Kuwait Times, Monday, Jan 4, 2021 | Jamadi Al Awwal 20, 1442
Saudi CB grants Zain fintech subsidiary ‘Tamam’ first consumer micro-financing license in region
Kuwait:
Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in seven markets across
the Middle East and North Africa announces that Tamam Financing Company (Tamam),
the financial technology (fintech) subsidiary of its operation in Saudi Arabia
has been officially licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide
micro-financing services to consumers across the Kingdom.
This makes Tamam the first entity in the Kingdom and the region to be licensed
by a regulator to offer consumer micro-loans via a fully digital customer
experience, through a mobile app. The licensing follows the completion of an
eighteen-months testing period within SAMA’s Regulatory Sandbox. The rigorous
process saw the app and the service vetted for functionality, security, and
compatibility with customer user profiles in Saudi Arabia, in line with the
Sandbox’s guidelines. The platform displayed high product viability and strong
demand throughout testing and obtained PCI-DSS accreditation which protects the
security of the digital infrastructure and data.
Established in 2019, Tamam aims to increase financial inclusion in the Kingdom
in line with the Financial Sector Development Plan, which forms part of Saudi
Arabia’s Vision 2030. The platform provides individuals requiring financing the
opportunity to immediately avail a Sharia-compliant consumer micro-finance. The
end to-end Sharia approved process takes less than 5 minutes from downloading
the app to receiving the financing amount based on the user credit profile.
Commenting on the licensing of Tamam, Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain Vice-Chairman and
Group CEO, Zain KSA Vice-Chairman and Tamam Chairman said, “We are extremely
proud of the teams at Zain Group, Zain KSA and Tamam in the successful delivery
of this innovative Sharia-compliant service that provides consumer micro-finance
in less than five minutes through a mobile app. Innovation is key to our ongoing
developments and investing in viable digital services such as the fintech sector
is a strategy we have launched a few years ago with Zain Cash and continue to
implement across our markets as a critical component to our sustained evolution
and success.”
Al-Kharafi continued, “Zain KSA’s evolution to becoming a digital lifestyle
provider requires us to take bold moves in new digital areas, and we are pleased
at how the Saudi Central Bank and the Kingdom’s wider community are extremely
receptive to such developments. We believe the thorough testing achieved during
the eighteen months of trials has made our platform the most robust of its kind,
and we look forward to increasing the number of consumers benefiting from
micro-financing services.”
Fintech services remain largely under-penetrated in the Middle East, so the
establishment of the first consumer micro-financing platform in Saudi Arabia
represents a fantastic opportunity for growth. Sultan Al-Deghaither, Zain KSA
CEO and Tamam Vice-Chairman & MD, commented, “The license granted to us by the
Saudi Central Bank is a quantum leap for Tamam and strengthens its position as a
leading provider of financial technology solutions locally as well as
regionally.
Innovation and investment in digital services, such as fintech, is at the heart
of Zain KSA’s vision to be the leading provider of digital services in the
Kingdom. The company’s ambition requires us taking advantage of new areas of
digital growth, playing our key contributory role in the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision.”
Al-Deghaither thanked, “His Excellency Dr Ahmad bin Abdulkareem Al-Kholifey,
Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, and the relevant divisions of the
establishment, for their proactive efforts to promote innovation in the fintech
sector in the Kingdom. I also thank and recognize the efforts of the fintech
team at Zain Group, which assisted in realizing this opportunity and scaling it
to its current level.”