stc group, the region’s leading digital enabler, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PayPal to explore collaboration in digital payments, customer loyalty, and venture investments across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the broader Middle Eastern markets.
The announcement was made during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 2025 in Riyadh, underscoring the Kingdom’s emergence as a global fintech hub.
stc group and PayPal aim to enhance cross-border financial connectivity and elevate customer experiences by integrating stc’s digital banking and telecom ecosystem with PayPal’s trusted global platform. The initiative seeks to deliver seamless, innovative, and user-centric digital solutions that empower individuals, SMEs, and startups to participate more effectively in the global digital economy.
The collaboration will bring together the strengths of both companies to unlock new growth opportunities across several strategic pillars. In banking and payments, STC Bank, stc pay Bahrain, and PayPal aim to connect their platforms, exploring opportunities to deliver fast and fully interoperable cross-border transactions for consumers and businesses alike. stc is exploring opportunities to join PayPal World, a global platform that will connect many of the world’s largest payment systems and digital wallets on a single platform.
In consumer and loyalty innovation, stc’s Qitaf rewards program is exploring a potential link with PayPal’s global network, creating seamless ways for customers to earn and redeem rewards across a wide range of online and offline experiences. The collaboration also extends to venture and ecosystem growth, exploring co-investment and innovation opportunities that accelerate fintech development across the region.
Together, these initiatives are set to deliver a more seamless and rewarding digital payments experience for customers while empowering businesses with fast and cost-efficient ways to engage in cross-border commerce.
“Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of digital transformation, and financial technology is one of the fastest-growing enablers of that change,” said Motaz Alangari, Group Chief Investment Officer, stc group. “Our collaboration with PayPal aims to advance stc group’s strategy to build global partnerships that drive innovation in digital payments, fintech, and cross-border commerce in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Together, we seek to empower consumers and businesses across the region through secure, seamless, and globally connected financial experiences.”
“The Middle East is becoming one of the most dynamic markets for digital commerce, and Saudi Arabia is a key part of that growth,” said Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, PayPal World, Regional Head and General Manager for Middle East and Africa, PayPal. “By combining stc’s regional scale and infrastructure with PayPal’s global network, we can create more seamless, secure, and rewarding experiences for users and merchants alike, from faster cross-border payments to smarter loyalty engagement. This proposed partnership reflects our shared commitment to innovation and economic growth.”
This milestone partnership between stc and PayPal reflects a mutual commitment to exploring opportunities that contribute to a more connected and innovative digital economy across Saudi Arabia and the wider region. The partnership will allow users to more easily connect their stc and PayPal accounts, expand merchant and SME access to PayPal’s global customer base of over 400 million, and open new pathways for startup funding through joint venture initiatives.
Forward Looking Statements About PayPal
This announcement contains forward-looking statements about the timing, features, and anticipated benefits of PayPal World services. Forward looking statements may be identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, our ability to timely enter into definitive agreements with wallet partners, the extent to which wallet partners use services offered by PayPal World, potential delays in the launch of PayPal World’s services, the reaction of competitors, inability of participants to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and unanticipated difficulties in operationalizing PayPal World.
More information about these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found in PayPal Holdings, Inc.’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this announcement speaks only as of the date hereof. PayPal assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein.
