NowPay secured $20 million to expand its earned wage access and payroll tools across MENA, launching NowAccess in Saudi with Tas'heel.
NowPay has closed a $20 million funding round as the Cairo-founded fintech prepares to scale its payroll and financial wellness platform across the Middle East and launch operations in Saudi Arabia through a new joint venture. The company, which started in 2019, provides payroll processing, earned wage access, and financial wellness tools to enterprises across MENA, addressing a growing demand for flexible wage disbursement and employee financial management infrastructure.
The funding will support product development, team expansion, and go-to-market execution as NowPay pushes into Saudi Arabia via NowAccess, a joint venture established with United International Holding Company, the parent entity behind Tas'heel Financial Services. Tas'heel operates as a licensed consumer finance provider in the Kingdom and brings local regulatory experience and distribution networks to the partnership. The collaboration is designed to combine NowPay's technology stack with Tas'heel's operational footprint to deliver payroll administration and Shariah-compliant financial services tailored to Saudi employers and employees.
Mostafa Ashour, CEO and co-founder of NowPay, said the partnership with Tas'heel provides access to a high-growth market while leveraging local expertise to accelerate execution. The company's core offering allows employees to access earned wages before the end of the pay cycle, a feature that has gained traction among enterprises looking to improve retention and financial wellness without disrupting cash flow. NowPay also handles payroll processing and compliance, a service that becomes increasingly complex as companies scale across multiple jurisdictions in the region.
Mohamed Galal, managing director and CEO of eXtra and acting CEO of Tas'heel, described the launch of NowAccess as a strategic expansion into payroll-linked financial products that builds on Tas'heel's existing consumer finance operations. The joint venture is positioned to offer employers integrated payroll services while extending financial products to employees, including salary advances and savings tools, structured to meet Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority regulatory requirements and Shariah compliance standards. Tas'heel holds a consumer finance license under SAMA's supervision, a prerequisite for operating financial services in the Kingdom.
The earned wage access model has been growing across emerging markets as employers seek alternatives to traditional payday loans and as workers demand more control over cash flow timing. Companies including Tabby, which offers buy-now-pay-later services in the region, and Tamara, another installment payment provider, have built significant scale by addressing liquidity gaps for consumers and merchants. NowPay's approach differs by embedding access within payroll infrastructure, positioning the product as an employer benefit rather than a standalone consumer lending tool.
In Saudi Arabia, payroll and HR technology adoption has accelerated as the private sector expands under Vision 2030 initiatives and as labor market reforms encourage formalization and digital wage payments. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has introduced wage protection systems and labor regulations that require timely, transparent salary disbursement, creating demand for compliant payroll solutions. The market has also seen growing interest in employee financial wellness tools as companies compete for talent in a tightening labor market.
NowAccess will focus on payroll processing and administration services in Saudi Arabia, with plans to integrate financial wellness products over time. The partnership allows NowPay to enter the Kingdom without building local licensing and compliance infrastructure from scratch, a route that has proven time-consuming and capital-intensive for fintechs operating across the Gulf. Tas'heel's existing relationships with employers in retail, consumer finance, and related sectors provide a distribution channel that could accelerate adoption among enterprise clients.
The $20 million round was not disclosed in terms of investor composition or valuation, and the company did not specify whether the capital came from existing backers or new participants. NowPay previously raised funding from investors including Quona Capital, Global Ventures, and Endure Capital, though the firm has not publicly disclosed total capital raised to date. The new capital will be deployed across hiring, particularly in product and engineering, as well as market entry costs in Saudi Arabia and further product development to support multi-country payroll and compliance features.
Competitors in the regional payroll and HR tech space include Bayzat, a Dubai-based platform offering payroll, benefits, and insurance products to SMEs and enterprises across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and Paymob, which has expanded from payment processing into adjacent financial services. Global players like ADP and Workday also serve large enterprises in the region, though their products are often less tailored to local labor law nuances and Shariah-compliant financial structuring.
The regulatory environment for earned wage access remains in development across MENA. While traditional consumer lending is subject to clear licensing and rate caps under SAMA and the Central Bank of the UAE, earned wage access products occupy a hybrid category that may or may not be treated as credit depending on fee structures and advance mechanisms. NowPay has structured its product as an employee benefit funded by employers or facilitated through payroll deductions, which may reduce regulatory friction compared to direct-to-consumer lending models.
The launch of NowAccess is expected to take place in the coming months, with initial focus on onboarding enterprise clients in Saudi Arabia and piloting integrated payroll and financial wellness offerings. NowPay did not disclose revenue figures, client counts, or transaction volumes, though the company has previously indicated it serves enterprises across multiple sectors including logistics, retail, and hospitality. The partnership with Tas'heel is structured as a long-term collaboration, with both parties holding equity stakes in the joint venture, though ownership percentages were not disclosed.
