The Saudi financial institution Alinma Bank has entered into a fintech partnership with FOODICS; to the benefit of the region’s small business owners and micro-businesses.
The partnership will combine the bank’s existing fintech capabilities with the cloud-based technology and payments platform’s tech ecosystem of restaurants across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The two brands will together launch new products to enable small business owners to have full autonomy over their business decisions, allowing them to sell and accept payments from wherever they may be operating.
On paper, this will allow them to maximise their sales and productivity while keeping track of their figures, inventory and customers.
This announcement comes in direct support of Saudi Arabia’s goal to raise the contribution of small businesses to the economy, and its launch of several accelerator programmes.
A key driver of economic development and diversification, small business strength depends on the ability to stay lean and to adapt to changing consumer behaviours and market conditions.
Speaking on its continued support for the small and medium-sized company sector, the bank’s SVP, Saleh Abdullah Alzumaie, says that it is “pleased” to join the partnership, which will, he adds, “enable business owners to accelerate their growth at various levels, relying on our…technical capabilities, our network of branches around the Kingdom, and…digital banking channels that offer our…services and products.”
Ahmad Al Zaini, FOODICS’ CEO and co-founder adds: “It will enable both FOODICS and Alinma Bank SMB customers to be more agile, by digitising onboarding, giving them better rates as well as enabling daily settlements of customer payments twice a day, which will be a huge advantage to SMB owners, given that cash flow is so critical for their growth and sustainability.”
A series of new product launches are expected to come to fruition in the coming months to support SMBs, be that in-store, outdoors, at a drive-thru, or wherever else their business or brand may be located.
