Fueling the growth of the digital economy through on-soil investment in Saudi Arabia
October 23, 2024 | By Adam Jones
As commerce evolves, embracing digitization becomes crucial for communities to thrive in today’s interconnected and rapidly changing world. With investments in resilient financial systems infrastructure, diverse fintech solutions, local and regional partnerships and dedication to building financial inclusion, Mastercard is shaping the future of digital payments in Saudi Arabia.
We announced the launch of world-class technology infrastructure and the opening of new data centers in the Kingdom that will enable the processing of domestic transactions, providing a seamless and secure payments experience for our partners and consumers. This way, we are helping accelerate the development of the Saudi digital commerce sector and supporting businesses of all sizes across all industries.
Expanding our technology footprint in the region, the landmark project highlights our commitment to serving as a trusted technology partner and enabler of Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and future goals. It also aligns with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to build a stronger payment ecosystem, drive digital transformation and boost the national economy through locally relevant technology.
As part of our efforts, we brought Mastercard Gateway to the Kingdom in collaboration with the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). Mastercard Gateway is a single touchpoint that powers payment and digital acceptance solutions across new and existing markets and channels locally and globally. Merchants benefit from support for 30+ payment methods and risk management solutions, such as fraud detection and prevention, while customers enjoy advanced protection from cybercrime through tokenization, biometric recognition and 3D Secure authentication.
Paired with our global network of 200+ acquirers, Mastercard Gateway provides over 500K merchants with access to ongoing innovation and more than 110 million acceptance locations. In 2023, the platform processed more than 950 million transactions in the Kingdom.
Through our long-term commitment to Saudi Arabia, we have seen extensive growth in digital payments acceptance and the choice of innovative solutions in fintech, cybersecurity, retail and e-commerce. We will continue to work closely with the Saudi leadership to fuel the growth of the payment ecosystem in the Kingdom as we power its economy and empower its people.
