Saudi fintech company Tabby has secured Consumer Finance and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance licences from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), marking a major regulatory milestone that transforms the Gulf’s largest Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider into a licensed finance company.
The approvals allow Tabby to expand beyond short-term instalment payments into regulated consumer and business lending, supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objective of building a competitive digital financial ecosystem. SAMA grants such licences selectively, subjecting holders to stricter regulatory oversight on capital, governance and consumer protection.
Under the new licences, eligible customers can finance purchases above SAR2,000 ($533), with borrowing limits of up to SAR50,000 over repayment periods of up to 12 months through Shariah-compliant Murabaha financing. The expansion opens higher-value markets including education, healthcare, travel, furniture and used vehicles.
The SME finance licence enables Tabby to provide working capital to merchants on its platform, particularly smaller e-commerce businesses that have traditionally faced limited access to bank financing. Leveraging its transaction data and merchant analytics, the company believes it can strengthen credit assessment and underwriting.
The move also reshapes Tabby’s business model by diversifying revenues beyond traditional BNPL while laying the foundation for broader digital financial services. The company, which serves more than 25 million users and 65,000 businesses across the GCC, has also begun integrating digital wallet capabilities following its acquisition of Tweeq.
The approvals come as Saudi Arabia accelerates fintech development, targeting 525 fintech companies by 2030, compared with fewer than 20 in 2018. More broadly, the licences highlight the next stage in the Kingdom’s financial sector, where leading fintech platforms are evolving into fully regulated financial institutions capable of competing alongside traditional banks in consumer and SME finance.
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