Saudi Arabia’s STC Pay eyes rapid Gulf expansion after billion-dollar valuation

Saudi Arabia’s STC Pay eyes rapid Gulf expansion after billion-dollar valuation

Saudi arabian flag in Asir province, Abha, Saudi Arabia.Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us | Corbis News | Getty ImagesSaudi Arabia's STC Pay plans to expand its financial services offering across the Gulf region, after achieving a billion-dollar "unicorn" valuation on the back of a deal with Western Union."We are very proud of becoming the first unicorn in the Kingdom and the first fintech unicorn in the Middle East," STC Pay CEO Ahmed Alenazi told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Monday. STC Pay reached the valuation last week after Western Union, the world's largest money transfer firm, acquired a 15 percent stake for $200 million - giving the burgeoning payments business a value of around $1.3 billion. STC Pay is the digital payment arm of Saudi Arabia's STC Group, the largest telco operator in the Kingdom."The business opportunity is bigger than money transfers," Alenazi said. STC Pay says it has more than 4 million active users after successfully tapping into rising smartphone and internet penetration across Saudi Arabia, where 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30 and the government is reducing dependence on cash as a way to modernize the economy. Western Union, which has long seen