Arab News: Saudi Arabia’s digital economy landscape has earned additional recognition as Saudi Payments, also known as Mada, received the Best Payment Experience of 2023 award at the Seamless Middle East, a commercial technology event held in Dubai.
Operating under the umbrella of the Saudi Central Bank, Mada was awarded for its public transport payments services in the Kingdom’s urban mobility space.
The system allows all Mada cardholders to pay for public transport using their cards, eliminating the need for cash collection and contributing to the Kingdom’s digital transformation goals.
Saudi banks usually issue Mada cards and link them to the cardholder’s bank account, allowing for real-time, secure and reliable transactions.
It is mainly used by customers locally, but these cards have recently been co-branded with Visa or Mastercard for international purchases.
The technical solution allows transactions via smartphones and plastic cards, accelerating the adoption of digital payments in the Kingdom.
Mada is one of the crucial pillars for digital payments in the Kingdom, offering solutions such as Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express, bill payment platform SADAD and e-invoicing platform Esal.
It plays a crucial role in the Kingdom’s Financial Sector Development Program, which aims to achieve a share of 70 percent of non-cash transactions by 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s financial technology sector has been growing at an unprecedented speed as the Kingdom aspires to be a regional fintech hub.
The same award was given to Geidea, one of the largest fintech companies in the Kingdom, last year in recognition of its transformation efforts in the local market.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2310291/business-economy
