Owned by SAMA, Mada is the national payments scheme powered by Saudi Payments. Backed by the state, Mada connects banks, ATMs, sales terminal points and also underpins debit cards issued by local banks in Saudi Arabia.
Shoppers in Saudi Arabia used their Mada cards so frequently in June that it drove e-shopping 72% year-on-year to SR25.97 billion ($6.93 billion), highlighting the increased reliance on cashless transactions. The Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, published data which revealed that the number of online payments also rose 59.4% to 141.55 million, with transactions happening on various shopping websites, in-app purchases, and e-wallets.
However, transactions completed via international credit cards like Visa and Mastercard were not included in these numbers, to underscore the range of domestic financial services which are propelling the Kingdom’s digital economy.
Owned by SAMA, Mada is the national payments scheme powered by Saudi Payments. Backed by the state, Mada connects banks, ATMs, sales terminal points and also underpins debit cards issued by local banks in Saudi Arabia. This solidifies Mada as the backbone of digital transactions across the Kingdom.
This payment service solution has proved to be a swift and secure gateway, which also offers features provided by other global banking schemes. Mada has been launched by Riyadh officials to push Saudi Arabia to transition to a cashless economy.
The Kingdom’s share of electronic retail payments and trusted payment gateways for everyday commerce has increased, with efforts being made to upgrade the rails behind the checkout button. Earlier this year, SAMA introduced a new e-commerce payments interface, which allows providers to simultaneously rely on national infrastructure and integrate Mada into international networks. This was done to make the payment system faster and more secure for sellers and buyers alike.
Riyadh authorities asserted an almost universal connectivity in May. According to the Communications, Space and Technology Commission’s (CST) Saudi Internet Report, 93% of e-commerce purchases are made on local websites, and 99% of the Kingdom’s population has internet access. With an average monthly mobile data usage of 48 gigabytes per person, the study also demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s advantage over other countries in terms of network metrics, as this figure is three times the global average.
Mastercard has also developed a local e-commerce processing infrastructure for the country to maintain these as domestic transactions and also enable faster and more secure checkout processes. This establishes a larger pattern where Saudi Arabia is normalising cashless transactions, opting instead to augment its digital economy with Mada-enabled checkout systems, quick delivery, and easy returns.
Recent studies have also shown that in Saudi Arabia, younger and tech-savvy consumers are reshaping demand in the retail sector. PwC’s Voice of the Consumer 2024 survey showed the Kingdom raising expectations around sustainability, digital innovation, and health. The survey maintained that data privacy was a major concern among the people and that customers were responding positively towards AI-driven shopping tools.
The report also suggested that inflation was the major point of concern for 36% of participants. Despite this worry, however, eco-consciousness was improving. 45% of customers preferred eco-friendly products, and nearly 18% of participants admitted that they would be an additional 11-20% for products which were recycled or locally sourced.
Payment service providers are inking partnerships to enable cross-border payments to ensure smooth and seamless international payments. In July, Maersk and Saudi Post signed a deal to develop cross-border logistics with customs clearance and delivery, among other features, for producers entering the Saudi and wider Gulf markets.
For investors and merchants, turning demand into repeatable scale is a lucrative opportunity. On the front end, this entails enhancing mobile user experiences, offering regional payment choices, and establishing clear data privacy policies that engender confidence in tech-savvy customers.
A robust digital economy is one of the top targets for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The Kingdom has been exploring newer avenues for banking and financial solutions, and Mada is certainly making great strides in realising this goal.