How to Accept Payments in Saudi Arabia: mada, Apple Pay and More

Saudi Arabia has transformed into one of the world's most cashless economies in just a few years, driven by Vision 2030's financial-sector goals. For merchants, the headline fact is that electronic payments now account for the large majority of retail transactions — and that the domestic mada scheme sits at the center of the card-based economy. Here is how to accept payments in Saudi Arabia in 2026.

A market that went cashless ahead of schedule

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) reported that electronic payments reached 85% of all retail transactions in 2025, up from 79% in 2024 and 70% in 2023 — meaning the Kingdom hit its Vision 2030 target of 70% non-cash retail payments back in 2023, seven years early. For merchants, this means digital acceptance is not a niche; it is the expectation of almost every buyer.

E-commerce has grown alongside, with the Saudi business-to-consumer online market in the high-teens of billions of dollars and rising.

mada: the method you cannot skip

mada is Saudi Arabia's national payment scheme, and its reach is near-total: it is carried on more than 90% of cards issued in the Kingdom and handles the overwhelming majority of domestic card transactions. Most Saudi debit cards run on mada, typically co-badged with Visa or Mastercard for international use.

The practical implication is simple: if you want to accept Saudi cards, you must accept mada. Routing domestic transactions over mada rather than only the international schemes also tends to improve acceptance and cost. A card-only setup that ignores mada will see domestic approval rates suffer.

Apple Pay and contactless

Saudi Arabia has exceptionally high smartphone penetration and contactless adoption, and Apple Pay is widely used, usually funded by mada or co-badged cards. Supporting Apple Pay (and Google Pay) at checkout is close to mandatory for a smooth mobile experience, given how much Saudi commerce happens on phones.

STC Pay and wallets

STC Pay grew into the Gulf's largest digital wallet by users and has since expanded into full digital banking. For merchants targeting younger and mobile-first Saudi consumers, wallet acceptance complements cards.

Buy now, pay later

BNPL is unusually popular in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf, with regional providers deeply embedded in checkout. For retail, fashion and electronics, offering a BNPL option can lift conversion and average order value among younger shoppers.

Bank transfers and open banking

Bank-transfer methods exist (including SADAD for bills), and SAMA launched its open banking licensing framework in 2026, with the first providers authorized. Open banking is poised to enable more account-to-account payment experiences over time, so it is worth watching as a future rail even if cards and wallets dominate today.

How to accept the Saudi stack

A strong Saudi checkout generally includes:

1. mada for domestic cards — non-negotiable.
2. Visa/Mastercard (often co-badged) for international cards.
3. Apple Pay / Google Pay for mobile.
4. STC Pay and BNPL options for wallet- and credit-oriented buyers.
5. Arabic-localized checkout, priced in riyals, with right-to-left support.

You accept these through a payment provider rather than connecting to SAMA's rails directly. Because mada, international cards, wallets and BNPL each have their own integration and routing logic, many merchants consolidate them behind one orchestration layer. With a platform like PiqPay, mada and the rest of the Saudi stack sit within the same unified API and dashboard used in other markets, with smart routing to send domestic transactions over mada for better acceptance.

Thinking GCC: the UAE next door

Merchants entering Saudi Arabia are often eyeing the wider Gulf, and the neighbouring UAE is the obvious next step — a similar mobile-first, low-cash profile, but with its own rails. The UAE launched Aani, an instant payment system that passed 12.5 million users by early 2026, and Jaywan, a new domestic card scheme that all banks are rolling out, often co-badged with international networks much like mada. Across MENA, cash on delivery has fallen sharply — from around 41% of online payment preference in 2020 to roughly 20% in 2024 — and lower still in the Gulf's cities.

The takeaway: the GCC is converging on cards-plus-wallets-plus-instant-rails, but each market keeps a domestic scheme you must support. Plan Saudi Arabia and the UAE as related but distinct, and favour infrastructure that already covers both.

Practical checklist

• Always accept mada and route domestic cards over it.
• Offer Apple Pay for the mobile-first majority.
• Add STC Pay and a BNPL option where your category fits.
• Fully localize in Arabic with RTL and riyal pricing.
• Confirm payments in real time and reconcile by scheme.

Saudi Arabia is a mature, cashless, mobile-first market. Lead with mada and Apple Pay, and you will match how the Kingdom actually pays.

Want mada, Apple Pay and STC Pay through one integration? Explore PiqPay for Saudi Arabia.