RIYADH: In support of Saudi Arabia’s financial development strategy, the Kingdom’s payment network provider has granted a gateway certification to the regional fintech company Tap Payments. The new credentials position the firm as a payment gateway provider, meaning it becomes one of the first fintech firms in the region to build its own proprietary gateway technology and secure certification from Saudi Payments, also known as Mada. “Achieving payment gateway certification from Saudi Payments is in line with the Financial Sector Development Plan, which is a key part of the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision and a step toward having a cashless society and achieving the 70 percent target of non-cash transactions by 2025,” Ali Abulhasan, co-founder and CEO at Tap Payments, said. Under its development plan, Saudi Arabia wants to increase the number of fintech companies in the Kingdom to 525, while creating 18,000 jobs. This is aimed at increasing the sector’s direct contribution to the gross domestic product to $3.5 billion, and raising venture capital investments to $3.2 billion by 2030. The company will be able to expand its product offering and solutions by leveraging Mada’s technology stack which includes many advanced payment features. One of which is the ability to tokenize cards and securely store them for clients which will streamline checkout experiences and boost conversion rates. “Partnering with Saudi Payments allows us to collaborate in building meaningful technologies that have a major impact on digitizing payments and elevating the payment experience for cardholders in the region,” Sultan Alonazi, managing director for Saudi Arabia, Tap Payments, said. Mada currently aids over 30 million issued cards, representing nearly 90 percent of all payment transactions being processed within the country. In the first quarter of 2023, e-commerce transactions in the Kingdom grew by 50 percent compared to the previous year. Additionally, Mada cardholders represent over 50 percent of Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ purchasing power and more than 35 percent of the Middle East and North Africa region’s spending capacity, the press release stated. Furthermore, Tap Payments holds several certifications as a payment technology provider and a license from the Saudi Central Bank. The company was established in Kuwait in 2014 and currently has a presence in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar, as well as Lebanon, the UAE, and Bahrain.