The digital payment opportunity in Saudi Arabia

The digital payment opportunity in Saudi Arabia

When Muhannad Ebwini launched payment gateway HyperPay in Jordan back in 2014, e-commerce accounted for just 1.5 per cent of total retail sales in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. Back then, online shopping was dominated by a handful of players - namely Souq and Namshi - and consumers who were happy to browse and purchase goods online, preferred to pay for it offline, in cash. This cash on delivery (COD) model remains one of the biggest challenges for e-commerce and while less dominant today, it still maintains a strong grip on consumers, particularly in the less developed markets of the region. 

For Ebwini, this presents an opportunity for his payment gateway services and the wider financial technology (fintech) landscape. Last year, the fintech sector saw the biggest investment activity with 106 deals worth in excess of $558 million. The vast majority of fintech startups in the region are based in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with payments, lending and points of sales (POS) dominating the landscape. 

“A lot has changed. When we started, the whole online payment ecosystem, or the whole digital payment industry was in the early [stages of development],” says Ebwini who believes