madaNear-universal domestic debit in Saudi Arabia, co-badged with Visa or Mastercard for international use. A regulatory cap on the merchant service charge (0.80% MSC, capped at about SAR 40) shapes the economics of local acceptance.Saudi Payments (subsidiary of the Saudi central bank, SAMA) · since 2015E-commerce on mada cards: SAR 29.86 billion (about $7.96 billion) in July 2025 alone, up 79.45% year over year, across 149.74 million online transactions (SAMA, cited by Arab News, September 2025). For context: 14.6 billion electronic payment transactions across all systems in 2025, vs. 12.6 billion in 2024 (SAMA, 2026); electronic payments made up 85% of consumer retail payments in 2025, vs. 79% in 2024 (SAMA).
Global registry · Africa & Middle East · West Asia
Saudi Arabia Payment systems
8 systems listed.
CurrencySaudi riyal (SAR)
Domestic schememada
RegulatorSaudi Central Bank (SAMA)
Leading payment methods
madaWallets (Apple Pay, stc pay)International cardsA2A (sarie)BNPL
E-commerce shares
Cards · 55%Wallets · 25%Account-to-account · 8%Cash · 7%Buy now, pay later · 3%Other · 2%
mada. The domestic debit scheme, with mandatory domestic routing: the backbone of Saudi point-of-sale payments, where contactless is nearly universal. It is paired with sarie (the instant payment rail) and backed by the Vision 2030 plan (target: 70% electronic payments).
Electronic payments (retail)≈70% of transactions (2023, SAMA)
Local BNPLTabby and Tamara, two unicorns
A lightning-fast shift: cash dominated ten years ago, and the kingdom now has one of the highest contactless rates in the world. Local BNPL is booming (Tabby and Tamara, both unicorns).
IBAN · Saudi Arabia
24 characters123 BIC codes
- Total length
- 24 characters
- Bank code position
- 5–6
- BBAN structure
2!n18!c
Structurally valid example
SAcountry code03check digits80bank000000608010167519account
SA03 8000 0000 6080 1016 7519
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Payments in Saudi ArabiaPayments in East AfricaPayments in Portuguese-speaking and southern AfricaMobile money in AfricaPayments in West and Southern AfricaPayments in the CEMAC zoneAccepting payments in AfricaAccepting payments in Egypt and the MaghrebAccepting payments in the GulfCollecting payments in Kenya and East AfricaCollecting payments in Nigeria and West AfricaPayments in Africa: the continent that reinvented mobile money
Card schemes
Instant payments
sarie (Instant Payment System)A 24/7 A2A rail that uses a phone alias instead of the IBAN. It is the rail to integrate for any instant domestic collection in Saudi Arabia.Saudi Payments / SAMA · since 2021750.0 million transactions worth $621 billion in 2025, up 26.5% by volume; about 30 participating institutions; more than 100 million transactions a month reached in 2025 (RTP Dashboard and ClearingPost, 2025–2026, secondary sources).
sarie (instant payment service)A 24/7 instant service launched within the SARIE system, with alias addressing. Beware the naming trap: SARIE is also the name of the Saudi RTGS, live since 1997.Saudi Payments (overseen by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)) · since 2021
Wallets
stc Bank (formerly stc pay)E-wallet turned digital bank: the reference model for the telco-to-bank shift in the Gulf. Its conversion into a licensed bank, only announced in the original entry, is confirmed by the institution itself. The 11 million user figure, from a secondary source, is not used; the wallet’s launch year could not be confirmed against a primary source.stc Bank (closed joint stock company of the stc group with mixed ownership, supervised by the Saudi Central Bank; the conversion of stc pay into a digital bank is announced on the institution’s website.)Paid-up capital of SAR 6.35 billion; licensed by Council of Ministers Decision No. 671 of June 22, 2021 (stcbank.com.sa, accessed August 2026)
Buy now, pay later
TabbyThe Gulf’s leading BNPL, now backed by local banking licenses. It is the first thing a UAE or Saudi e-merchant adds, even before wallets.Tabby (headquartered in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia); holds SAMA and CBUAE licenses, with services in the UAE provided by Tabby Payments LLC) · since 201915 million users, 40,000 merchants, and about $10 billion in annualized volume claimed in 2025 (company statements reported by the press, unaudited); valuation of about $3.3 billion after a $160 million Series E announced on February 12, 2025, up from $1.5 billion after the $200 million Series D in October 2023 (Tabby, 2025 press release).
TamaraSaudi Arabia’s sharia-compliant BNPL champion, regulated directly by SAMA. In the Gulf, BNPL operates under banking licenses, unlike in Europe before CCD2 (the revised Consumer Credit Directive).Tamara Financial (SAMA license) · since 2020
Other
SARIE (Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express)Saudi Arabia’s RTGS, which carries both large-value payments and, since 2021, the retail instant payment service: one brand for two things, and a recurring source of confusion in documentation.Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) · since 1997
SADADSaudi Arabia’s national bill payment system: electronic bill presentment and payment (utilities, government agencies, businesses) across all banking channels and licensed digital wallets. It connects billers to bank and non-bank institutions, with refunds, automatic notifications, and a tracking portal. The figure of more than 500 million transactions a year, from a secondary source, is not used here because SAMA has not confirmed it.Saudi Central Bank (SAMA states that it owns the system; the original entry attributed it jointly to Saudi Payments, which the official page does not state.) · since 2004