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stc bank (STC Pay)

“Can Saudi Telecom Company's fintech arm become the dominant digital bank in Saudi Arabia by converting its existing mobile wallet user base into full-service Sharia-compliant banking customers?”

Founded2018
HQRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Total raised$200M
Latest roundunknown
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story

Founded in 2018 as stc pay, Saudi Arabia's first major e-wallet and fintech unicorn subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (stc). After years operating as a digital wallet with payments and remittance features, the company received a SAMA digital banking license and formally rebranded to STC Bank in 2024–2025. The pivot expanded product offerings from e-wallet and P2P transfers to full digital banking including savings accounts, Sharia-compliant credit cards, personal and SME financing, POS acquiring, and eCommerce gateways — positioning itself as Saudi Arabia's leading digital bank rather than a standalone payments app.

Last 12 months
2025-01
Product timeline
2018
stc pay launched as Saudi Arabia's first major e-wallet under Saudi Digital Payments Company, backed by Saudi Telecom Company.· banking
2021
Saudi Council of Ministers licensed STC Bank under decree 671; entity became a mixed closed joint stock company regulated by SAMA.· banking
2024
Brand and operational identity transitioned from stc pay to STC Bank as the company moved from e-wallet to digital bank status.· pivot
2025
SAMA granted no-objection for full digital banking operations effective 28 January 2025, following a pilot/beta phase approved in April 2024.· banking
2025
Launched Sharia-compliant credit cards (Visa, Murabaha structure), personal financing, POS merchant acquiring, and eCommerce payment gateway for businesses.· card
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by stc bank (STC Pay)
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
5 layers disclosed in stc bank (STC Pay)’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
STC Bank eCommerce Gateway (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Card network
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
9 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.