SAMA greenlights beta launch of STC Bank
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has officially approved the transition of STC Pay – the mobile financial services arm of Saudi Telecom Company – into STC Bank.
SAMA approves beta launch of STC Bank
The approval has enabled the subsidiary to pursue a beta launch of its Sharia-compliant banking services.
STC Pay says it will now allow “selected users” to migrate their digital wallet accounts, which it has been operating since its inception in 2018, to an account with STC Bank.
The company’s digital wallet offering currently supports retail and business account services with the ability to make local and international transfers. It also offers a bill-splitting service called Qattah and its Qitaf loyalty programme, among other features.
The firm says those that choose to move their accounts will be provided with an international bank account number (IBAN) alongside “additional banking services”.
The beta launch builds on the digital banking licence STC Pay received from SAMA in 2021, becoming the Kingdom’s first fintech to receive this approval.
At the time, the subsidiary said Saudi Telecom Company would allocate upwards of $213 million to aid its transformation into a digital bank, which would leverage capital of $667 million.
STC Pay says the beta period will be followed by a full public launch of STC Bank “later in the year”, when its suite will also be extended with additional financial solutions.
