Mobily Expands Mobile Payment Service in Saudi Arabia

Mobily has expanded its new mobile payment service, Mobily Pay.

The Saudi Arabian telecom service provider has expanded Mobily Pay services in the county via a partnership with Swedish technology company Ericsson, according to a Monday (Feb. 6) press release.

Ericsson will “continuously evolve and enhance” the Mobily Pay platform through a five-year contract with Mobily, per the press release.

The new solution allows users to make contactless payments, money transfers, international remittances, digital card payments, cash-back, bill payments, mobile top-ups and more, Mobily said.

“Mobily Pay is live and we have already witnessed its fast adoption in the Saudi market,” Mobily Pay CEO Ayman Abdullah Al Eissa said in the release. “It will improve the lives of Mobily Pay users by making financial services personalized, quick, secure, and easy for everyone.”

Ekow Nelson, vice president at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, added that Mobily Pay “will enhance the Kingdom’s move toward digital transformation.”

In general, Saudi Arabia is embracing digital payments having been a cash-heavy society until recently. For example, from 18% in 2016, the government projects that 70% of all payments in the country will be non-cash transactions by 2030.

With the new payment solution from Mobily, the market for mobile payment apps is heating up in Saudi Arabia. Other digital wallets that are popular in the country include STC Pay and UrPay.

Although STC (Saudi Telecom Company), started out focusing on the STC Pay digital wallet when it launched in 2018, the state-owned company has since been granted a banking license and STC Pay is evolving into a fully-fledged neobank.

Alongside Saudi Digital Bank and D360, STC Bank is one of just three digital-first banks that have been authorized by the central bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA).

As PYMNTS has reported, neobank licensing sets the stage for a wider FinTech acceleration in the country as the ecosystem evolves from a focus on digitizing payments to additional digital financial services.

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