The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has granted initial approval for Careem and Noon e-wallets. Although neither company has taken part in a sandbox, which is the usual process for digital payments in the Kingdom.
“As for supporting new payments companies that are not in the trial environment. The Authority gave preliminary approval to two e-wallets companies, Noon Pay and Careem Pay, providing an opportunity for such promising companies in the payments sector, as part of the endeavors of supporting companies with innovations and financial technologies in e-payments that would help all sectors, including transport, e-commerce, etc.”
Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor of SAMA
Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor of SAMA announced the news at the opening of MEFTECH in Riyadh. “As for supporting new payments companies that are not in the trial environment. The Authority gave preliminary approval to two e-wallets companies, Noon Pay and Careem Pay, providing an opportunity for such promising companies in the payments sector, as part of the endeavors of supporting companies with innovations and financial technologies in e-payments that would help all sectors, including transport, e-commerce, etc.,” he said.
Careem Pay
With this preliminary approval from the government, Careem users will be able to pay for services other than rides and delivery with their mobile wallet. However, details of what the full license will include are still unclear.
Noon Pay
Last year, Noon hired Ali Alobaid, to lead Noon Pay for the company in Saudi. Noon’s mobile wallet would allow users to make payments on Noon and other offline and online merchants. Noon’s large userbase in Saudi is mainly banked and would be able to benefit from this service.
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