Payment Systems consultation closesConsultation · Tier 3 source
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 297 words · last cycle 2026-11-04

Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access

Saudi Arabia operates a unitary licensing regime with no federal/state split. SAMA (Saudi Central Bank) is the sole licensing and supervisory authority for payment systems and PSPs under the Law of Payments and Payment Services (Royal Decree M/26, 22/03/1443H) and its Implementing Regulation effective 13/06/2023G, which repealed and replaced the 30/01/2020 PSP framework. This single primary statute governs the entire Kingdom's payments licensing perimeter, and it establishes a binary structural choice for market entrants: a bank-PSP route under the Banking Control Law M/5, or a non-bank PI/EMI authorisation route under the Law of Payments and Payment Services.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-25

Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access

The Saudi Central Bank has opened a consultation on a modernised Oversight Framework for Payment Systems and their Operators, a development that would materially reshape the market-access and authorisation landscape for systemically significant payment infrastructure in the Kingdom. The proposal introduces a formal Systemically Important Payment System classification, bringing Saudi practice into closer alignment with the internationally recognised Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, and would pair that classification with an annual self-assessment duty for the systems and operators it captures. The consultation closes 27 November 2026. As this finding currently rests on a single specialist legal-commentary source rather than a directly retrieved primary consultation document from the Saudi Central Bank itself, it is held at probable rather than confirmed confidence pending further corroboration.

This consultation follows the March 2026 transition to a formal licensing regime for open banking, another market-access-defining step that established clearer authorisation pathways for parties operating in that space. Read together, the two developments describe a regulator steadily building out a layered authorisation and oversight architecture: first establishing licensing clarity for a specific product category, open banking, and now proposing a systemic-risk overlay that would apply across payment systems and operators more broadly based on their classification as systemically important. For market entrants and existing licence holders, the practical significance of the new consultation is that authorisation status may in future carry differentiated ongoing obligations depending on whether a system is classified as systemically important, with that classification carrying the annual PFMI self-assessment duty as a concrete compliance consequence rather than a purely descriptive label.

The absence of a directly retrieved primary source for the consultation text itself is a meaningful gap: the specific criteria the Saudi Central Bank intends to use for Systemically Important Payment System classification, the precise scope of entities caught, and the detailed content of the proposed annual self-assessment have not been independently verified from the regulator's own consultation materials. This leaves open questions about how broadly the classification might be drawn and which existing licensed payment systems are likely candidates for the systemically important designation once the framework is finalised.

Outlook

The consultation's closing date of 27 November 2026 is the key date to track, as scheduled. Market participants holding or seeking payment-system authorisation in Saudi Arabia should anticipate that a finalised Oversight Framework could introduce a new tier of systemic-risk-grade regulatory obligation layered onto existing licensing requirements. Direct retrieval of the Saudi Central Bank's own consultation materials, whether through its public site or the Istitlaa consultation platform, would allow the scope and classification criteria to be confirmed with greater precision than is currently possible from secondary commentary alone.

2 earlier distinct update(s)
Periodic update · new data 2026-10-11

Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access

Saudi Arabia's payments licensing perimeter underwent a structural reset this cycle. SAMA issued Circular No. 472047719 on 8 March 2026, replacing the 2021 Oversight Framework for Payment Systems and Their Operators with a revised framework governing how payment systems and their operators are authorised and supervised under the Payments and Payment Services Law. This is not a minor procedural update: a wholesale replacement of the oversight framework resets the baseline supervisory document against which every licensed payment-system operator in the Kingdom is assessed, and it typically signals that the regulator has accumulated enough operational experience under the prior framework to identify where the authorisation and supervisory requirements needed tightening or clarification.

The clearest practical expression of that shift is open banking's move from sandbox to licensed commercial activity. On 27 March 2026, SAMA granted Lean Technologies its first Major Payment Institution licence specifically for open banking, and SAMA formally announced the start of open-banking licensing on 30 March 2026. Until this point, open banking in Saudi Arabia had operated under a more constrained, sandbox-style arrangement; the Lean Technologies licence is the first instance of a firm being authorised to conduct open-banking activity as a standing commercial Major Payment Institution rather than as a sandboxed participant. This is a market-access event in the fullest sense: it establishes the authorisation pathway that subsequent open-banking entrants will follow, and it signals to the broader fintech sector that SAMA considers the open-banking use case mature enough to license at scale rather than continuing to pilot it indefinitely.

The scale of uptake that followed is notable. At Money20/20 Middle East in September 2026, SAMA's Governor stated that more than 307 entities now operate under the open-banking framework. That figure, delivered only months after the first licence was granted, indicates that the regulatory architecture built around Circular No. 472047719 and the Lean Technologies precedent was already supporting a substantial population of participants rather than a handful of early movers. It also suggests that a meaningful pool of firms had been positioning themselves for licensed open-banking status before the framework opened, consistent with a sandbox cohort having been readied for graduation into commercial licensing.

Taken together, the revised oversight framework and the open-banking licensing launch represent the most significant market-access development in the Saudi payments sector this cycle. The revised framework is the structural instrument; the open-banking licensing is its most visible downstream consequence. Firms assessing market entry into the Kingdom's payments sector should treat the March 2026 circular as the current authoritative statement of SAMA's oversight expectations for payment systems and operators, superseding the 2021 framework in its entirety, and should treat the Lean Technologies licence as the reference precedent for how an open-banking-focused Major Payment Institution application is likely to be assessed going forward.

Outlook

The pace at which open-banking licensing attracted participants, 307 entities within roughly six months of the first licence, suggests SAMA is likely to continue processing open-banking and other Major Payment Institution applications at a brisk tempo rather than treating Lean Technologies as an isolated flagship grant. Market participants should watch for further SAMA statements quantifying licensing uptake, and for any second or third wave of named licensees that would confirm the framework is scaling beyond its first mover. The revised oversight framework issued under Circular No. 472047719 should be read as the durable baseline against which future licensing activity will be assessed until SAMA next revises it; given the pace of change demonstrated this cycle, a further revision inside the next eighteen to twenty-four months is plausible, as scheduled, should the open-banking cohort's growth or risk profile prompt recalibration of the supervisory requirements.

Periodic update · new data 2026-09-28

Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access

Saudi Arabia's open banking market access framework crossed a structural threshold this cycle. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) commenced formal licensing of fintech companies to provide open banking services, granting first licences to two fintech firms on 26 March 2026. This followed completion of the regulatory sandbox phase, meaning the licensed firms had already operated under supervised, time-bound experimental conditions before qualifying for standing licensed status. The distinction between sandbox participation and formal licensure matters for market-access analysis: sandbox status confers a bounded, revocable permission to test a service, while formal licensing under SAMA confers an ongoing authorised-activity status subject to the full weight of SAMA's supervisory regime.

The statutory basis for this licensing action is the Law of Payments and Payment Services, the governing statute that defines Payment Services, Payment Systems, and the licensable activities that sit under SAMA's Board-issued Regulations. This is the same statutory perimeter that governs both bank and non-bank payment institutions operating in the Kingdom, and the open-banking licences granted this cycle sit within the non-bank payment-institution and electronic-money-institution category rather than the bank-supervised category, an important distinction for understanding which prudential and conduct requirements attach to the newly licensed firms.

The practical significance of this development extends beyond the two named licensees. Having built and operated a functioning sandbox-to-licence pathway for open banking specifically, SAMA has demonstrated a repeatable regulatory-maturation model that other sandboxed fintech categories, whether in payments-adjacent services, digital-asset infrastructure, or other emerging categories, could plausibly follow. This is a confirmed-confidence, high-impact finding directly sourced to the Saudi Press Agency and SAMA's own media centre, giving it strong evidentiary weight for a market-access development.

Outlook

The next marker to watch is whether SAMA extends formal licensing to additional open-banking applicants beyond the initial two firms, and whether any other sandboxed fintech category shows signs of following the same sandbox-to-licence trajectory. The regulatory perimeter question, specifically how non-bank payment institutions and electronic-money institutions are treated relative to banks under the same licensing regime, remains a useful analytical lens for tracking how the licensed open-banking category matures.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (19)
  1. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/law-payments-and-payment-servicesretrieved
  2. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/implementing-regulations-payments-and-payment-services-lawretrieved
  3. T3https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=36edd3a6-fb14-4556-abe1-39c321cc7dberetrieved
  4. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/guidelines-apply-payment-service-providers-licenseretrieved
  5. T3https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/financial-services-regulation-2025/saudi-arabiaretrieved
  6. T3SAMA — SAMA — Modernised Oversight Framework for Payment Systems and their Operators, with formal SIPS classification; consultation open 15 days to 27 November 2026retrieved
  7. T1SAMA — SAMA — Open banking programme in formal licensing status since 26 March 2026; Open Banking Forum held 16 September 2026 on Payment Initiation Services readinessretrieved
  8. T2Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — 2021 Oversight Framework for Payment Systems and Their Operators with a new framework (Circular 472047719, 8 Mar 2026).retrieved
  9. T1Lean Technologies — Lean Technologies — SAMA's first Major Payment Institution licence for Open Banking (27 Mar 2026), transitioning open banking from sandbox to licensed commercial activity.retrieved
  10. T3SAMA — SAMA and CMA published updated guidance (mid-2026) clarifying which fintech business models require SAMA licensing versus operating through a licensed partner.retrieved
  11. T3Saudi Arabia fintech sector — Saudi Arabia fintech sector — Over 200 licensed fintech entities now operate covering payment processing, BNPL, digital lending, robo-advisory and open banking.retrieved
  12. T1SAMA (Saudi Central Bank) — SAMA (Saudi Central Bank) — Law of Payments and Payment Services (Royal Decree M/26, 22/03/1443H) and its Implementing Regulation (effective 13/06/2023G), which repealed and replaced the 30/01/2020 PSP framework; SAMA is the competent licensing and supervisory authority for payment systems and PSPs.
  13. T3SAMA non-bank PSP licence taxonomy — SAMA non-bank PSP licence taxonomy — Micro PI (SAR 1m, capped SAR 20,000/customer/month), Major PI (SAR 3m, cross-border permitted), Micro EMI (SAR 2m), Major EMI (SAR 10m); PI/EMI distinguished by whether the entity may issue electronic money.
  14. T1Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — SAMA commenced formal licensing of fintech companies to provide open banking services, granting first licences to two fintech firms on 26 March 2026, following completion of the regulatory sandbox phase.retrieved
  15. T1Law of Payments and Payment Services — Law of Payments and Payment Services — Governing statute defining Payment Services, Payment Systems and licensable activities under SAMA's Board-issued Regulations.
  16. T1Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — A person may not operate a payment system or provide payment services in the Kingdom unless licensed by SAMA.retrieved
  17. T1Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — Micro PI SAR 1,000,000; Major PI SAR 3,000,000; Micro EMI SAR 2,000,000; Major EMI SAR 10,000,000.retrieved
  18. T1Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — Major PI must maintain the higher of Art 44 figure or 1% of Average Monthly Payment Transaction Value; Major EMI must maintain the higher of Art 44 figure or 2% of Total Average Outstanding Electronic Money.retrieved
  19. T3Micro Payment Institution licence tier — Micro Payment Institution licence tier — A Micro PI must not provide services cross-border to persons outside the Kingdom; a Major PI is not subject to this restriction.retrieved

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Conduct and safeguarding for KSA PSPs sit within the Implementing Regulation of the Law of Payments and Payment Services, which includes dedicated parts on consumer protection, financial inclusion, e-money issuance/redemption, outsourcing and risk. EMIs must redeem e-money at par and safeguard funds (pooled account discipline applies to PSP customer funds per SAMA rules). Conduct obligations cover governance, fit-and-proper senior appointments, framework-contract disclosure and ongoing financial reporting. Promotions/advertising norms are layered onto specific regimes (e.g. BNPL advertising transparency rules). SAMA is the supervising authority.

Open gap — wpm-int-22025 SAMA credit card and BNPL circulars (surcharging, 2% international fee cap, merchant-fee pass-through ban) not located on the open rulebook within budget.Merchant-acquiring ops and legal infrastructure are fleet-flagged under-indexed vectors; no coverage this cycle.
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 209 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Conduct, Safeguarding & Financial Promotions

The conduct and safeguarding layer in Saudi Arabia is codified through the Implementing Regulation's consumer-protection and e-money redemption provisions. EMIs must issue and redeem electronic money at par value, and activities requiring a pooled customer-funds account fall within the defined scope of payment services under Article 5-1, requiring a SAMA licence and adherence to fund-handling requirements. This pooled customer-funds account discipline is the safeguarding mechanism — a segregation regime governing how non-bank EMIs hold and protect customer money, distinct from bank-PSP deposit protection. Conduct obligations layered on top include fit-and-proper requirements, beneficial-ownership disclosure at the 10% threshold, and quarterly and annual reporting.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (7)
  1. T1https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/LawsRegulations/DocLib/Implementing_Regulations_for_Law_of_Payments_and_Payment_Services-EN.pdfretrieved
  2. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/rules-dealing-e-commerce-payment-service-and-support-providers-0retrieved
  3. T1https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/payment/Documents/PSPs%20Regulations%20111.pdf
  4. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/new-banking-products-and-services-regulationretrieved
  5. T1Implementing Regulation Part 5/6 (consumer protection, e-money redemption) — Implementing Regulation Part 5/6 (consumer protection, e-money redemption) — EMIs must issue and redeem electronic money at par value; activities requiring a pooled customer-funds account fall within the defined scope of payment services (Article 5-1), requiring a SAMA licence and adherence to fund-handling requirements.
  6. T1SAMA Complaint Management System (Circular 1185) — SAMA Complaint Management System (Circular 1185) — The SAMACARES complaints channel was replaced by the Complaint Management System per SAMA Circular 1185, effective 1/7/2025G, alongside updated Debt Collection Regulations.
  7. T1Payment Service Provider — A Payment Service Provider must safeguard customer funds immediately upon receipt in a separate account with a Licensed Bank (or another SAMA-accepted method), subject to daily reconciliation and SAMA non-objection for safeguarding policies.retrieved

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SAMA's Rules for Electronic Wallets (in force from 11 February 2025) require electronic money companies to classify customers and ensure no customer holds e-money or performs payment transactions exceeding SAMA-set financial limits per calendar month, and to apply SAMA's fintech-customer verification and anti-financial-fraud controls.

Key judgment — Probable · impact SAMA's 2025 Rules for Electronic Wallets add a further layer of operational control over e-money balances and transactions, consistent with a gradual tightening of the digital-money conduct perimeter rather than a liberalisation.claims: none recorded
Horizon · 2026 (± a year)KSA nationally regulated stablecoin framework (SAMA + CMA joint oversight)Proposed · Tier 3 source
Horizon · 2026 (± a year)KSA nationally regulated stablecoin framework (SAMA + CMA joint oversight)Proposed · Tier 3 source
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 240 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Stablecoins & Digital Money

Digital money in Saudi Arabia divides cleanly between what is licensed and what is not. E-money is licensed under the EMI regime, but private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins remain outside the formal regulatory perimeter. A late-2025 ministerial announcement of nationally regulated stablecoins under joint SAMA and CMA oversight remains at policy-design stage with no licensing, reserve-backing or redemption rules published. This must be read as proposed-not-enacted: the e-money definition explicitly excludes virtual assets, and banks have been barred from crypto absent SAMA approval since a 2018 standing-committee declaration. No enacted stablecoin perimeter means digital-money market access remains confined to the licensed EMI route, and stablecoin issuance is not yet a permitted payment instrument in the Kingdom.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (9)
  1. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/implementing-regulations-payments-and-payment-services-lawretrieved
  2. T2https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2025/01/falqs-regulation-of-cryptocurrencies-in-the-gulf-cooperation-council-countries-part-one/retrieved
  3. T3https://www.plasma.to/learn/tools/stablecoin-regulation-map/saudi-arabiaretrieved
  4. T1https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-us/mediacenter/news/pages/news-812.aspxretrieved
  5. T3https://iclg.com/practice-areas/fintech-laws-and-regulations/saudi-arabia/retrieved
  6. T3KSA stablecoin/virtual-asset regulatory perimeter — KSA stablecoin/virtual-asset regulatory perimeter — E-money is licensed (EMI regime) but private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins remain outside the formal regulatory perimeter; a late-2025 ministerial announcement of nationally regulated stablecoins under joint SAMA+CMA oversight remains at policy-design stage with no licensing, reserve-backing or redemption rules published.
  7. T1SAMA CBDC programme (digital riyal) — SAMA CBDC programme (digital riyal) — SAMA continues wholesale-focused CBDC experimentation with local banks/fintechs building on the 2019 Project Aber pilot with the UAE; in 2024 SAMA joined the BIS-hosted mBridge multi-CBDC project (MVP stage) for cross-border interbank settlement. No decision to introduce a CBDC has been made.
  8. T1Rules for Electronic Wallets — Rules for Electronic Wallets — An electronic money company must classify customers and ensure no customer holds e-money or performs payment transactions exceeding SAMA-set financial limits within the calendar month.retrieved
  9. T1Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services Law — An EMI must issue electronic money at par value on receipt of funds and, at the user's request, must redeem the funds' value of e-money held at any time at par value; EMI may not grant interest or any benefit related to time held.retrieved

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Operational resilience for SAMA-regulated entities (banks, PSPs, finance and insurance firms) rests on the SAMA Cyber Security Framework (v1.0, May 2017), the Business Continuity Management Framework, and the Cyber Resilience Fundamental Requirements (CRFR) which applies as a licensing/sandbox gate. The CSF is a mandatory, maturity-based model spanning governance, risk, asset/data protection, access control, incident management, third-party risk and business continuity, with board-level accountability. The BCM framework mandates MAO/RTO/RPO definitions, crisis management and testing. PDPL (2023, enforced Sept 2024) adds data-protection obligations supervised alongside SAMA.

Kept on Dataprotection.gi, not restated here: data and cloud switching obligations on service providers, including notice periods and charges. Open its jurisdiction pages on Dataprotection.gi →

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 180 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure

Operational resilience in Saudi Arabia rests on a layered, mandatory regime. The maturity-based SAMA Cyber Security Framework (v1.0, May 2017), the Business Continuity Management Framework with its MAO/RTO/RPO measures, and the Cyber Resilience Fundamental Requirements together constitute the resilience regime, with the CRFR operating as a licensing and sandbox gate and board-level accountability throughout. The CRFR sets minimum cyber-resilience licensing requirements for sandbox and licence applicants, making resilience compliance a precondition for market entry rather than an ongoing-supervision afterthought. The Personal Data Protection Law, enforced from September 2024, adds a data-protection layer supervised by SDAIA with SAMA and NCA involvement.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (9)
  1. T1https://www.rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/cyber-security-framework-2retrieved
  2. T1https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/Laws/BankingRules/BCM%20framework.pdfretrieved
  3. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/cyber-resilience-fundamental-requirements-crfr-1retrieved
  4. T3https://resourcehub.bakermckenzie.com/en/resources/global-data-and-cyber-handbook/emea/saudi-arabia/topics/regulators-enforcement-priorities-and-penaltiesretrieved
  5. T3SAMA — SAMA Circular 472047719 (8 March 2026) established a new Oversight Framework on Payment Systems and Their Operators, superseding the 4 August 2021 framework, following a December 2025 public consultation.retrieved
  6. T3SAMA — SAMA launched a new e-commerce payments interface on 7 July 2025 intended to streamline digital-transaction integration and reduce technical fragmentation for PSPs and merchants.retrieved
  7. T1SAMA Cyber Security Framework / BCM Framework / CRFR — SAMA Cyber Security Framework / BCM Framework / CRFR — Operational resilience rests on the mandatory maturity-based SAMA Cyber Security Framework (v1.0, May 2017), the Business Continuity Management Framework (MAO/RTO/RPO measures), and the Cyber Resilience Fundamental Requirements (CRFR) operating as a licensing/sandbox gate, with board-level accountability.
  8. T1SAMA Cyber Security Framework — SAMA Cyber Security Framework — A Member Organization must inform SAMA IT Risk Supervision immediately when a medium or high classified security incident occurs, and submit a formal incident report within five days after resuming operations.retrieved
  9. T3SAMA Rules on Outsourcing — SAMA Rules on Outsourcing — Material outsourcing arrangements (including cloud) require SAMA's prior non-objection, with due diligence on the service provider and SAMA audit/inspection rights.retrieved

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Domestic card routing runs through mada, the national debit scheme operated by Saudi Payments (a SAMA subsidiary), mandated on every Saudi bank card; international Visa/Mastercard co-badge for cross-border and credit. Interchange/MSC is capped by SAMA: mada debit MSC limited to 0.80% (capped ~SAR 40 per transaction), with effective-2025 caps on international card fees (2%) and free e-wallet top-ups via credit cards. EMVco-compliant unified QR (ISO 20022) and tokenised/biometric mada acceptance are in force. ZATCA 'Fatoora' e-invoicing imposes parallel compliance on merchant systems.

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 174 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Scheme & Network Compliance

The scheme layer in Saudi Arabia is anchored by a mandatory domestic rail. mada, the national debit scheme operated by Saudi Payments (a SAMA subsidiary), is mandated on every Saudi bank card; SAMA caps the mada debit MSC at 0.80% (roughly SAR 40 per transaction), with effective-2025 caps on international card fees of 2% and free e-wallet top-ups via credit cards. Domestic routing flows through mada, with Visa and Mastercard co-badging for cross-border and credit transactions. The unified QR is built on ISO 20022 and EMVco standards, and mada runs natively in Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (6)
  1. T1https://my.gov.sa/en/content/epaymentretrieved
  2. T3https://juspay.io/en-ae/blog/a-strategic-guide-to-the-payments-landscape-in-saudi-arabiaretrieved
  3. T3https://issuu.com/meafinance/docs/march-2022/s/15012459retrieved
  4. T3https://whitesight.net/how-saudi-arabia-engineered-a-digital-payments-boom/retrieved
  5. T1mada national debit scheme (Saudi Payments) — mada national debit scheme (Saudi Payments) — mada, the national debit scheme operated by Saudi Payments (a SAMA subsidiary), is mandated on every Saudi bank card; SAMA caps the mada debit MSC at 0.80% (~SAR 40/transaction), with effective-2025 caps on international card fees (2%) and free e-wallet top-ups via credit cards.
  6. T1Mada e-commerce interchange fee — Mada e-commerce interchange fee — Bank interchange fee of 0.70% of purchase transaction value paid by acquiring bank to issuing bank for mada e-commerce transactions, with no cap.retrieved

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Domestic instant rail is sarie (Instant Payment System, launched 2021), a 24/7 low-value (≤ SAR 20,000) overlay settling through the SARIE RTGS, supporting alias identifiers (mobile, national ID, Iqama, email). For cross-border, Saudi Arabia is a founding participant in AFAQ — the GCC cross-currency RTGS (live December 2021, operated via Gulf Payments Company owned by the six GCC central banks) — and connects to Buna (Arab Monetary Fund multilateral platform). SWIFT remains the primary international correspondent messaging layer. SAR is not freely convertible and is pegged at 3.75/USD; cross-border SAR movements require licensed bank participation. KSA hosts one of the world's largest remittance corridors.

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 231 words · last cycle 2026-10-11

Payment Corridor Dynamics

Saudi Arabia's corridor architecture combines a domestic instant rail with regional cross-border settlement layers. The sarie Instant Payment System, owned by SAMA and launched in 2021, is a 24/7 low-value (up to SAR 20,000) overlay settling through the SARIE RTGS, supporting alias identifiers (mobile, national ID, Iqama, email, unified commercial number) for transfers up to SAR 2,500 without adding a beneficiary. This alias-based instant rail is the basis for Pay-by-Bank open-banking initiation that bypasses card networks, underpinning lower-cost account-to-account acquiring alternatives.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-11

Payment Corridor Dynamics

A concrete step in Gulf card-scheme interoperability took shape on 16 September 2026, when the Saudi Central Bank and the Qatar Central Bank signed a cross-border card-scheme interoperability agreement linking the Saudi domestic scheme, mada, with its Qatari counterpart, HIMYAN. The agreement was announced at Money20/20 Middle East, placing it in the category of a formally signed, publicly announced scheme-level arrangement rather than a mere statement of intent. For a corridor that handles substantial bilateral commercial, tourism and labour-remittance-adjacent card traffic between the two Gulf states, a direct scheme-to-scheme linkage is a material development: it allows cardholders enrolled in one domestic scheme to transact using the other's acceptance infrastructure without routing through an international card network as an intermediary, which has implications for transaction cost, settlement speed and the degree of domestic-scheme control each central bank retains over cross-border card flows passing through its jurisdiction.

This development should be read against the broader pattern of domestic card-scheme proliferation and bilateral linkage-building across the GCC. mada is Saudi Arabia's long-established domestic debit scheme, operated under SAMA's oversight; HIMYAN is Qatar's domestic equivalent. A bilateral interoperability agreement between the two, rather than reliance on a unified pan-GCC settlement mechanism, indicates that Gulf payment integration is currently proceeding through a network of bilateral scheme agreements rather than through a single centralised GCC-wide rail. This corridor-building approach allows each central bank to negotiate terms specific to its own scheme's risk tolerance and commercial priorities, at the cost of a more fragmented overall interoperability map across the region compared with a single unified scheme.

The mada-HIMYAN agreement sits alongside the licensing and oversight-framework developments described elsewhere this cycle, and together they describe a Saudi payments sector that is extending its reach in two directions simultaneously: domestically, through wider licensing of open-banking participants, and externally, through scheme-level agreements that extend mada's acceptance footprint beyond Saudi borders. Firms with card-acquiring or cross-border payment operations touching both Saudi Arabia and Qatar should treat the interoperability agreement as the first formal step toward reduced friction in that specific corridor, while recognising that operational implementation details, such as the settlement mechanics and timeline for full interoperability, were not disclosed at the September 2026 announcement.

Outlook

The mada-HIMYAN agreement is likely to be the first of several bilateral Gulf card-scheme interoperability arrangements SAMA pursues, given the precedent it sets for extending a domestic scheme's acceptance footprint without waiting for a unified GCC-wide settlement infrastructure. Whether SAMA or the Gulf Cooperation Council's broader institutional architecture moves toward a more centralised multilateral card-interoperability framework, rather than continuing with bilateral agreements corridor by corridor, is a question this cycle's evidence does not resolve, and market participants should treat any claim about a broader pan-GCC mechanism as unconfirmed until a primary announcement names one.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (7)
  1. T1https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/payment/pages/Sarie.aspxretrieved
  2. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/operating-rules-cross-currency-payments-using-afaq-serviceretrieved
  3. T3https://clearingpost.com/insights/saudi-arabia-payment-infrastructure-guide-sarie-mada-sadad/retrieved
  4. T3https://www.theasianbanker.com/updates-and-articles/cross-border-payments-in-the-middle-east-become-more-inclusiveretrieved
  5. T1sarie Instant Payment System — sarie Instant Payment System — sarie (Instant Payment System, owned by SAMA, launched 2021) is a 24/7 low-value (≤ SAR 20,000) overlay settling through the SARIE RTGS, supporting alias identifiers (mobile, national ID, Iqama, email, unified commercial number) for transfers up to SAR 2,500 without adding a beneficiary.
  6. T1AFAQ GCC cross-currency RTGS — AFAQ GCC cross-currency RTGS — AFAQ is the GCC cross-currency cross-border RTGS service owned/managed by the six GCC central banks via Gulf Payments Company; the cross-currency service launched 10 December 2020 with Saudi/Bahrain participation from December 2021. SAMA operates the domestic RTGS interface to the AFAQ central component. Saudi Arabia also connects to Buna (Arab Monetary Fund).
  7. T3SAMA / Qatar Central Bank — SAMA / Qatar Central Bank — Cross-border card-scheme interoperability agreement linking mada (SA) and HIMYAN (Qatar).retrieved

#

The KSA payments market is dominated by SAMA's subsidiary Saudi Payments operating the national rails (mada, SADAD, sarie, Esal) and by a concentrated bank-acquiring layer alongside fast-growing fintechs. Al Rajhi Bank leads merchant acquiring (~41% of POS terminals); Geidea dominates POS/softPOS hardware (~75% share); STC Bank (formerly STC Pay) is a fully licensed digital bank leading wallets, P2P and remittances; SNB is prominent in card payments and instant transfers. The Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Programme targets growth from 82 fintechs (2020) to 525 by 2030, with 216 fintechs and SAR 2.7bn funding by end-2023. Electronic payments hit 79% of retail transactions in 2024, beating the 70% target early.

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 205 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Industry Structure & Commercial Dynamics

The Saudi payments market is concentrated around state-owned rails and bank-led acquiring. The market is dominated by SAMA subsidiary Saudi Payments, which operates the mada, SADAD, sarie and Esal rails; Al Rajhi Bank leads acquiring at roughly 41% of POS terminals, Geidea dominates POS and softPOS hardware at roughly 75%, STC Bank leads wallets, P2P and remittances, and SNB is prominent in cards and instant transfers. The Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Programme targets 525 fintechs by 2030, with 216 firms and SAR 2.7bn in funding recorded by end-2023, and electronic payments reached 79% of retail transactions in 2024 — exceeding the FSDP's 70% digital-payment target early.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (5)
  1. T2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Central_Bankretrieved
  2. T3https://juspay.io/en-ae/blog/a-strategic-guide-to-the-payments-landscape-in-saudi-arabiaretrieved
  3. T3https://iclg.com/practice-areas/fintech-laws-and-regulations/saudi-arabia/retrieved
  4. T3https://vision2030.ai/sectors/financial-services/payments/retrieved
  5. T3KSA payments market structure — KSA payments market structure — Market dominated by SAMA subsidiary Saudi Payments (mada/SADAD/sarie/Esal rails); Al Rajhi Bank leads acquiring (~41% POS terminals), Geidea dominates POS/softPOS hardware (~75%), STC Bank leads wallets/P2P/remittances, SNB prominent in cards/instant transfers. FSDP targets 525 fintechs by 2030 (216 firms, SAR 2.7bn funding by end-2023); electronic payments hit 79% of retail transactions in 2024.

Payments-related enforcement in KSA is administrative and supervisory rather than common-law litigation-driven. SAMA publicly announces penalties against financial institutions and maintains 'Instructions for Publishing Banking Penalties'. The CMA actively pursues market manipulation and securities fraud (e.g. May 2025 referral of suspects to Public Prosecution; Oct 2023 SAR 4.2m fines on two companies). The Anti-Financial Fraud and Breach of Trust Law (with Executive Regulations) criminalises fraud with penalties up to 7 years and SAR 5m. PDPL breaches carry fines up to SAR 5m supervised by SDAIA/SAMA. Payments disputes under the Law of Payments must first undergo a 30-day amicable settlement before judicial referral.

Horizon · 2026-10-28 (± a quarter)New Enforcement Law bills-of-exchange registration requirement enters forceAdopted, not yet in force · Tier 3 source
Horizon · 2026-10-28 (± a quarter)New Enforcement Law bills-of-exchange registration requirement enters forceAdopted, not yet in force · Tier 3 source
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 145 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Legal & Litigation

Payments enforcement in Saudi Arabia is administrative and supervisory rather than common-law litigation-driven. SAMA publicly announces penalties and maintains 'Instructions for Publishing Banking Penalties'. The Anti-Financial Fraud and Breach of Trust Law criminalises fraud with penalties up to 7 years' imprisonment or SAR 5m. Payments disputes must undergo a 30-day amicable settlement before judicial referral, a structural feature that shapes dispute-resolution exposure for payment firms. Separately, the CMA pursues securities-fraud enforcement, and PDPL breaches carry penalties up to SAR 5m.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (8)
  1. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/law-payments-and-payment-servicesretrieved
  2. T3https://www.commenda.io/saudi-arabia/penalties-for-non-complianceretrieved
  3. T3https://www.zigram.tech/article/saudi-arabia-antifinancial-crime/retrieved
  4. T3https://nawaf-law.com.sa/en/
  5. T3New Saudi Enforcement Law (Royal Decree M/237) — New Saudi Enforcement Law (Royal Decree M/237) — Under Article 7(1)(d), bills of exchange and promissory notes qualify as enforcement instruments only if registered on national electronic platforms; forthcoming implementing regulations to set conditions/procedures.retrieved
  6. T3New Saudi Enforcement Law (Royal Decree M/237) — New Saudi Enforcement Law (Royal Decree M/237) — Instruments issued before 28 October 2026 remain directly enforceable, unregistered, for a one-year transitional period; prior judgments/orders remain valid.retrieved
  7. T1KSA payments enforcement regime — KSA payments enforcement regime — Payments enforcement is administrative/supervisory; SAMA publicly announces penalties and maintains 'Instructions for Publishing Banking Penalties'. The Anti-Financial Fraud and Breach of Trust Law criminalises fraud (up to 7 years / SAR 5m). Payments disputes must undergo 30-day amicable settlement before judicial referral.
  8. T1Law of Payments and Payment Services — Law of Payments and Payment Services — A fine not exceeding SAR 25 million, licence suspension, warning notice, or licence revocation for violations.retrieved

#

Acquiring is bank-led, dominated by Al Rajhi (~41% POS share) with Geidea providing the bulk of POS/softPOS hardware (~75%). mada integration is effectively mandatory for domestic card acceptance, alongside dual integration with Visa/Mastercard for cross-border. SAMA caps the mada debit MSC at 0.80% (~SAR 40 cap) protecting merchant margins. SAMA has issued new merchant-acquirer licences and opened QR/Tap-to-Phone acceptance, driving POS terminal counts past 1 million. Merchants must also integrate POS/ERP with ZATCA's 'Fatoora' e-invoicing portal (phased rollout, cryptographic stamps, penalties for non-compliance). Open-banking pay-by-bank is emerging as a lower-cost acquiring alternative.

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 190 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Merchant Acquiring & Risk

Merchant acquiring in Saudi Arabia is bank-led and concentrated, with Al Rajhi at roughly 41% of POS terminals and Geidea at roughly 75% of hardware. mada integration is effectively mandatory for domestic card acceptance, sitting alongside dual Visa and Mastercard integration, and SAMA's 0.80% mada MSC cap protects merchant margins. Merchants must integrate POS and ERP systems with ZATCA 'Fatoora' e-invoicing, which uses cryptographic stamps and is being rolled out in phases. Open-banking Pay-by-Bank is emerging as a lower-cost alternative to card acceptance. BNPL providers such as Tabby and Tamara are SAMA-regulated and embedded across checkout; POS counts have passed one million, and POS card transactions grew from 2.9bn in 2020 to 10.4bn in 2024.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (6)
  1. T3https://clearingpost.com/insights/saudi-arabia-payment-infrastructure-guide-sarie-mada-sadad/retrieved
  2. T3https://juspay.io/en-ae/blog/a-strategic-guide-to-the-payments-landscape-in-saudi-arabiaretrieved
  3. T3https://whitesight.net/how-saudi-arabia-engineered-a-digital-payments-boom/retrieved
  4. T3https://www.orchestrapay.com/coverage/middle-east/saudi-arabiaretrieved
  5. T3KSA merchant acquiring layer — KSA merchant acquiring layer — Acquiring is bank-led (Al Rajhi ~41% POS, Geidea ~75% hardware); mada integration is effectively mandatory for domestic card acceptance alongside dual Visa/Mastercard integration. SAMA's 0.80% mada MSC cap protects merchant margins. Merchants must integrate POS/ERP with ZATCA 'Fatoora' e-invoicing (cryptographic stamps, phased rollout). Open-banking Pay-by-Bank is emerging as a lower-cost alternative.
  6. T1Payment Transaction Acquiring — Payment Transaction Acquiring — Acquiring of payment transactions is a licensable payment service requiring SAMA authorisation as a payment institution.retrieved

#

KSA innovation is regulator-led under Vision 2030's FSDP. SAMA launched the Open Banking Framework (Open Banking Policy Dec 2020; framework launched Nov 2022), with the Open Banking Lab (2022/2023) for conformance testing; Account Information Services then Payment Initiation Services (PIS, major update Sept 2024) are in production. SAMA runs a Regulatory Sandbox issuing limited test licences (open banking platforms XSquare/NeotTek, P2P lender MoneyMoon approved). The 'View My Bank Accounts' fraud-prevention service launched May 2024. CBDC research (wholesale, mBridge) and Tarabut/Sharia-compliant micro-lending pilots continue. STC Pay's conversion to a full digital bank exemplifies product build-out.

Key judgment — Probable · impact Saudi Arabia's payments market continued a liberalising trajectory this cycle, marked by the transition of open banking from sandbox to full licensing and continued large-scale BNPL financing activity (Tabby, Tamara), while the core licensing and penalty framework under the Law and Implementing Regulations of Payments and Payment Services remained stable.claims: none recorded
Open gap — wpm-int-1Primary text of SAMA Open Banking Framework (Glossary, Use Cases, Business Rules, Technical Standards) not directly accessible; available only on request from SAMA's Open Banking Team.Launch-hype risk: the late-2025 stablecoin announcement must not be over-indexed as enacted.
Horizon · 2026-05-27 (± a quarter)CMA FinTech ExPermit Instructions consultation closesConsultation · Tier 1 source
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 178 words · last cycle 2026-11-04

Product Innovation & Market Development

Saudi Arabia's open-banking surface is operational and maturing. SAMA launched the Open Banking Policy in December 2020, the Open Banking Lab in May 2022 and the framework in November 2022; Account Information Services and then Payment Initiation Services — with a major PIS update in September 2024 — are now in production. A 'View My Bank Accounts' fraud-prevention service launched in May 2024. The sandbox has approved XSquare and NeotTek for open banking and MoneyMoon for P2P lending, and only SAMA-authorised firms may use the APIs. Pay-by-Bank is operational, pulling funds via sarie and bypassing card networks, and STC Pay has converted to a fully licensed digital bank as STC Bank.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-25

Product Innovation & Market Development

The Saudi Central Bank's updated finance companies regulation, issued in the period under review, amended licensing rules applicable to finance-support activities, a change relevant to the broader market-development landscape for non-bank lending and finance-adjacent product innovation in the Kingdom. This sits alongside, rather than replaces, the core payment-systems licensing track, and together with the proposed Systemically Important Payment System classification consultation, it reflects a regulator incrementally refining the rulebook across multiple adjacent product categories rather than concentrating reform in a single area.

The finance-companies regulation update is a watch-level rather than escalating development at this stage: the available sourcing describes the update as an amendment to existing licensing rules for finance-support activities without indicating a wholesale restructuring of the finance-company licensing category. For firms operating finance-support activities under Saudi Central Bank authorisation, the practical implication is a need to review current licensing terms against the amended rules to confirm continued compliance, though the scope of change described in available sourcing is narrower than the systemic payment-oversight consultation running in parallel.

Read in the context of the Kingdom's broader fintech product landscape, this regulatory refinement occurs against a backdrop of continued strong fintech investment activity, including in embedded-finance products, suggesting that product innovation in adjacent categories continues even as the regulator works through incremental rule updates in established licensing categories like finance companies.

Outlook

Further detail on the scope and effective date of the amended finance companies regulation would clarify which finance-support activities are most affected. Given the pattern of incremental, multi-track regulatory refinement observed, finance-company licensees should expect continued periodic rule updates as the Saudi Central Bank works through its broader modernisation agenda across both payment-systems oversight and adjacent non-bank finance categories.

2 earlier distinct update(s)
Periodic update · new data 2026-10-11

Product Innovation & Market Development

Open banking is the defining product-development story in Saudi Arabia's payments sector this cycle, and its trajectory is best understood as a transition from controlled experimentation to licensed commercial product. SAMA's licensing of Lean Technologies as the first Major Payment Institution authorised for open banking, on 27 March 2026, formally ended the period in which open-banking activity in the Kingdom was confined to sandbox-style testing. SAMA's own public announcement, on 30 March 2026, of the start of open-banking licensing confirms that this was a deliberate, programme-level regulatory decision rather than an isolated grant to a single favoured applicant.

The market's response to that regulatory opening has been rapid by the measure SAMA itself has offered: at Money20/20 Middle East in September 2026, the SAMA Governor stated that over 307 entities now operate under the open-banking framework. Whether all 307 are themselves licensed Major Payment Institutions, or whether the figure also captures firms operating as technical service providers, data recipients or other categories connected to the open-banking ecosystem, is not specified in the sourcing available this cycle, but the scale of the figure nonetheless indicates that the product category has moved well beyond a pilot cohort. An ecosystem of that size implies open banking has become a live distribution channel for account-information and payment-initiation products across the Saudi financial sector, rather than a capability held by a small number of early licensees.

This product-development shift did not occur in a vacuum. It followed directly from the March 2026 replacement of SAMA's payment-systems oversight framework (Circular No. 472047719), which reset the authorisation baseline against which open-banking and other payment-service applications are now assessed. Reading the oversight-framework revision and the open-banking licensing launch together, the product innovation observed this cycle is regulator-enabled rather than regulator-following: SAMA appears to have built the licensing pathway in anticipation of, or in close coordination with, the market readiness that then produced the 307-entity figure within months.

Outlook

The open-banking ecosystem's growth to over 307 entities within roughly six months of the first licensing grant suggests the product category is likely to continue expanding, with further announcements of licensed entrants plausible over the coming cycles. A useful signal to track will be whether SAMA begins publishing a more granular breakdown of the open-banking participant population, distinguishing licensed Major Payment Institutions from other categories of ecosystem participant, which would allow a clearer read on how much of the reported growth reflects genuine new licensing activity as opposed to technical integrations by firms already otherwise regulated.

Periodic update · new data 2026-09-28

Product Innovation & Market Development

Three distinct product-innovation strands developed in Saudi Arabia's payments and digital-asset infrastructure this cycle, each sourced independently and each with its own confidence profile. First, SAMA introduced a new e-commerce payments interface on 7 July 2025, intended to streamline digital transactions and foster innovation across the payments ecosystem; this is a confirmed-confidence finding, though sourced to a T3 professional-services outlet rather than a primary SAMA publication, and it functions as infrastructure-level product development that reduces technical fragmentation for payment service providers and merchants transacting in the Kingdom's e-commerce sector.

Second, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) opened a 30-day public consultation on amendments to the Financial Technology Experimental Permit Instructions, closing 27 May 2026. The amendments under consultation cover application-resubmission controls, a procedural refinement to how firms apply and reapply for experimental-permit status within the CMA's capital-markets fintech sandbox. This is a confirmed-confidence, T1-sourced finding, directly evidenced from the Saudi Exchange's own issuer-news channel.

Third, the Real Estate General Authority (REGA) and the CMA jointly supervised the Kingdom's first title-deed tokenization pilot, completed in November 2025, linking digital tokens to national property registers under joint REGA/CMA standards. This is a Probable-confidence finding sourced to a single T4 outlet, and it represents a genuinely novel product category for the Saudi market: the pairing of blockchain-based tokenization with an existing, authoritative national property registry, supervised jointly by a real-estate regulator and a capital-markets regulator rather than by a single agency acting alone.

Taken together, these three developments, an infrastructure-level payments interface, a procedural sandbox refinement, and a novel tokenization pilot, indicate that Saudi product innovation this cycle is occurring across multiple regulatory agencies simultaneously rather than being concentrated in a single authority's remit. This cross-agency pattern is itself a market-development signal distinct from any one individual product launch.

Outlook

The CMA's FinTech ExPermit consultation closes 27 May 2026, and its outcome will clarify whether the application-resubmission controls are adopted as proposed. Separately, whether the REGA/CMA tokenization pilot is expanded beyond its initial scope, or remains a single supervised pilot without a broader regulatory framework, is the key open question for tracking Saudi Arabia's tokenization-market trajectory into the next cycle.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (11)
  1. T1https://openbanking.sa/index-en.htmlretrieved
  2. T3https://ozoneapi.com/the-open-finance-tracker/library/ksa-open-banking-standard/retrieved
  3. T3https://iclg.com/practice-areas/fintech-laws-and-regulations/saudi-arabia/retrieved
  4. T3https://juspay.io/en-ae/blog/a-strategic-guide-to-the-payments-landscape-in-saudi-arabiaretrieved
  5. T3SAMA — SAMA — Updated Implementing Regulation of the Finance Companies Control Law, repealing prior microfinance regulations and amending licensing rules for finance support activitiesretrieved
  6. T1SAMA Open Banking Framework — SAMA Open Banking Framework — SAMA launched the Open Banking Policy (Dec 2020), Open Banking Lab (May 2022) and framework (Nov 2022); Account Information Services then Payment Initiation Services (major PIS update Sept 2024) are in production. 'View My Bank Accounts' fraud-prevention launched May 2024. Sandbox approved XSquare/NeotTek (open banking) and MoneyMoon (P2P lending). Only SAMA-authorised firms may use the APIs.
  7. T3SAMA — SAMA introduced a new e-commerce payments interface on 7 July 2025 to streamline digital transactions and foster payments-ecosystem innovation.retrieved
  8. T1Capital Market Authority (CMA) — Capital Market Authority (CMA) — CMA opened a 30-day public consultation on amendments to the Financial Technology Experimental Permit Instructions, closing 27 May 2026, covering application-resubmission controls.retrieved
  9. T4REGA / CMA — REGA / CMA — REGA completed the Kingdom's first supervised title-deed tokenization in November 2025 under joint REGA/CMA standards linking digital tokens to national property registers.retrieved
  10. T1Rules for Regulating Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) Companies — Rules for Regulating Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) Companies — BNPL activity may not be carried on except under a SAMA licence; licence valid for five years and renewable; BNPL companies must be joint stock companies.retrieved
  11. T3SAMA Open Banking Framework — SAMA Open Banking Framework — SAMA commenced licensing of the first fintech companies to provide open banking services as the regime moved from sandbox to full licensing.retrieved

#

Consumer protection is embedded in the Implementing Regulation (Part 5) and SAMA conduct rules, with a centralised Complaint Management System (replacing SAMACARES, effective 1/7/2025G) as the ombudsman-equivalent route. BNPL — large and consumer-facing (Tabby, Tamara, MIS Pay licensed/permitted by SAMA) — is regulated under the Rules for Regulating BNPL Companies (Decision 450360390000, 05/06/1445H), defining BNPL as no-term-cost consumer financing with SAR 5m minimum capital, credit limits, advertising transparency, conflict-of-interest and AML/CTF obligations. The 'View My Bank Accounts' service (May 2024) addresses account-verification fraud. There is no UK-style mandatory APP-fraud reimbursement scheme in force; sarie incorporates recipient account verification as a practical anti-error safeguard.

Movement — NEWConsumer protection and APP-fraud baseline established with unauthorized-transaction liability, complaint SLAs and biometric-auth mandateFirst v-next cycle restatement of standing SAMA consumer-protection regime for this jurisdiction.
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 192 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

Consumer Protection & APP Fraud

Buy-now-pay-later is regulated in Saudi Arabia as a consumer-finance subcategory. BNPL falls under the Rules for Regulating BNPL Companies (Decision 450360390000, 05/06/1445H) as no-term-cost consumer financing under the Finance Companies Control Law, requiring a SAMA-licensed joint-stock company with SAR 5m minimum capital, 50% Saudization, credit limits, advertising transparency, conflict-of-interest controls and AML/CTF obligations. Tabby, Tamara and MIS Pay are permitted or licensed without taking deposits. These rules define the consumer-finance licensing and conduct perimeter for the largest KSA fintech segment.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (17)
  1. T1https://argaamplus.s3.amazonaws.com/bef57897-a46c-41c2-be8d-b8d2d0449291.pdfretrieved
  2. T3https://bsalaw.com/insight/redefining-bnpl-how-samas-regulations-are-shaping-saudi-arabias-fintech-sector/retrieved
  3. T3https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/financial-services-regulation-2025/saudi-arabiaretrieved
  4. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/new-banking-products-and-services-regulationretrieved
  5. T1Payment Service Provider (KSA) — Payment Service Provider (KSA) — SAR 150 maximum payer liability for losses from lost/stolen/misappropriated payment instrument, absent fraud/gross negligenceretrieved
  6. T1Payment Service Provider (KSA) — Payment Service Provider (KSA) — Order received within specified business hours treated as received that business day; otherwise next business dayretrieved
  7. T1Payment Service Provider (KSA) — Payment Service Provider (KSA) — Must provide user with amount, fees, charges, commissions, dates/times of execution and reference numbers for each payment transactionretrieved
  8. T1Financial institution (KSA, incl. licensed PSPs) — Financial institution (KSA, incl. licensed PSPs) — Maximum 5 working days from receipt to handle a customer complaint
  9. T1Financial entity supervised by SAMA — Financial entity supervised by SAMA — 5 working days (direct complaints); 3 working days (after SAMA accepts objection); 2 working days (high-importance complaints)
  10. T1Financial institution supervised by SAMA — Financial institution supervised by SAMA — Must not initiate remote customer relationship via any channel without biometric authentication at high verification level or higher, integrated with Nafath; deadline 31 January 2023retrieved
  11. T1Financial institution (KSA, incl. complaint-handling instructions for payment institutions) — Financial institution (KSA, incl. complaint-handling instructions for payment institutions) — Level One: 5 business days; Level Two: 3 business days; SAMA response: 2 business days; 95% compliance performance target
  12. T1Financial institution (KSA) — Financial institution (KSA) — Must obtain customer's prior approval via authenticated channels for all fees/costs; must notify by SMS immediately upon deductionretrieved
  13. T1Member Organization (SAMA-regulated financial institution) — Member Organization (SAMA-regulated financial institution) — MFA required for payments to newly added payees, unusual transactions, transactions above defined threshold, and limit-increase requests; must not consist solely of SMS OTP
  14. T1BNPL company (KSA) — BNPL company (KSA) — Must comply with SAMA Rules on Outsourcing for Finance Companies; must establish complaints-handling function; subject to SAMA activity limitsretrieved
  15. T1SAMA Rules for Regulating BNPL Companies — SAMA Rules for Regulating BNPL Companies — BNPL is regulated under the Rules for Regulating BNPL Companies (Decision 450360390000, 05/06/1445H) as no-term-cost consumer financing under the Finance Companies Control Law, requiring a joint-stock company SAMA-licensed with SAR 5m minimum capital, 50% Saudization, credit limits, advertising transparency, conflict-of-interest, and AML/CTF obligations. Tabby, Tamara and MIS Pay are permitted/licensed without taking deposits.
  16. T1Financial Consumer Protection Principles and Rules — Financial Consumer Protection Principles and Rules — A financial institution must return any refund arising from a technical error or malfunction to each affected consumer without delay and within 5 working days, without waiting for a claim.retrieved
  17. T1Guide to Financial Institutions' Services Fees — Guide to Financial Institutions' Services Fees — A financial institution must obtain the customer's prior approval through authenticated channels for all fees/costs and notify the customer by SMS immediately upon deduction.retrieved

#

sentinel.position: KSA's AML/CFT regime rests on the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Royal Decree M/20, 5/2/1439H) and the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (M/21, 12/2/1439H), with implementing regulations and the SAMA AML/CTF Guide. SAMA supervises risk-based AML/CTF compliance for banks, PSPs and fintechs, with the Saudi Financial Intelligence Unit (SAFIU) receiving STRs. Saudi Arabia joined FATF in June 2019 (first Arab/37th member) and is a founding MENAFATF member; it is not on the FATF increased-monitoring (grey) list as of February 2026. SAMA also enforces Rules for Implementation of Targeted Financial Sanctions.

Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 184 words · last cycle 2026-09-05

AML/CFT & Financial Crime

This module is sourced from the Sentinel feed, and the World Payments Monitor carries provenance only; original illicit-finance analysis is routed to the Financial Intelligence Monitor as a cross-monitor flag. Per the Sentinel feed (sentinel.gi://rulebook.sama.gov.sa), KSA AML/CFT rests on the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Royal Decree M/20, 5/2/1439H) and the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (M/21), with the SAMA AML/CTF Guide setting risk-based expectations. SAFIU receives suspicious-transaction reports. Saudi Arabia joined FATF in June 2019 as the first Arab and 37th member, is a founding MENAFATF member, and is not on the FATF increased-monitoring (grey) list as of 13 February 2026. SAMA also enforces Rules for the Implementation of Targeted Financial Sanctions.

No new data since the standing brief. 1 periodic run re-emitted it unchanged.

Sources and findings (7)
  1. T1sentinel.gi://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/rules-implementation-targeted-financial-sanctions
  2. T?FIM (sentinel.gi) per-JID baseline profile — Saudi Arabia — AML regime built on the 2003 Anti-Money Laundering Statute and Implementing Regulations, supervised by SAMA (banks/insurance/finance cos), CMA (securities) and SAFIU (FIU). Legal AML framework assessed as robust in 2018 MER but CFT/effectiveness lagged; enhanced follow-up ongoing with partial re-ratings (R6, R7 upgraded to largely compliant). Crypto activity remains formally prohibited even as CBDC/tokenization pilots expand.
  3. T?FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-003) — Gap: sourcing-thinness
  4. T?FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-004) — Gap: absent-field-provenance
  5. T1FIM (sentinel.gi) enforcement_action_register (issue FIM-BASE-ENF-002) — Enforcement: OFAC — Houthi smuggling and illicit revenue-generation network (shipping companies, exchange houses)
  6. T?FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-002) — Gap: legal-gap
  7. T?FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-001) — Gap: regulatory-failure

#

All interbank settlement is managed by SAMA via the SARIE RTGS (live May 1997), which provides immediate-finality settlement in central bank money for interbank transfers, customer credit transfers and direct debits; all domestic clearing systems (mada/SPAN, SADAD, sarie, ACH cheque clearing) net-settle over SARIE. SARIE participation is restricted to banks meeting SAMA-acceptable systems, procedures and certified staff (~23 participants plus SAMA). Cross-border correspondent access uses SWIFT messaging, with AFAQ (GCC cross-currency RTGS via Gulf Payments Company) and Buna (Arab Monetary Fund) providing regional alternatives that reduce reliance on traditional correspondent banking. SAR is pegged 3.75/USD; cross-border SAR movement requires licensed bank participation. SAMA participates in BIS, FSB and FATF.

Movement — NEWFair-access obligation on payment system operators under Law of Payments and Payment Services Art 8(1)First v-next cycle restatement of correspondent/access regime for this jurisdiction.
Open gap — wpm-int-3Cross-border rail access rules (SARIE RTGS, Buna, GCC instant-payment links) not substantively covered this cycle.Correspondent-banking access vector under-indexed this cycle; no source coverage.
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 200 words · last cycle 2026-10-11

Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access

The analytical spine of this module is the bank-versus-non-bank settlement-access asymmetry. SARIE (live since May 1997) is the SAMA-operated RTGS providing immediate-finality settlement in central bank money; all domestic clearing systems — mada/SPAN, SADAD, sarie and ACH — net-settle over SARIE. Participation is restricted to banks meeting SAMA-certified systems, procedures and staff, at roughly 23 participants plus SAMA. Because participation is bank-restricted, non-bank PSPs do not hold direct SARIE accounts and require a sponsoring bank for settlement — a structural market-access constraint that sits beneath every non-bank licensing and product story in the Saudi baseline.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-11

Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access

Settlement and correspondent access for payment-system licensees in Saudi Arabia tightened materially this cycle through two SAMA circulars operating on the compliance infrastructure that sits behind, rather than replacing, the licensing framework described elsewhere. The first requires payment-system licensees to integrate beneficial-ownership verification with the Wathq service, a requirement that took effect progressively from March 2026. The second, effective 1 October 2026, requires integration with the Security Council Resolutions Notification System, operationalising real-time sanctions-designation screening directly into payment-system rails.

For the payment-system operators and licensees this affects, these are not abstract compliance obligations; they are conditions attached to continued settlement and correspondent access. A licensee that integrates beneficial-ownership verification and sanctions-screening capability into its systems is, in effect, demonstrating to SAMA and to any correspondent or sponsor bank relationship it depends on that it can meet the verification standard those counterparties require to continue extending settlement access. In a market where many payment-service providers depend on a bank or sponsor relationship for settlement finality rather than holding direct central-bank settlement access themselves, the tightening of these upstream verification requirements has a direct bearing on how comfortable sponsor banks are likely to be in continuing or expanding those relationships: a licensee operating under a more rigorous, system-integrated verification regime presents a lower de-risking concern to a sponsor bank than one relying on manual or ad hoc processes.

The timing of the sanctions-screening integration requirement, coming into force on 1 October 2026, places it squarely within the same calendar window as the broader oversight-framework revision and open-banking licensing expansion described elsewhere this cycle. Read together, SAMA's approach this cycle has been to widen who can access the payments market while simultaneously narrowing the tolerance for how those market participants demonstrate compliance with beneficial-ownership and sanctions-screening standards before they can rely on correspondent or settlement relationships. This is a structural feature of SAMA's current regulatory posture, not an isolated circular: it reflects a settlement-access regime in which market entry and compliance infrastructure are being tightened in parallel rather than sequentially.

Outlook

Payment-system operators and their sponsor-bank or correspondent counterparties should expect SAMA's emphasis on system-level, real-time verification and screening integration to continue, rather than being treated as a one-off compliance exercise satisfied by the Wathq and Security Council Resolutions Notification System integrations completed this cycle. Firms whose settlement arrangements depend on a sponsor-bank relationship are likely to face continued pressure to demonstrate equivalent system-integrated verification capability as the price of maintaining that access, particularly given the broader financial-integrity context in which these circulars sit.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (7)
  1. T1https://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d105_sa.pdf Applies beyond this jurisdiction (Basel Committee)retrieved
  2. T3https://wiki.treasurers.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabiaretrieved
  3. T1https://rulebook.sama.gov.sa/en/operating-rules-cross-currency-payments-using-afaq-serviceretrieved
  4. T2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Central_Bankretrieved
  5. T1Payment system operator / payment service provider (KSA) — Payment system operator / payment service provider (KSA) — Must provide access to systems and services based on appropriate and fair commercial principles; breach penalty up to SAR 25,000,000retrieved
  6. T1SARIE RTGS — SARIE RTGS — SARIE (live May 1997) is the SAMA-operated RTGS providing immediate-finality settlement in central bank money; all domestic clearing systems (mada/SPAN, SADAD, sarie, ACH) net-settle over SARIE. Participation is restricted to banks meeting SAMA-certified systems/procedures/staff (~23 participants plus SAMA). Cross-border uses SWIFT, with AFAQ and Buna as regional alternatives. SAMA joined BIS mBridge (full participant, MVP, June 2024); SAR pegged 3.75/USD.
  7. T1Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — BO-verification integration (Wathq, Mar 2026) and sanctions-screening integration with Security Council Resolutions Notification System (1 Oct 2026, in force) for payment-system licensees.retrieved

#

Trailing-12-month commercial activity is led by the BNPL/fintech segment. Tamara secured up to $2.4bn asset-backed Shariah-compliant financing (Goldman Sachs/Citi/Apollo, Sept 2025) and obtained Saudi Arabia's first full SAMA consumer-finance licence (March 2025). Tabby raised a $160m Series E at a $3.3bn valuation (March 2025) and is preparing a Saudi IPO (HSBC/JPM/Morgan Stanley engaged); Tabby earlier acquired digital-wallet startup Tweeq. PIF-linked Sanabil and SNB Capital remain key local backers. Money20/20 first ran in Riyadh in 2025.

Movement — NEWPlanet/Geidea DCC partnership announced 2025-12-05New commercial event surfaced this cycle.
Standing sub-brief · as of 29 June 2026 263 words · last cycle 2026-11-04

Commercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)

The Saudi commercial-intelligence picture this cycle is dominated by the BNPL segment, carried as three discrete trailing-12-month events. First, an investment event: Saudi BNPL Tamara secured up to $2.4bn in asset-backed Shariah-compliant financing from Goldman Sachs, Citi and Apollo-managed funds, announced at Money20/20 Riyadh on 15 September 2025, with $1.4bn immediately deployable and refinancing a prior $500m facility — the largest disclosed KSA fintech debt event in the trailing twelve months. Second, an investment event: Saudi BNPL Tabby raised a $160m Series E at a $3.3bn valuation led by Blue Pool Capital and Hassana Investment Company in March 2025, with a Saudi IPO reportedly underway (HSBC, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley engaged); Tabby had earlier acquired digital-wallet startup Tweeq, making it MENA's most valuable fintech at $3.3bn. Third, a licensing milestone rendered as a product event with value not publicly disclosed: Tamara became the first fintech startup to receive a full consumer finance licence from SAMA on 3 March 2025, covering both consumer finance and BNPL activities.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-25

Commercial Intelligence & Fintech

Vrtx, a Saudi embedded-finance venture, raised a 3.6 million dollar pre-seed funding round, reported 19 to 20 October 2026, a discrete commercial event that adds to a continuing run of fintech funding activity in the Kingdom. The amount for this round was disclosed. This specific raise is distinct from any structural assessment of the broader Saudi fintech M&A or investment landscape; it is a single, named, dated transaction involving a company building embedded-finance products.

The Vrtx round sits within a wider pattern of continuing high fintech funding volume in Saudi Arabia, with other recently active names including Tabby, barq, and erad noted as part of the same continuing trend of investor activity in the market. This pattern of sustained funding across multiple distinct companies and product categories, rather than a single large event, is itself the notable commercial-intelligence signal: embedded finance, buy-now-pay-later-adjacent models, and other payments-adjacent product categories continue to attract early-stage and growth capital in the Kingdom.

No major merger or acquisition event, and no other specific product launch beyond the general embedded-finance funding activity, was identified within the current reporting window for this market.

Outlook

Continued fintech funding momentum is the expected near-term pattern, consistent with recent quarters. Whether any of the companies noted, Vrtx, Tabby, barq, or erad, converts recent funding into a specific product launch or market-access filing in the near term would be the next commercial-intelligence marker to watch for this market.

2 earlier distinct update(s)
Periodic update · new data 2026-10-18

Commercial Intelligence & Fintech

Saudi Arabia was reported as the leading jurisdiction in Q3 2026 MENA fintech and startup funding, with approximately 1 billion dollars deployed across 62 deals region-wide according to a MAGNiTT-sourced quarterly wrap-up published by Arab News in mid-October 2026. Within that regional picture, two Saudi Arabia-specific transactions were disclosed on 17 October 2026, both of undisclosed amount.

The first is a strategic investment by Foodics, a Saudi Arabia-domiciled company, into Funding Souq, also domiciled in Saudi Arabia and operating in the payments-adjacent space. The transaction is characterised as strategic rather than purely financial, which typically signals an intended commercial or operational relationship between investor and investee beyond a passive capital stake, though the specific nature of that relationship is not detailed in the reporting available this cycle. The amount of the investment was not publicly disclosed, and no further terms are available.

The second is an investment into COFE Tech, a Saudi Arabia-domiciled company, led by Phoenix Venture Partners, domiciled in the United Arab Emirates, with KSH Investments participating as a co-investor. As with the Funding Souq transaction, the amount was not publicly disclosed. The involvement of a UAE-domiciled lead investor in a Saudi Arabia-domiciled target is consistent with continuing cross-border Gulf capital flows into the Saudi technology and fintech-adjacent sector.

Both transactions were reported through the same Q3 2026 MENA funding wrap-up, which frames Saudi Arabia's overall investment performance for the quarter as a rebound, with Saudi Arabia leading the region by both deal value and deal count. Neither transaction carries any disclosed connection to payments licensing, conduct, safeguarding, stablecoin or AML/CFT regulatory activity; both are purely commercial-investment events as reported. No further detail on valuation, use of proceeds, or definitive closing status beyond the announcement itself is available for either transaction this cycle.

The absence of disclosed amounts for both transactions is itself a notable pattern rather than an isolated gap: undisclosed-value strategic and institutional rounds appear to be a recurring feature of Saudi Arabia's fintech investment reporting this quarter, which limits the precision with which aggregate sector investment figures for Saudi Arabia specifically, as distinct from the regional total, can be assessed.

Outlook

Continued investor interest into the Saudi Arabia fintech and adjacent-technology sector appears likely to persist into Q4 2026, consistent with the broader MENA funding-rebound narrative in which Saudi Arabia was named the leading jurisdiction for Q3 2026. Whether the Foodics-Funding Souq or Phoenix Venture Partners-COFE Tech transaction values will be disclosed in later reporting, and whether the strategic relationship between Foodics and Funding Souq will be elaborated in subsequent commercial announcements, remains to be seen as scheduled reporting continues through the remainder of 2026.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-11

Commercial Intelligence & Fintech

Saudi Arabia's fintech and payments sector recorded a notable commercial event this cycle: barq closed a $329.5 million Series A funding round, equivalent to SAR 1.24 billion, at a post-money valuation of $1.85 billion, on 16 September 2026. The round was reported as making barq the Kingdom's newest fintech unicorn, a label reflecting the scale of the valuation reached in a single funding round rather than a cumulative build-up across multiple rounds. barq operates in the embedded finance and banking-as-a-service space, and a round of this size at Series A stage is a significant commercial-intelligence data point for the sector: it indicates continued investor appetite for Saudi fintech ventures operating in the embedded-finance and infrastructure layer of the payments stack, distinct from consumer-facing payment apps.

The barq round should be read as a discrete, dated commercial event rather than as evidence of a broader structural shift in Saudi fintech funding dynamics on its own; a single large round, however notable, does not by itself establish a trend. It is, however, consistent with the broader climate described elsewhere this cycle: a regulatory environment in which SAMA has been actively expanding licensing pathways (the open-banking launch) and formalising oversight (the revised payment-systems framework) in the months immediately preceding and surrounding the round's closing. Whether the round's timing was influenced by, or simply coincided with, that regulatory activity is not established by the sourcing available, but the juxtaposition is notable for market participants tracking the relationship between regulatory clarity and investor confidence in the Saudi fintech sector.

Outlook

The barq round, at $329.5 million, sets a new high-water mark for Series A-stage fintech funding in Saudi Arabia this cycle and will likely serve as a reference point for valuing comparable embedded-finance ventures seeking funding in the Kingdom going forward. Further large funding rounds in the Saudi fintech sector remain plausible given the regulatory momentum described elsewhere this cycle, though whether barq's round proves to be an outlier or the first of a wave of comparably sized rounds cannot be determined from this cycle's evidence alone.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (16)
  1. T3https://techstartups.com/2025/09/15/saudi-fintech-tamara-raises-2-4b-in-funding-from-goldman-sachs-citi-and-apollo/retrieved
  2. T2https://tamara.co/en-sa/blog-post/tamara-secures-saudi-central-bank-finance-licenseretrieved
  3. T3https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/saudi-bnpl-fintech-tabby-raises-160m-series-e-ipo-plans-reportedly-underwayretrieved
  4. T3https://tracxn.com/d/companies/tamara/__sA9LdsEMuXH0uuJBISmpxdf4ThsexKc3rMUqPtj7-dQretrieved
  5. T1Planet / Geidea — Planet / Geidea — Planet and Geidea announced a partnership to launch Saudi Arabia's first currency conversion service for touristsretrieved
  6. T2Tabby — Tabby — USD 233m Series F at USD 6.5bn valuation, led by Blue Pool Capitalretrieved
  7. T3Vrtx — Vrtx — $3.6 million pre-seed round for embedded-finance infrastructure, backed by SC Ventures, Sadu Capital, BYLD, Suhail Ventures, F6 Ventures, TAZ Investment and Palm Venturesretrieved
  8. T3Funding Souq — Funding Souq — Foodics (strategic investment, amount undisclosed, announced 17 October 2026)retrieved
  9. T3COFE Tech — COFE Tech — Phoenix Venture Partners (lead) and KSH Investments (co-investor), amount undisclosed, announced 17 October 2026retrieved
  10. T3Tamara — Saudi BNPL Tamara secured up to $2.4bn in asset-backed Shariah-compliant financing from Goldman Sachs, Citi and Apollo-managed funds (announced at Money20/20 Riyadh, 15 Sept 2025), with $1.4bn immediately deployable, refinancing a prior $500m facility.
  11. T3Tabby — Saudi BNPL Tabby raised a $160m Series E at a $3.3bn valuation led by Blue Pool Capital and Hassana Investment Company (March 2025), with a Saudi IPO reportedly underway (HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley engaged); Tabby earlier acquired digital-wallet startup Tweeq.
  12. T2Tamara — Tamara became the first fintech startup to receive a full consumer finance licence from SAMA (3 March 2025), covering both consumer finance and BNPL activities. Deal value not disclosed.
  13. T3barq — barq — $329.5m Series A at $1.85bn valuation (16 Sep 2026)retrieved
  14. T3Tamara — Tamara — USD 2.4bn Shariah-compliant financing facility from Goldman Sachs, Citi, Apolloretrieved
  15. T1Saudi Arabia electronic payments market — Saudi Arabia electronic payments market — 85% of total retail payments were electronic in 2025, up from 79% in 2024retrieved
  16. T3SAMA-licensed payment companies — SAMA-licensed payment companies — 33 licensed companies offer payment services in Saudi Arabia as at 22 July 2026, up from 28 in November 2025 and 32 in May 2026retrieved
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