SAMA, is planning to make Saudi Arabia a regional financial technology hub as part of its strategy to implement the Financial Sector Development Program envisaged in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The central bank is developing regulations to address new business models to assist and guide entrepreneurs in the payments, investments, and financing sector. SAMA had also nurtured 12 companies from different domains as a part of the fintech accelerator program. The banking authority is working with local and international entities to help support the fintech ecosystem in the Kingdom.
Under the national fintech strategy, the number of firms is expected to increase from 82 to 230 by 2025. It also seeks to increase the fintech sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product to SR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) and create nearly 6,000 jobs by 2025, besides increasing the share of digital transactions to 70 percent of all financial dealings. The strategy aspires to raise the cumulative value of venture capital investments in fintech companies to reach SR2.6 billion by 2025 to boost domestic and foreign investment and create nearly 18,000 jobs by 2030. In addition to raising the sector’s contribution to the GDP to SR13 billion by 2030, the new plan also aims at increasing investments in fintech companies to SR12 billion. The Financial Sector Development Program was launched in 2017 to enable financial institutions to support the growth of the private sector, develop an advanced capital market, and boost and enable financial planning.