BNPL taking off across region Comes as household budgets under pressure RIYADH: Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform Tamara has secured funding of $110 million and plans to use the new cash injection to expand its operations across the GCC. The largest Series A funding ever in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the news comes just six months after Riyadh-based Tamara launched in September last year. Founded by entrepreneur Abdulmajeed Alsukhan and his partners Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain, Tamara was the first BNPL firm to be part of the Saudi Central Bank’s Sandbox fintech development program. Tamara allows shoppers to purchase goods and services and delay the payment for 30 days, or spilt the purchase into three payments spread over two months. The company has signed up around 1000 merchants to its platform, including Namshi, Floward, SACO, Nice One, Whites and Nejree. It has reported healthy average monthly growth rates, with its user base growing 180 percent month-on-month and transaction volumes increasing 170 percent on average each month. “Tamara was born to make a change. The region and the world need payment solutions that are transparent and customer-oriented. At Tamara, we offer our customers an alternative to credit cards and Cash on Delivery (COD), which enhances their shopping experience,” Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Tamara’s co-founder and CEO, said in a press statement. Operating in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Tamara also has offices in Vietnam and Germany.