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Middle East Fintech & Payments

Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's cashless engine: electronic payments were 85% of retail payments in 2025 (SAMA), mada cards carried SAR 36.9 billion of e-commerce sales in August 2026, and cumulative fintech venture investment passed SAR 7.6 billion by 2024.

20 verified facts tracked for this market — each with its source, reporting period and evidence tier. Tier 1 = primary institutions (central banks, statistical offices); tier 2 = disclosed industry panels.

MetricValueGeoPeriodTierSource
E-commerce sales value paid with mada cards, Saudi Arabia36946332SAR thousandSA2026-08T1sama.gov.sa
Electronic payments as share of total retail payments, Saudi Arabia85percentSA2025T1sama.gov.sa
Establishments using the internet for electronic banking services, Saudi Arabia79.1percentSA2025T1stats.gov.sa
SME share of total private sector credit, Saudi Arabia9.4percentSA2024-Q4T1vision2030.gov.sa
Saudi finance and insurance establishments using AI technologies52.9% in 2025; 44.7% in 2024% of establishments in financial and insSaudi Arabia2024-2025T1stats.gov.sa
Saudi Arabia adults who made a digital merchant payment64.1603226021606% of population age 15+, World Bank Global FindexSaudi Arabia (MENA narrower geography)2024T1api.worldbank.org
Bank credit to the private sector as share of GDP, Saudi Arabia69percentSA2024T1vision2030.gov.sa
Adults who received a fraudulent phone call or SMS asking for money, richest 60%15.5954078079866percent of adults age 15+EG2024T1api.worldbank.org
Digitally enabled account, adults age 15+, Egypt28.24percentEG2024T1data.worldbank.org
Annual growth of bank credit to the private sector, Saudi Arabia13percentSA2024T1vision2030.gov.sa
Approved Wage Protection System payment agents in the UAE (fintechs and exchange houses)90companiesAE2024T1ilo.org
Did NOT pay in store by mobile phone or card, Egypt38.65percentEG2024T1api.worldbank.org
Cash in store because the merchant accepts cash only, Egypt10.60percentEG2024T1api.worldbank.org
Saudi rural adults who made or received a digital payment73.4982525093188percentSA2024T1api.worldbank.org
Saudi adults in the poorest 40% of households who made a digital merchant payment57.1637489669115percentSA2024T1api.worldbank.org
Saudi fintech cumulative venture-capital investmentexceeded SAR 7.6bn by end-2024SAR billion, cumulative VC investment in fintechSaudi Arabia (MENA country proxy)2024T1vision2030.gov.sa
Share of non-cash transactions, Saudi Arabia79percentSA2024T1vision2030.gov.sa
Cumulative venture capital invested in Saudi fintech7.6SAR billionSA2024T1vision2030.gov.sa
Saudi Arabia total payment transactions volume17.2billion transactionsSaudi Arabia2023T1sama.gov.sa
Debit-card share of Saudi e-commerce payment methods50percent of e-commerce usersSaudi Arabia2023T1sama.gov.sa

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