Global technology company Mastercard, and Geidea, the largest fintech company in Saudi Arabia by market share, have announced a strategic partnership agreement to accept Mastercard payments on Tap-on-Phone solution in Saudi Arabia – the first such agreement to be signed in the Middle East and North Africa. Geidea is the first fintech company to roll out this contactless payment acceptance technology across the Kingdom, which will enable businesses to use smartphones as payment acceptance devices.

Saudi Payments, under the supervision of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), announced the launch of Saudi Arabia’s instant payments system ‘sarie’ in cooperation with IBM and Mastercard.