There’s some big news for Saudi Arabian Apple users. According to rumours, Apple Pay may launch in Saudi Arabia this week, and by this week we within the next day or so. And it’s now launched.
A year and a half after launching in the UAE, Apple Pay has now finally launched in Saudi Arabia. The Apple Pay Saudi Arabia page on Apple’s website finally lists all their banking and retail partners.
According to the website, it will initially work with the Mada (Saudi payment network), Visa, and Mastercard debit and credit cards from Al Rajhi Bank, National Commercial Bank, Riyad Bank, Alinma Bank, and Bank AlJazira.
Arabian Business reports that advertisements from Saudi Arabia-based Al-Rajhi Bank noted that Apple Pay will launch in the kingdom on February 19 – the same day that it has been rumoured that the service will launch in the Czech Republic.
In October, Apple said that the service was “coming soon” to Saudi Arabia.
During Apple’s last earnings release, CEO Tim Cook said the company set a revenue record for Apple Pay in the last quarter, adding:
“Apple Pay is… by far, the #1 mobile contactless payment service worldwide. Transaction volume tripled year-over-year, and to put that into perspective, Apple Pay generated significantly more transactions than even PayPal mobile with over 4x the growth rate.”
Apple Pay first launched in the US in October 2014. It’s now available in the world’s biggest markets, such as China, the U.K., and Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
