Paymentology, the global issuer-processor, is aligning its regional strategy with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, positioning itself as a core technology enabler for the Kingdom’s goal of creating a digitised, cashless economy.
The firm, which helps banks and fintechs launch and scale card programmes, views the country’s rapid transformation as a key opportunity for modern payment infrastructure providers.
Speaking to The Fintech Times at the recent inaugural Money20/20 Middle East event in Riyadh, CEO Jeff Parker explained that Paymentology’s role is to provide the agile technology needed to support the market’s growth.
“A core pillar of 2030 is to help digitise the economy and to move towards a cashless society,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we do as an issuer processor. We are a technology-driven enabler for banks and fintechs,”
Parker also highlighted the Kingdom’s lack of restrictive legacy infrastructure as a key advantage, allowing it to leapfrog traditional development stages seen in Europe and the US. He described the pace of change as unprecedented, noting that the number of fintechs has grown from around 20 to 200 in just a few years.
“It’s not being encumbered by legacy platforms, which are typically slow, rigid and inflexible,” said Parker, adding that using a modern, cloud-based processor enables partners to “iterate and develop new product at pace to meet the current needs of the customer”.
Getting local
A key part of Paymentology’s strategy has been deep localisation. By establishing a local entity in Saudi Arabia, Paymentology is investing in the face-to-face relationships and trust it sees as essential to regional success. This presence is also a technical necessity, requiring local data processing infrastructure and direct integration into the national card scheme, Mada.
Parker explained that this ability to connect with local switches is a key differentiator. “Our ability to integrate into the local scheme is more unique,” he said, noting Paymentology connects to around nine domestic switches globally. “The fact that we are cloud-first and everything is API-driven allows us to connect to some of those local switches in a much more efficient manner than maybe traditional legacy players have been able to”.
While Paymentology plans to launch in the US and expand into account-to-account services, Parker says that the Middle East remains a primary focus. The company is using its Riyadh base as a springboard for the wider GCC, adapting to diverse regulatory environments to act, as Parker put it, “like a local even though we’re a global business”.
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