In a significant step, STC Pay, Saudi Arabia’s first E-wallet, is entering the next phase of its transformation journey into STC Bank, having received approval from the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) to proceed with its transformation into STC Bank.
This beta launch is limited to select customers and is in preparation for the official launch later this year. It allows selected users to upgrade their accounts from STC to digital card payments and STC bank accounts.
Founded in October 2018, Stc Pay ( Stc stands for Saudi Telecom Company) became the first company to be accredited by SAMA. It has since become the largest digital wallet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, providing financial services to more than 12 million customers through a mobile-first platform.
Urpay is in 2nd position when it comes to customer base. It had over 4 million wallets. Urpay is a digital wallet and financial solutions company owned by Alrajhi Bank and is considered to be one of the fastest-growing wallets in Saudi Arabia.
In the start, they were offering up to 500 SAR for International Transfers which helps them grow faster among expats.
This move is supported by SAMA, which confirms its commitment to play a key role in digital transformation and capacity building, thereby contributing to Vision 2030’s ambitious goals of moving towards a cashless society by increasing the share of financial transactions.
Cashless Kingdom
STC PAY, URPAY, Mobily PAY, Tabby, Tamara helping Digital Wallet, and Buy Now Pay Later facilities, are pioneers in completing Vision 2030 of digitalization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A core aim of Vision 2030 is to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and increase cashless transactions to 80% by 2025.
Western Union, the world’s largest money transfer firm, has acquired a 15% stake in the digital payment unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group for $200 million Which is 5 Billion Saudi Riyals.
