E-invoicing platform ‘Esal’ to help Saudi businesses become more efficient: official

E-invoicing payment platform “Esal” is expected to reduce transaction costs, improve efficiency, and facilitate transactions for both businesses and individuals, Ziad Al Yousef, managing director of Saudi Payments told Argaam.

The Kingdom is planning to have 70 percent of payments made via digital systems, he said.

Esal will use the Sadad platform’s infrastructure to assist commercial businesses in digitizing their transactions.

The Kingdom is also working on launching a real-time payment program which will enable instant, digital payments between financial institutions, businesses and consumers, with instant credit transfers, e-invoicing and billing, real-time payment acknowledgement, remittances, bulk payments and peer-to-peer money transfers, Al Yousef added. 

The program will be ready by year 2020.

On Monday, The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) launched Esal to digitalize the payment processes for government entities and businesses in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom currently uses the Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express System (SARIE), SADAD bill payment system, the banks’ clearing system, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), and Points of Sale (POS) terminals.