Visa has announced that its Visa Acceptance Platform is now hosted on local cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, marking a global first for the payments giant. The move aligns with the Saudi Central Bank’s (SAMA) mandate and supports the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals of building a competitive digital economy driven by secure, cashless transactions.
The platform, which powers CyberSource, will enable Saudi businesses to accept payments more quickly and securely through a single integration. It supports key transaction types, including two-stage authorization and capture, card-on-file, and recurring payments for mada cards—once certification with SAMA’s new eCommerce interface is complete. Merchants and payment service providers will also gain the ability to offer recurring digital wallet transactions, meeting rising consumer demand for flexible and secure payment options.
Ali Bailoun, Visa’s Regional General Manager for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman, said the local hosting reflects Visa’s investment in the Kingdom’s payments infrastructure and commitment to advancing frictionless payment experiences. “With Saudi Arabia already reaching 79% non-cash transactions, Visa’s expanded local payments infrastructure will help drive the next phase of growth to support Vision 2030’s digital economy ambitions,” he noted.
The Visa Acceptance Platform is already used globally by more than 450 payment service providers and 100 independent software vendors, supporting over 450,000 merchants across 160 countries. Rob Cameron, Global Head of Acceptance Solutions at Visa, emphasized that integration with SAMA’s new eCommerce interface will deliver faster, more reliable, and fully compliant payment processing in Saudi Arabia, boosting approval rates and improving checkout experiences.
By hosting the platform locally, Visa strengthens its role as a trusted partner in Saudi Arabia’s digital economy, empowering merchants with advanced, secure, and future-ready payment solutions.
