Prime Highlights
- SAMA licenses Malaa for payment account information services, raising providers to 33.
- Saudi fintech sector grows to 261 firms, surpassing Vision 2030 target by 13%.
Key Facts
- Malaa operates within SAMA’s open banking framework under strict data privacy standards.
- Saudi fintech investment reaches SR7.9 billion, more than doubling initial Vision 2030 target.
Background
Saudi Arabia’s digital payments sector looks set to expand after the Saudi Central Bank licensed Malaa Co. for Information Technology to offer payment account information services, taking the number of permitted payment service providers to 33.
The license lets Malaa give customers a secure way to share their banking data with licensed third-party providers once they give their consent.
The approval, granted by the central bank known as SAMA, marks another step in the Kingdom’s push to strengthen its open banking ecosystem and speed up financial sector reforms under Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia’s fintech ecosystem climbed to 261 companies by the end of 2025, pushing past the original Vision 2030 target of 230 firms by 13 percent. The sector expanded 21 percent year on year, while cumulative fintech investment reached SR7.9 billion, more than doubling its initial target.
SAMA said the decision reflects its commitment to supporting the payments sector, improving the efficiency of financial transactions and promoting innovative financial solutions for financial inclusion across the Kingdom.
Malaa’s license positions it to operate within SAMA’s open banking framework, which requires adherence to strict data privacy, consent and API security standards aligned with international best practices.
The central bank also advised consumers and businesses to deal only with financial institutions licensed or authorized by SAMA.
Payment account information services allow licensed third parties to access customer bank account data, with consent, to build products such as budgeting tools, credit assessments and account aggregation dashboards.
According to SAMA’s Open Banking Framework, account information services formed the first version of open banking services rolled out in the Kingdom, with payment initiation services, which let licensed providers initiate payments directly from a customer’s account, following as the framework’s second release.
