American e-commerce giant Amazon has launched its Amazon Payment Services (APS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Amazon completed PAYFORT’s acquisition in the region and rebranded it as Amazon Payment Services.

Amazon Payment Services

APS is a payment processing solution designed to provide businesses in the region with access to online payment services.

It will continue to provide them with access to a host of services, including online payments acceptance, instalments facility for customers, and payment performance monitoring.

APS has also introduced enhanced services like detailed reports with actionable insights and real-time monitoring of payment activities.

This will allow businesses to consolidate their data from different sources and create their own dashboard to track and meet their financial goals.

APS processes payments for thousands of businesses across various verticals.

It partners with banks such as RAKBANK, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Mashreq, The Saudi British Bank (SABB), Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank and National Commercial Bank (NCB), in the region.

It also partners with local card schemes such as MADA and Meeza, and international card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard.

Background

PAYFORT was established in the MENA region back in 2013.

In 2017, it was acquired by Amazon as part of the acquisition of online retailer Souq Group.

Souq.com is an English-Arabic language e-commerce platform. In May last year, Souq.com became Amazon.ae.

Comments

Amazon Payment Services MD Omar Soudodi said: “Amazon Payment Services mechanisms include simple-to-understand descriptions of services and their impact on a business, demonstrations of the end-customer experience, in addition to the ability to provide feedback proactively, alongside full secure transparency into pricing.

“Today’s launch marks another key milestone in Amazon’s promise to build the future of digital payments in the region, empowering businesses to provide user-friendly payment experience for their end-users.

“Amazon Payment Services is a natural next step in our journey, focusing on four fundamental pillars of trust, convenience, selection and pricing, underpinned by a best-in-class experience focused on reliability, scale and operational excellence.”