Saudi telecom operator Etihad Etisalat Company, better known as Mobily, has announced that the Etihad Fintech Company, or Mobily Pay, has been licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to conduct payments and e-wallet services, offering a range of financial solutions to individuals and corporates.
The announcement came on the sidelines of the recent Global Entrepreneurship Congress, held in Riyadh under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The licensing of Mobily Pay by SAMA aligns with the telecom giant’s strategy to diversify its services and business portfolio across industries, with fintech being a key pillar of the strategy.
Mobily Pay, as per the license, will offer users digital financial services, including sending and receiving money transfers within Saudi Arabia and abroad, bill payments and bank card issuance. The new service aims to optimize customer experience by offering user-friendly, efficient, and convenient digital channels to conduct financial transactions.
“We express our utmost gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for the multitude of programs and initiatives that are boosting the growth and progress of the Saudi economy, such as the Financial Sector Development Program as part of Vision 2030,” said Salman Al-Badran, CEO of Mobily. “I would also like to thank Fahad Al-Mubarak, governor of the Saudi Central Bank; Dr. Fahad Ibrahim Al-Shathri, deputy governor for supervision; as well as the Department of Supervision of Payment Systems and Companies at SAMA for their unlimited support and cooperation to fintech companies.”
Mobily Pay is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobily, established to address customers’ needs by offering comprehensive individual and corporate fintech solutions. Mobily Pay solutions are set to be made available to all customers across the Kingdom through major app stores on smart devices, with more details about the launch of the company’s offerings coming soon.
“At Mobily, we set our strategy based on various digital transformation channels, striving to further drive the digitization and modernization efforts in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030. The licensing of Mobily Pay is an indication of us being on the right track of growth and development across various industries, to support the Kingdom’s achievements in the fields of communication and technologies, while embodying Mobily’s capabilities to offer new and innovative services in telecom and fintech,” added Al-Badran.
Incorporated in 2005, Mobily operates one of the largest wireless networks by coverage in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest data center systems worldwide