KSA To Roll Out Google Pay And Alipay+ As Digital Payments Surge

Google Pay will soon launch in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s central bank confirmed during the Money20/20 Middle East conference in Riyadh. The move marks an expansion of the country’s digital payments ecosystem and supports its Vision 2030 target of lifting cashless transactions to 70% by 2025.

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has also signed an agreement with Ant International to deploy Alipay+ services by 2026. Both Google Pay and Alipay+ will be routed through mada, the national payments network, ensuring compatibility with domestic cards and retail systems.

SAMA described Google Pay as offering “an advanced and secure payments experience,” allowing users to provision and manage mada cards and credit cards directly in the Google Wallet app. Officials said the launch is part of wider efforts to strengthen infrastructure and support the Kingdom’s fintech ambitions.

The Alipay+ agreement will allow visitors to make purchases in Saudi Arabia using international wallets linked to the platform, streamlining cross-border transactions and reinforcing the Kingdom’s role as a payments hub.

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Speaking in Riyadh, SAMA Governor Ayman Al-Sayari struck an optimistic note: the number of Saudi fintech firms jumped from 82 at the end of 2022 to around 281 by August 2025. He put cumulative sector investment at $2.39 billion and described the payments system as a standout success, with electronic payments making up 79% of retail transactions in 2024 — amounting to 12.6 billion transactions, up from 10.8 billion the year before.

Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan added that the Saudi financial market has reached nearly $640 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing globally. He said work is underway to integrate artificial intelligence into financial systems, part of broader reforms tied to Vision 2030.