Saudi Arabia has granted digital banking license to two firms as the use of finance technology spreads in the Middle East.
STC Pay, launched by the kingdom’s biggest mobile operator Saudi Telecom in 2018, will be converted into a digital bank with a capital of SAR2.5 billion ($667 million), according to a central bank statement. It will be called STC Bank.
A second firm, led by Abdul Rahman bin Saad Al-Rashed & Sons Co., will form a digital bank with a capital of SAR1.5bn ($400m). It will be called Saudi Digital Bank.
Saudi Central Bank has been actively engaged in supporting innovation and maintaining confidence in the financial sector by developing the digital economy and enabling fintech companies to support the growth of the private sector. In this context, the central bank has licensed 16 Saudi fintech companies in recent year to provide payment services, consumer micro-finance and digital insurance brokerage.
In addition, there are 32 fintech companies operating under the regulatory sandbox environment, which was designed for testing innovative services and products in the kingdom.
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