Saudi British Bank Partners With Cybersource to Accelerate eCommerce Growth

Saudi British Bank (SABB) announced it has inked a strategic partnership with Cybersource to foster the bank’s growth in the eCommerce space, according to a on Monday (Nov. 28) press release.

Cybersource is a Visa company that provides a range of online and in-person payment services.

The new partnership will enhance the capabilities of SABB’s payment gateway and improve network uptime, the bank said.

“Through our partnership with Visa, we look forward to implanting the additional benefits offered by the Cybersource payment gateway, which will in turn reinforce our eCommerce strength. This initiative is evidence of our commitment and ambition to support the payment ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. I believe this will enable the eCommerce businesses to grow and expand further,” Yasser Al-Barrak, chief corporate and institutional banking officer at SABB, said.

Ali Bailoun, Visa’s regional general manager for GCC Cluster – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, expressed optimism for the partnership.

“Embracing digital payments and a potentially cashless society is where the future lies… We are very proud to partner with SABB one of the leading eCommerce acquiring banks to ensure that businesses in Saudi enjoy a range of domestic and international benefits that will enable them to deliver the seamless, secure eCommerce experience consumers are seeking,” Bailoun said.

As PYMNTS reported recently, in Saudi Arabia’s traditionally cash-heavy economy, payment technology firms are helping to drive widespread digital transformation while a string of recently licensed neobanks has set the stage for digitization to expand beyond payments too.

Amazon Payment Services has even shared data suggesting that 2021 was the first year that electronic payments eclipsed cash transactions in Saudi Arabia, where they grew to represent 62% of payments across all sectors last year.

Meanwhile, in the wider region, PYMNTS research has shown that as Gulf nations reduce their reliance on cash, mobile wallet adoption is accelerating rapidly.

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