Efforts to Promote Payment Modernisation in the MEA Region by ACI Worldwide and Arab Financial Services

ACI Worldwide, a leading provider of real-time payments software, has announced a strategic partnership with Arab Financial Services (AFS), a digital payment solutions provider and fintech enabler in the Middle East and Africa region. This collaboration aims to drive digital payments modernization for banks, fintechs, and merchants across the region.

AFS, regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and owned by 37 banks and financial institutions, serves over 60 clients in the Middle East and Africa region. The company offers a wide range of innovative digital payment products, services, and solutions to banks and merchant groups.

As part of the 10-year partnership, AFS will leverage the ACI Worldwide Enterprise Payments Platform to modernize retail banking for its banking and fintech customers. This platform offers a single transaction processing platform for all payment types, enhanced with cutting-edge security, flexible cloud-ready technology, and multi-language, multi-currency, and multi-institution capabilities.

CEO of Arab Financial Services, Samer Soliman, emphasized the importance of reliable technology partners in today’s complex payments landscape. He stated that by collaborating with ACI Worldwide, they aim to empower their customers with technology that streamlines operations, drives growth, and enhances profitability.

In addition, AFS will deploy the ACI Payments Orchestration Platform to enable its merchant customers to orchestrate payments efficiently, optimizing conversion rates and reducing operational costs. This platform will provide merchants and payment service providers with seamless and secure customer journeys.

Santhosh Rao, senior vice president of MEASA at ACI Worldwide, highlighted the significance of this partnership in supporting banks and merchants in the Middle East with their digital payments modernization efforts. He stated that ACI’s innovative payment software solutions will now be available to customers across the region, helping them achieve digital transformation and innovation while ensuring the resiliency and service quality needed for next-generation payment systems.