Saudi unicorn looks beyond kingdom after Western Union deal

Saudi unicorn looks beyond kingdom after Western Union deal

Western Union invested $200m for a 15 percent stake in digital payments firm stc pay earlier this week

Saudi Arabian digital payments firm stc pay, which was valued at $1.3 billion in a funding agreement with Western Union this month, is set to become profitable “very soon” and is in talks with regulators to expand into neighbouring countries.

The company, launched by the kingdom's biggest mobile operator Saudi Telecom Company in late 2018, wants to offer digital payments across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, CEO Ahmed Alenazi said in an interview.

Digital payments in the Middle East have grown rapidly as the pandemic forced more consumers to shop online. Moving Saudi Arabia toward non-cash transactions is also part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil.

Stc pay has already processed SR24bn ($6.4bn) of remittances since launch and attracted 4.5 million customers, Alenazi said.

The company is also in talks for a digital banking license in Saudi Arabia that will enable it to offer more financial services beyond payments and remittances.

“We are already handling millions of transactions every month, and we know the path to the break-even point and it's not that far,” Alenazi said. “Very soon we will become