Some of the world’s strictest lockdowns and restrictions were imposed across the Gulf states to combat coronavirus. They caused havoc across oil-reliant economies already hit by low crude prices.
But, as elsewhere around the world, the region’s emerging technology firms were big beneficiaries from a surge in ecommerce activity as customers sheltered at home.
The payment platforms behind the shift from bricks-and-mortar to digital commerce have dominated the region’s emerging fintech scene, some supported by larger telecoms companies. Early last year, e-payments surged in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf’s largest market, after customers were allowed to use debit cards — rather than less-common credit cards — for online transactions.
The burgeoning market has attracted overseas interest in the digital infrastructure underpinning financial technology. Western Union last month said it would invest up to $200m for a 15 per cent stake in STC Pay, the fast-growing payments arm of Saudi Telecom Company, the Riyadh-listed giant controlled by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
Regional payments are dominated by Payfort, a Dubai-based start-up sold to Amazon in 2017, the same year that the US company became the region’s dominant ecommerce player with the acquisition of local incumbent rival Souq.
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