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The Saudi Fintech Tour

Tag: Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Fintech Tour
Mohab Events 0

The Saudi Fintech Tour

Fintech is the short form of Financial Technology and is used to describe the use of technology for the purpose of facilitating financial transactions. However, it is not a new phenomenon as technology has been used by financial services for a long time. However, with the advent of internet and mobile use, the integration of technology and finance has reached a new level. Some of the most prominent examples of fintech products are Automatic Teller Machine or ATMs, mobile banking, Point of Sale machines and Credit Cards.

Fintech is making great strides in Saudi Arabia as people and businesses embrace the new changes. Fintech has received positive inducements from the rise in general economy and innovations in technology. This new trend has helped firms to grow their businesses by providing new services and products to their clients and other stakeholders. In order to ensure that fintech is fully adapted, it is important to create awareness among public and industries about fintech tools.

Evolution of Fintech

While there is no formal definition of fintech, it may be described as the application of technology for improving various financial activities. Thus, fintech may exist in the form of a business model, an application, a product or a process. Though, most of the time fintech involves use of internet, but it is not a necessary ingredient.

Fintech has seen steep increase in its usage and popularity since the mid-2000s. some of the main milestones in the journey of fintech are the launch of Apple iPhone in 2007 and the increased use of cloud computing. The launch of iPhone is a significant landmark as it heralded the era of smartphones. As smartphones became more commonplace and affordable, the use of internet banking also increased. This development allowed the financial services firms to target clients which were earlier inaccessible due to their geographic location.

Similarly, the developments in cloud computing area ensured that the financial services firms are able to store and transmit the data in a secure manner. For financial services, maintaining the integrity of sensitive data is highly important. It is also required to keep up prompt access to the data to provide fast and smooth services. All these prerequisites were facilitated by cloud computing.

Apart from these two factors, there are several other growth drivers, pushing the fintech market ahead. Today’s customers are less rigid about their financial services practices and are more amenable to using newer technologies. This willingness to embrace change made it easier for financial services firms to roll out new innovations. Further, the sector has seen interest from institutional investors as well. The injection of capital in the area allowed the firms to invest in research and development activities, ensuring that the newer technologies are developed at a fast pace. All these factors combined to make fintech mainstream in a short period of time.

About the Fintech Tour

Fintech Tour organized by Fintech Saudi is a cluster of events and activities hosted by Fintech Saudi’s partners to spread knowledge about fintech and support the development of fintech companies. To date, the Fintech Tour is the largest cluster of fintech events to take place in the Middle East.

Fintech Tour 19 will take place from 1st December – 12th December 2019 across Saudi Arabia and in selected international cities.

Themes this year are spreading fintech knowledge and accelerating fintech entrepreneurship

The Tour will consist of community events and workshops (open to everyone) organized in different cities by Fintech Saudi’s partners related to the themes. Fintech Tour 19 promises to be the most high-profile series of fintech events to take place in Saudi Arabia as it is an effective way to engage with the Fintech Community and other stakeholders.

About PayTabs

PayTabs is proud to be a part of the Saudi Fintech Tour, spreading knowledge about fintech. Join a workshop on the Future of Payments in KSA, presented by Ali Alshehri, Country Manager, PayTabs KSA. Register for the event here:

4 years ago
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Thanks to the fact that the fintech industry is still in its early phase of development in the Middle East, it seems to be a given that the companies that make up the industry are those of modest beginnings and spectacular growth thereafter. Yet, investing in this sector of the economy in the region remains to be a risky proposition for a variety of factors, not least of which is the fact that, relative to other parts of the world, the surrounding infrastructure here requires further development and better integration with the financial markets. It would be understandable, therefore, for investment to gravitate toward other industries. But there’s a catch.

Easier and lower-risk investment opportunities may appear to exist outside of the nascent fintech industry, but such “easy” investment opportunities tend to attract the biggest numbers of attempts, which means that only be so many people who can succeed using the same hackneyed formula. That way, some people — scratch that: lots of people — are bound to find out that their returns are ever diminishing and that their resources are ill spent. To make it in the market, therefore, one must learn to ride the wave of constant change that markets so often experience and must learn to take calculated risks to capitalize on the market’s shifting tides.

If we look at the trends in the markets regionally and globally, one thing is as clear as day: fintech’s tide is ever-rising. The surrounding environment of a fintech startup is arguably just as important as the vision and strategy of the entrepreneur. Today, on the other hand, we find that establishing such an environment is written into the government’s long-term strategy. Consider how Saudi Arabia’s forward-looking Vision 2030 explicitly concerned with creating “incentives to foster use of cashless payment solutions,” for instance. As a result of that vision, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has commissioned the giant financial firm Deloitte to oversee the process of turning Riyadh into a bustling fintech city. Relatedly, the economic vision has also resulted in the creation of a consortium of Saudi fintech startups to national banks to international technology powerhouses, all under the banner of “Saudi fintech.”

Saudi Arabia’s initiative, which was announced roughly a year ago, is now working on jumpstarts the fintech scene in the region’s biggest and most important economy. The rapid change and progress it’s experiencing are making host of advantages available to newcomers of tomorrow – not least of which is the fact that they have allies in the policymakers at the highest echelons of government.

The opportunities are there for the taking.

About the author

Mahmood Almahmood is a translator and editor at a national news service. Trained in the social sciences and the arts, he enjoys staying abreast of the business press and analyzing its trends.

5 years ago
Accepting American Express Cards can help power your businesses
Mohab Partners & Partnerships 0

Accepting American Express Cards can help power your businesses

Accepting American Express Cards can help power your businesses

In today’s digital world, it is important for merchants to offer multiple card payment options to their clients. American Express can take merchants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the extra mile with many of their unique service offerings.

Benefits of accepting American Express for merchants:

  • Higher Spending Power: American Express cards are targeted at customers with high purchasing power. Globally, the average American Express Cardmember spends up to 4 to 5 times over other Cardholders. This may be important for Saudi Arabian merchants who may generate more revenue by attracting high net worth customers from the region, including corporate cardmembers who are often mandated to use their Corporate card for business expenditure.

 

  • Associated Costs: There are several costs involved in teaming up with card issuing companies. Apart from initial costs, there are also operating costs, which need to be considered when drawing up the agreement. While it is important to minimize such costs, merchants should pay attention to the related benefits. Because American Express Saudi Arabia are renowned for serving premium customers, this may provide a better cost benefit ratio for your business.

 

  • Global Acceptance: American Express gives your business instant access to over 100 million Cardmembers in every corner of the world, including Corporate Cardmembers.

 

  • Customer Loyalty: One reason American Express Cardmembers are extraordinarily loyal to their Cards is because of their award-winning Membership Rewards program which keeps rewarding Cardmembers on their spend. This then allows them to redeem their points across a wide range of travel, Hotels, Charity and Retail products and more.

 

  • Strong Marketing Opportunities: Merchants in Saudi Arabia can use other services provided by American Express for boosting their customer base. American Express can help you grow your business by featuring your business in marketing campaigns such as the Amex Offers. In addition, they offer cardmembers SMS alerts for each transaction, online apps to keep track of their transactions and other safety features which build Cardmember confidence and thus encourage more card usage.

PayTabs collaborates with American Express Saudi Arabia to offer its merchants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the ability to accept American Express cards as another alternate payment method. It further allows them to avail other exclusive services such as client acquisition, process benchmarking and planning tools. Grow your business with American Express Saudi Arabia when you tie up with PayTabs.

5 years ago
PayTabs collaborates with DHL for the Benefits of its Partner Merchants
Mohab Partners & Partnerships 0

PayTabs collaborates with DHL for the Benefits of its Partner Merchants

Shipping costs are rising year after year and because of this, many merchants are finding it difficult to afford it. To make matters worse, goods often don’t reach their destinations on time. While many are affected by this, the merchants especially are feeling the heat. When the economy is booming, you need your goods and services to move at a fast and reliable pace. However, while slow and unpredictable shipping is beginning to have a domino effect on the growth potential of the economy, its rising cost is reducing the average customer’s spending power.

PayTabs partners with DHL

Especially, in a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia merchants add so much to the economy and they are gravely concerned about these shipping issues. But now, they need not worry much as we, their trusted partner, PayTabs have brought them a solution. The good news for the business owners who are active PayTabs merchants in KSA is that PayTabs has joined hands with one of the world’s largest logistics company, DHL to especially provide our merchant partners based in Saudi Arabia, a very special offer. With this new offer, they can now get their documents, packages, and shipments delivered locally or globally for less. Keeping the needs of our partners in mind, we negotiated the rates for domestic and international cargo and can assure you that we have brought you a deal that is going to benefit you a lot in the longer run.

The offer will be valid until May 1, 2020, or until otherwise informed. To reiterate, the offer is applicable for active PayTabs merchants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only. Lastly, we want to clarify that while PayTabs is facilitating the offer, any queries or concerns about shipping or handling can be directed to the friendly support team at DHL who are always on hand to help.

PayTabs, as a leading payment gateway for websites that sell products or services, continues to strive to find solutions for anything that might be bothering our partners. Quite recently we took some measures to help our friends find more ground online via our social media outreach program that involves interaction with potential customers and clients from all corners of the world.

Our #Payshout campaign takes your content to a whole new level on various social media platforms, gives your brand new audience groups and boost your brand awareness. Similarly, when we realized the huge losses our merchants were incurring because of the sluggish yet extremely expensive shipping, we thought of joining forces with DHL. When we began offering a variety of payment options, we wanted our partners to reach out to millions of customers across the globe and promise them a hassle-free shopping experience.

Today, our associates enjoy the power of having the world of payments at their fingertips (accepting 168 currencies) courtesy our innovative and tech-savvy payments solutions. Now, with our new tie-up, the active PayTabs merchants don’t have to waste their precious time in evaluating the market rates and service reviews of different international courier companies. They can now simply use the services of DHL, a global market leader in the logistics industry, with ease and at substantially lower costs.

We are known for going out of our way to do our bit in making the lives of our partners easier and that’s why we are such a loved brand and we will continue to do our best. If you still aren’t, we welcome you to join the growing PayTabs family!

5 years ago
How to Choose the Right Payment Gateway in Saudi Arabia
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How to Choose the Right Payment Gateway in Saudi Arabia

E-commerce growth in Saudi Arabia over the last one decade has been phenomenal. There are over 12.94 e-commerce users in the country which is almost half the country’s population.  According to BMI Research, online sales in Saudi Arabia will surge to $13.9 billion by 2021. The country has become the next frontier for businesses looking for new markets due to the strength of the economy and the youngest Internet-connected population in the world. If you have plans to set up a business here, you have to strategize on providing the best user experience at your store. One easy way of doing this is to take payments online by using the best payment gateway.

With so many payment gateways available for e-commerce stores in Saudi Arabia, choosing the best becomes a daunting task. In this article, you will learn the benefits of picking a reliable payment gateway and how to choose one in the country.

Picking the Right Payment Gateway in Saudi Arabia

If you want to compete in this highly competitive e-commerce market, you need to create an edge over the competition.  One easy way of doing this is through a seamless checkout process. You should accept payments through multiple modes and offer a quick and secure payment process.

This reduces bounce rates for your store, increases sales conversion and improves customer retention rates. All this is possible if you have an idea about how to get a payment gateway in the country. The best payment gateways verify each customer’s billing information and then approve requests. It is the only way to guarantee fast and secure payments at your e-store.

Below are some of the factors that will prove helpful in choosing the right payment system provider for your e-store in Saudi Arabia.

  1. Application Process and Time Frame for Execution

When shopping for a good payment system for your e-store, make sure you consider how long it will take to integrate the system into your store. In a fast-paced market like Saudi Arabia, you don’t want to lose any time because potential customers will move on to the competition. Look for a payment system that won’t take long to implement.

  1. Consider Your Business Needs

Most payment system providers will not tell you this but you have to evaluate your business needs when it comes to payments. Some providers will sell features which you don’t need for your startup in Saudi Arabia and these will eat into your revenues.  Talk to your team and create a checklist of the things you need in a payment system.

  1. Fees

Consider all the fees included in the software and check whether they will fit into your budget. The fee structure provided by the payment system provider should suit your business needs and the budget you have set. Compare the rates to other providers in the market to identify the best deal.

  1. Security

This is the most crucial aspect of payment gateways that you have to consider. Look for PCI-compliance, SSL encryption 128-Bit encryption, digital signature, Dynamic IPs and other security features and guarantee on the network. Never compromise on the security of the payment network you wish to use because this can ruin your business.

  1. Customer Experience

One of the most crucial aspects of a good payment system is the quality of customer experience provided. Make sure that the payment process is seamless and convenient for customers and also accepts multiple payment options. More importantly, go for mobile-optimized gateways to give a seamless user experience to mobile users at your store.

As the e-commerce industry in Saudi Arabia continues its relentless forward march, you have to strategize how to position your business to tap into the limitless opportunities available. Using the right gateway for your payment processing is a smart way of boosting customer acquisition and customer retention, increasing sales conversion, enhancing customer loyalty and much more.

5 years ago