Bahrain’s Arab Financial Services (AFS) has recently made its entry into the UAE’s competitive payments processing market, following the acquisition of a ‘Retail Payment Services License – Category 2’ from the UAE Central Bank. This license allows AFS to offer a range of payment solutions in a landscape already populated by established players like Magnati and Network International, as well as global giants Visa and Mastercard.

Samer Soliman, the CEO of Arab Financial Services, emphasized the company’s ambition to secure a position in this crowded marketplace. He noted that AFS was originally founded in Bahrain 40 years ago, starting as a traveler’s cheques business and subsequently transitioning into payment processing and merchant acquiring. Soliman explained that expanding into the UAE is part of AFS’s strategy to target four key markets in the Middle East: Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, and the UAE.

The company aims to provide a strong value proposition for merchants, particularly in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. Soliman highlighted the importance of ensuring that merchants can settle their funds quickly and manage their financial transactions seamlessly through a smartphone application. He mentioned that AFS is working with a financial institution to support SMEs and enhance their operational capabilities.

Arab Financial Services seeks to differentiate itself by offering services that allow merchants to manage their financial activities without the need to visit a bank. The company has already onboarded over 200 customers from existing market players, and Soliman expressed a strong desire for all new businesses entering the market to choose AFS as their payment processing partner. AFS’s focus on innovation and cutting-edge technology positions it as a leading digital payment solutions provider in the region.