Saudi Fintech Trends: Seamless Riyadh 2024

After three eventful days at Seamless Saudi 2024, my colleague Mohammed Patel and I came back with a fresh insights on Saudi Arabia’s fintech landscape. From digital wallets to real-time payments and the exciting future of embedded finance, here’s a look at what’s trending in Saudi fintech.

Saudi Fintech Boom: 200+ Players and Growing

Saudi Arabia’s fintech industry is expanding fast, with more than 200 players now active in the market. The Saudi Central Bank, SAMA, is deeply involved in driving initiatives that support this growth through Fintech Saudi | ???? ???????? which is a government-led initiative launched by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) in 2018 to promote and support the growth of the fintech industry.

Beyond Financial Inclusion: Tech-Driven Growth

Unlike many regions where fintech focuses on bringing unbanked populations into the system, Saudi’s aim is beyond that because it already has a high percentage of banked citizens so the government is rather focused on tech-driven innovation than financial inclusion.

Real-Time Payments with Sarie

Saudi Arabia's 24/7/365 real-time payments (RTP) system namely Sarie, allows instant transfers up to SAR 20,000 ($5,300 USD). Companies benefit from immediate access to funds for payroll and restocking, while gig workers enjoy real-time payment flexibility without waiting for banking hours. The future of Sarie gets even brighter with Bona, a GCC-wide RTP initiative aiming to enable cross border instant payments.

Digital Wallets Leading the Charge

Digital wallets are rapidly gaining traction in Saudi Arabia, driven by growing consumer demand for fast, secure and convenient payment solutions. Leading players include stc pay , HALA and tiqmo each bringing unique features to consumers. STC Pay, for instance, has become one of the most widely used wallets, offering services that range from bill payments and money transfers to international remittances (somewhat similar to Careem 's careempay) with a strategic focus on simplicity and accessibility, STC Pay has amassed millions of users and is leading the digital wallet charge in the Kingdom.

Hyper-Localization and Hyper-Personalization

Hyper-localization goes beyond language to address cultural nuances, while hyper-personalization uses user data to tailor individual experiences, like personalized offers. Together, these approaches deepen customer connections, enhance satisfaction and drive growth by aligning with local expectations and preferences in a way that generic approaches cannot match. These are vital for building user loyalty e.g. tiqmo (a digital wallet and card issuer) has achieved remarkable success by offering culturally relevant services and personalized human-led customer support, with 80% of its users being local.

Smart Payments with Soft PoS Tech

Soft PoS solutions enable smartphones or tablets with Near Field Communication (NFC) capability to accept payments without the need for physical PoS hardware. This is a game changer for small businesses because it offers a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional PoS hardware systems which we are used to tapping everyday. This is enabled in KSA by geidea through their “Tap on Phone” technology. The solution works through a mobile app that merchants download and install on their smartphones and it acts as a virtual terminal, securely processing transactions without needing an attached card reader or terminal device.

Open Banking in early days but shows promise

First, what is open banking? Simply its about securely sharing customer's financial data (with consent) with authorized third-party providers to enable a range of customized services tailored to individual needs. For instance, through open banking, financial apps could offer personalized budgeting tools, targeted savings plans or even credit products specifically adjusted to each user’s spending habits. Open banking is still emerging in Saudi Arabia but holds vast potential to reshape the financial services landscape.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) a hit with Saudi consumers

BNPL is booming in Saudi Arabia, with roughly 30% of checkouts now using this option. The market is expected to reach $1.4 billion by 2024, and adoption has doubled in just a year. With major players like Tamara and Tabby BNPL is thriving in sectors like fashion, electronics and personal care, making installment payments increasingly popular.

Final Thoughts

Seamless Saudi Arabia 2024 offered an exciting look at Saudi’s fintech future with strong regulatory backing from Saudi Central Bank – SAMA and a focus on tech innovation driving new possibilities. From real-time payments to digital wallets, the trends here are bold and set to reshape financial services in fresh ways.