Users of various mobile payment apps in Saudi Arabia in 2020, with forecasts to 2025
Saudi Telecom's STC Pay wallet is expected to strengthen its domestic market position further between 2020 and 2025. Originally the digital payment segment of Saudi Arabia's largest telco operator, the business officially received a digital banking license in June 2021 - roughly 1.5 years after exiting the regulatory sandbox environment in the Kingdom meant for innovative services and products. This suggests that mobile payments are somewhat new in Saudi Arabia, although the Saudi Central Bank talks of a major increase in contactless payments: By October 2021, they said, contactless payments adoption was around 94 percent.