● An event was held in Riyadh to announce a proposed partnership between international payments leader Western Union and STC Pay
● The collaboration will give the unbanked access to financial services
● WU’s CEO says it is a “privilege” to be in the country
Saudi Arabia’s dominant telco player Saudi Telecom is reportedly collaborating with Western Union to make its mobile wallet STC Pay work better. STC Pay, a mobile payments brand, was launched by the telecommunications’ subsidiary Saudi Digital Payments Company. The proposed cooperation will pave the way for STC Pay to go global, according to Western Union’s CEO Hikmet Ersek.
Money transfer services have been experiencing stable growth in the country since the government started concentrating on the development of cashless payments.
Western Union’s functionality will be incorporated into STC Pay, according to Saudi Telecom representatives to make it possible for the mobile wallet’s users to perform international money transfer transactions right on their smartphones. The service will also be available locally. According to Trade Arabia, STC Pay is now available on both iOS and Android and it will allow users to access a range of financial services without the use of a bank account.
STC Pay’s launch this week was hosted in an event led by Dr. Ahmed Abdul Karim Alkholifey, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. Held in Riyadh, the event was also attended by Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saud, STC chairman Nasser Al Nasser and other people from the Saudi finance industry and the diplomatic corps.
In a speech at the event, Ersek said that it is a privilege to be in the Saudi capital to announce the proposed collaboration. He added that the agreement will enable “millions of customers with or without bank accounts or credit cards to access a suite of international finance tool”. All of said tools will be available “at a click of a button”.
Ersek also told the group that Western Union’s platform can be described as a connector as it can connect micro-communities to large corporations. It is noted by the company that WU’s platform can connect STC Pay users to 200 countries and territories around the world. Western Union’s business model revolves around connecting new populations to its services. It is mentioned by Nasser Al Nasser that the collaboration will enable financial inclusion in the country.
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