RIYADH: Saudi Arabia-based fintech PayTabs has acquired a 100 percent stake in Paymes, Türkiye’s largest social commerce platform. According to a press release, Paymes will serve as PayTabs’ social commerce platform, which will help its individual customers, business owners, and micro vendors across the Middle East and North Africa region to receive instant payments over social media platforms including Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. “By acquiring Paymes, we are consolidating our position as the only payment solutions powerhouse that has a payment orchestration platform to offer payments solutions for any business size – micro or macro, across the globe,” said Abdulaziz Al Jouf, founder and CEO of the PayTabs Group. The press release further noted that the acquisition will provide an opportunity for PayTabs to grow and expand its payment footprint in the Eurasian markets. “Under the acquisition agreement, the Paymes team will expand our responsibilities to cover the many markets that PayTabs operates in throughout MENA,” said Paymes co-founder and PayTabs Regional Head/Operating Partner, Hasan Jabbrov. He added: “We will also be supporting PayTabs with our range of new social commerce products, a sector in which we have considerable experience. Exciting times ahead for webpreneurs in the region.” The news of the acquisition comes just a few weeks after PayTabs acquired a 100 percent stake in Saudi Arabia’s point-of-sale tech firm Digital Pay in November for an undisclosed amount, to strengthen its online and offline payment offerings. Founded in 2014 by Al Jouf, PayTabs is a payment solutions provider that offers a payment gateway for online stores, whereas Digital Pay, founded in 2018, offers terminals and soft point-of-sales for physical stores. By acquiring Digital Pay, PayTabs will be able to execute its presence in both online and offline payment offerings as well as achieve its commitment to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, according to a press release. The deal is also expected to help Digital Pay enhance its presence by delivering POS to online merchants in various markets where PayTabs has a strong presence.