Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has partnered with JCB International Co., Ltd. to enable the acceptance of JCB cards in Saudi Arabia.
This partnership will enable mada network to accept JCB payments through the platform. This will facilitate local acquiring banks to accept JCB cards through their network of Point of Sale terminals and ATM terminals deployed throughout Saudi Arabia and also provide greater convenience for JCB’s growing cardholders in Islamic markets such as Indonesia.
JCB will also be opening an office in Riyadh to develop and enhance its presence in the Saudi Arabian market. Saudi Payments is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, founded to operate and develop all major national payment systems.
“Saudi Arabia is the most significant market for JCB to expand the issuance of JCB cards in the Islamic region. Saudi Arabia is one of the most important travel destination for our cardholders. With the Kingdom’s enhanced Vision 2030 strategy and the ever-increasing close ties between Saudi Arabia and Japan, I am delighted that we have entered into this partnership with Saudi Payments for the acceptance of JCB cards,” said Mr. Yoshiki Kaneko, President and COO of JCBI. “Over the coming months we will be announcing partnerships with local banks to expand our acceptance infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, to cater for both the business and touristic needs of our cardholders.”
Ziad Al Yousef, Managing Director of Saudi Payments said: “This partnership is vital step to enhance the digital payment infrastructure in the Kingdom, by providing more options for customers. At the same time, our partnership with JCB aims to enable mada network to accept JCB cards, which will be used through sale points. Based on this step, we seek to transform our society into a less cash dependent.”
