- Founded in 2008, Geidea now holds roughly 75% of the Saudi POS market and offers an array of integrated payment and merchant-management tools to SMEs across KSA, UAE, Egypt and beyond.
- The regional fintech sector faces regulatory complexity, talent shortages and cybersecurity threats—but innovations like SoftPOS, open APIs, and supportive national strategies are propelling rapid growth.
Geidea: From startup to regional fintech leader
Geidea, established in Riyadh in 2008 by Abdullah Faisal Al-Othman, began by offering loyalty-based POS solutions and launched its first certified POS terminal in 2013. By 2015 it had captured about 50% of Saudi Arabia’s POS market. The company has since evolved into a fully licensed payments institution—receiving payments institution, acquiring, payment gateway and e-commerce licences in Saudi Arabia, plus direct acquiring rights in the UAE. With over 1,000 employees, support for 150,000+ merchants, and control of more than 700,000 terminal and ATM installations, Geidea is now one of the Kingdom’s foremost fintech players.
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Geidea expands regionally and innovates with softPOS
Geidea has swiftly expanded into the UAE and Egypt, bringing with it game-changing solutions. Its SoftPOS service—allowing merchants to accept secure contactless payments directly via smartphone without a conventional POS device—has already rolled out in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Egypt next in line. Additionally, its collaboration with SDK.finance has modernised Geidea’s core accounting infrastructure, better integrating POS, gateway, and merchant tools, and positioning the firm for further MENA growth.
The Middle East fintech landscape has seen explosive growth, driven by regulatory reforms, high smartphone penetration, and demands for digital payments. Saudi Arabia alone has exceeded its target of 70% non-cash transactions by 2023, years ahead of schedule—a shift accelerated by Vision 2030 and COVID-19 dynamics. Yet the sector faces stiff regulatory and licensing burdens, a war for skilled digital talent, legacy-tech integration issues, and rising cybersecurity risks. Simultaneously, open banking frameworks, embedded payments, and AI-powered tools offer promising avenues for innovation.
