RIYADH: Saudi fintech company Geidea has joined forces with financing firm Alamthal to simplify loan issuance and repayments for businesses. Merchants will now be able to pay back their loan amounts directly through point-of-sale terminals by automatically setting aside a percentage or amount of monthly revenue towards their loan obligations. “With this partnership, we want to remove the hassle and stress that often goes into repayments and offer a secure, trusted solution that will empower them and let them focus on their business,” said Renier Lemmens, group CEO of Geidea. Hamad Al-Salem, deputy CEO of Alamathal Financing, added: “Our goal is to promote good financial behaviors and safeguard the financial wellbeing of the SME sector, thus giving them the platform to expand and scale in line with their business goals.” Saudi Arabia has a 94 percent adoption rate of contactless payments through near-field communication — the highest in the Middle East and North Africa, above the EU’s average and ahead of Hong Kong and Canada, the Saudi Central Bank revealed last October.