Visa, a world leader in digital payments, has marked a key milestone as it celebrates 40 years in Saudi Arabia with the opening of a new Innovation Center and an office in the prestigious King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD).
Visa’s new facilities play a key role in supporting Saudi Vision 2030, aiming to cement the Kingdom’s position as a global hub for fintech and digital commerce innovation. The Riyadh Innovation Center is set to advance payment solutions and bolster partnerships with local fintechs, financial institutions, government entities, and businesses.
The facility will serve as a hub for co-developing cutting-edge payment solutions tailored to the Kingdom’s needs. The Center includes payment solutions powered by advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality, biometrics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), with a focus on government solutions, e-sports/gaming industry, smart cities, retail and tourism.
The Center’s capabilities will serve both the local market and enable Saudi-made innovations to be transferred globally. With Saudi Arabia projected to see double digital growth, the Innovation Center is poised to accelerate this growth, propelling the Kingdom toward its Vision 2030 goals.
Andrew Torre Regional President for CEMEA – Visa
“As one of Visa’s largest markets in the CEMEA region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has rapidly emerged as an innovative leader in digital commerce propelled by the clear vision of the government and efforts of the local industry. Our new Innovation Center in Riyadh has been designed to bring the next generation of payment technology and will serve as a collaborative platform to co-create the future of digital commerce.”
The new Innovation Center is part of Visa’s new office in the King Abdullah Financial District, where Visa’s payment experts and business development teams for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman will be based. This move to KAFD brings Visa closer to its key clients and partners, fostering meaningful collaboration across sectors such as government, financial services, retail and fintech.
Ali Bailoun, Visa’s Vice President and Regional General Manager for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, highlighted Visa’s role in building Saudi Arabia’s payments infrastructure, transforming it into a key digital payments market globally. Ali Bailoun also emphasized the relocation of the office as well as its commitment to achieving digital transformation.
Sultan Alobaida, Chief Commercial Officer of the KAFD Development & Management Company, added that, “At KAFD, we are committed to collaborating with the financial industry and international partners such as payment technology leaders like Visa to shape the financial and payments ecosystem of the future, which is integral to Saudi Arabia’s economic development and sustainable growth and in alignment with Vision 2030.”
KAFD, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, is one of the most visionary and transformative mixed-use developments that merges the worlds of business and lifestyle in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
