Arab Sea expects digital payments unit to gain 5% local market share in first 3 years

Arab Sea Information Systems Co.’s (Arab Sea) preliminary studies showed that the new digital payments unit will turn profit by the end of the first three years of operation, CEO Haitham Al-Suhaibani told Argaam in an exclusive.

The new unit eyes a market share of 4-5% in the Kingdom’s digital payments market in the first three years of operation.

The company targets the current customers of Arab Sea, which exceed 60,000 establishments locally and 40,000 outside the Kingdom, in addition to new customers.

Arab Sea’s existing customers will be transferred to the new entity’s digital payment services, Al Suhaibani said.

“The company is awaiting the required licenses from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA),”  Al Suhaibani added, revealing expansion plans for the Arab and GCC markets, in addition to launching of e-commerce services soon.

Moreover, Arab Sea’s new entity was driven by the transformation in the Kingdom’s digital payment sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which shifted users to digital payments, the CEO explained.

This approach comes in line with the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims for 70% cashless payments. Digital payments, currently, account for 36% of total payments in the Kingdom, above the 28% target this year.

On Sept. 17, Arab Sea’s board of directors approved setting up a digital payment unit, as a limited liability company in Riyadh, Argaam reported.