SAMA licenses Daftar Technologies as BNPL players reach 76

Published: 2026-07-07T08:12:45.000Z

Saudi Arabia's buy now, pay later market has gained another licensed player, as the Saudi Central Bank has granted Daftar Technologies approval to offer deferred payment services. The move takes the total number of finance companies authorized by the regulator, known as SAMA, to 76, and it slots neatly into a broader drive to widen access to digital finance. SAMA framed the decision in familiar terms, describing it as part of an effort to support the finance sector, make transactions more efficient and push financial inclusion, all goals stitched into the Vision 2030 blueprint. The timing is telling, since the approval lands just days after SAMA handed Tabby a pair of licenses covering consumer finance and lending to small and medium enterprises. Those permissions are widely read as a step that carries Tabby well beyond short-term instalments towards becoming a fuller financial services provider, and the pattern points to a regulator steadily letting its leading fintechs grow up. Adding Daftar to the roster does the opposite job at the other end of the market, keeping the door open to newer entrants so the sector does not simply harden into a duopoly. That duopoly risk is real, because Saudi Arabia's BNPL scene is already dominated by two heavyweights in Tabby and Tamara, both of which have expanded their product ranges through additional regulatory approvals of their own. For a fresh licensee, the challenge is less about proving that Saudis will use instalment payments, which they plainly do, and more about carving out space against rivals with deep merchant networks and household recognition. Details on Daftar itself, including its backers and go-to-market plan, remain thin for now, but the license gives it the regulatory footing to compete legitimately in a space SAMA is watching closely. The wider backdrop explains why so many players want in. Electronic payments accounted for 85 per cent of retail transactions in the Kingdom last year, a striking marker of how quickly cash has receded, and BNPL has ridden that wave by reshaping how people shop and manage their spending. The regional stakes reach beyond Saudi borders too, since both Tabby and Tamara operate across the Gulf and the UAE runs its own fast-maturing BNPL market under separate rules. That cross-border competition, combined with SAMA's insistence that consumers deal only with authorized institutions, is nudging the whole sector towards tighter oversight and consolidation. As instalment lending matures into a mainstream financial habit rather than a checkout novelty, the contest between incumbents and newcomers like Daftar is only likely to sharpen