PayTabs Signs MoU to Buy SAMA-Licensed SeaPay From Arab Sea

PayTabs Group has signed a memorandum of understanding to take full ownership of SeaPay, the payment company held by Arab Sea Information Systems Company, which trades on the Saudi Exchange.

SeaPay is formally registered as Arab Sea Financial Company and holds a licence from the Saudi Central Bank. Its acquiring services would sit alongside PayTabs' own payment systems under the proposed transaction.

The combined platform is intended to serve banks, businesses, government bodies and merchants across Saudi Arabia. PayTabs expects the acquisition to open additional revenue streams and reduce the cost of handling each payment.

Targets for 2030

The group wants to reach 200,000 merchants in the Kingdom by 2030, and to process more than US$100 billion in payments a year by the same date. Further acquisitions, regional expansion and continued spending on payment infrastructure form part of how it plans to get there.

PayTabs has said its strategy is compatible with a public listing at some point in the future, without setting a timetable.

Abdulaziz Al Jouf, founder, chief executive and chairman of PayTabs Group, said bringing together SeaPay's capabilities could raise revenue and support the development of new financial services for companies in the Kingdom.

Thamer Al Luhaidan, chief executive of SeaPay, said the step may create opportunities for integration and the sharing of knowledge, and could support the company's longer-term ambitions and the wider development of Saudi fintech.

Buying an established, central bank-licensed acquirer is a faster route to merchant coverage than building one, and it hands PayTabs a book of business already cleared to operate under Saudi payments rules. The MoU is a first step rather than a completed sale; the transaction still depends on the parties reaching a definitive agreement.