Arab Sea Information System signed an MoU with PayTabs Group to sell its entire stake in its wholly owned payments subsidiary, Arab Sea Financial Co. (SeaPay), for SAR 35 million. The MoU is valid for six months, and the deal still needs due diligence, a final agreement and regulatory approvals.
Payment licences are now being bought and sold as assets. If you’re a founder of a licensed Saudi fintech, it’s important to know what your licence is worth before deals like this SAR 35 million sale set the standard.
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Derivatives wake up
Derivatives trading on Saudi Exchange rose to about SAR 1.157 billion in September 2026, from SAR 404.9 million in August and SAR 280,000 in July, after no trading at all in H1 2026. Contracts traded rose to 26,510 from 9,725, and transactions to 5,526 from about 1,990. Analysts surveyed by Argaam linked the surge to regulatory enhancements that took effect on 19 August, which cut trading costs and improved capital efficiency.
Analysts link the increase to the changes made on 19 August and believe that growth will require support from more institutions. So a fund manager's risk committee should set a derivatives policy now, instead of waiting for liquidity to stabilize.
Two thousand now, thirty thousand later
Expo Riyadh 2030 has nearly 2,000 people on site, expected to rise to between 20,000 and 30,000 by the end of next year. The 6 million square metre site across 5 districts is expected to host 197 nations and 29 organisations and draw more than 42 million visits, opening on 1 October 2030 and running through March 2031. Organisers said they see no anticipated issues over the next 6 to 8 months as the war tests supply lines.
Labour and local sourcing are the main challenges, not capital. If you work with the construction sector, focus on building your domestic supply credentials before the workforce grows to 20,000 or 30,000 people.
Barq crosses the billion
Digital payments company barq closed a Series A worth more than $329.5 million, the largest Series A round in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest fintech rounds in the region, lifting its valuation to $1.85 billion and taking it into the unicorn club. Its wallet has passed 10 million users after reaching 7 million in its first year of operation, a year in which it recorded more than 500 million transactions worth SAR 73 billion and issued more than 6.5 million digital payment cards, while SAMA Governor Ayman Al-Sayari, speaking at Money20/20, said the number of fintech companies reached 371 by the end of August 2026, digital payments made up 85% of total payments in the Kingdom at the end of 2025, and cumulative fintech investment passed SAR 30 billion by the end of H1 2026.
A wallet that processed SAR 73 billion in its first year and is now valued at $1.85 billion demonstrates what happens when a payment app stops being the one people try and becomes a trusted platform for storing funds.
