News

Careem Is Officially Suspending Its Services In Lebanon

Careem customers who have outstanding Careem credit or REWARDS points are encouraged to use them before March 25, 2022.

Published

5 years ago

March 23, 2022

careem is officially suspending its services in lebanon

Recently, vehicle for hire company Careem has announced its decision to leave Lebanon due to the unfavorable economic situation in the country.

“Unfortunately, due to the current economic environment in the country, we deeply regret that we’ve had to make the difficult decision to suspend our services in Lebanon starting from March 25, 2022” said the Careem team in the official statement.

careem suspending services in lebanon official statement

Careem customers who have outstanding Careem credit or REWARDS points are encouraged to use them before March 25, 2022. If they don’t make the deadline, their remaining credit will be automatically refunded.

REWARDS points can be redeemed through the Careem app, by converting them to Emirates Skyward Miles or donating them to charity.

Careem was founded in 2012 as a service for corporate car bookings. The service gradually expanded to include personal ride-hailing and food delivery. In 2019, Careem was acquired by Uber for $3.1 billion, which made it the first unicorn startup company in the Middle East (not including Israeli unicorn startups).

Also Read: PayPal In Lebanon: Everything You Need To Know

During the first 10 months of 2021, Careem recorded 4.3 million rides, with 52 percent of its customers using the service to commute to work, and 46 percent using it for leisure trips.

It’s now clear that Careem’s success hasn’t been enough to offset the worsening economic situation in Lebanon. Since the start of the economic crisis, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value, following a 58.1 percent contraction of Lebanon’s GDP between 2019 and 2021.

What’s more, the company has faced stiff competition from Bolt, which currently charges approximately the same as regular taxi drivers do for shorter trips. It’s tough to see yet another business leave Lebanon, but during times like this, there’s only one thing to say – yalla, bye!

News

NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

Also Read: In Kuwait, Your Surgeon Might Be Operating From Another Country

NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.