Amazon-owned online payments platform registers in KSA

A worker sorts products at an Amazon fulfilment center. Amazon-owned Payfort online payments service has registered a new company in Ƶ. (Reuters)

RIYADH: The Amazon-owned Payfort online payments service has registered a new company in Ƶ through the Ƶn General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
The new foreign business license is the first of its kind to be issued to a payment services operator in the Kingdom.
Payfort can now offer its services to customers in Ƶ, which it said are tailored to “Arab online buying habits and trends.”
Payfort said in a statement the step was taken to “further strengthen the company’s aggressive growth and expansion plans in the country.”
According to the ‘Payfort State of Payments 2017’ report, Ƶ and the UAE are the fastest growing markets in the region for electronic payments.
The report estimates that Ƶ conducted $8.3 billion of payment transactions in 2016, showing 27 percent year-on-year growth.
Electronic payments in KSA are expected to double over the next four years to reach more than $22 billion.
“Recent initiatives to further diversify the Saudi economy and grow hitherto undeveloped economic sectors, such as entertainment and tourism, are likely to help accelerate an already fast growing digital payments market,” Omar Soudodi, managing director of Payfort told media.