Visa Direct Expands in Saudi Arabia to Power 50% Growth in Digital Remittances

Visa has expanded its Visa Direct ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, partnering with major financial institutions including alrajhi bank and Saudi Awwal Bank to streamline domestic and cross-border money movement. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant deepening of digital remittance infrastructure in a market where transaction volumes are surging by 50% year-over-year.

What was announced

Visa Direct is being integrated by alrajhi bank, Alinma Bank, and Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) to facilitate faster payments for both consumers and businesses. The platform enables participating financial institutions and fintechs to facilitate transfers to eligible cards, accounts, and wallets globally through Visa’s existing network. This expansion comes as digital money movement sees rapid adoption in the region; Visa Direct card transaction volume in Saudi Arabia has grown by more than 50% year-over-year. In the broader KBO (Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman) region, this growth is even more pronounced, with volumes increasing by over 300% in the same period.

The push is supported by findings from Visa’s "Money Travels: 2026 Digital Remittances Adoption Study," which highlights that 80% of remitters in Saudi Arabia transact multiple times per year. Digital channels are already the primary method for these transfers, with 54% of users relying on online banking or mobile apps. However, security remains a primary concern for users in the Kingdom. The study found that 25% of remitters in Saudi Arabia have encountered scams, with hidden fees and undelivered goods cited as the most common tactics. The study also noted that 45% of respondents send money internationally, primarily driven by family and cultural obligations, while 30% have received funds from abroad.

"As digital adoption continues to accelerate across Saudi Arabia where consumers increasingly expect sending and receiving money to be a seamless as making a payment, we are working closely with banks, fintechs, and payment providers to expand access to trusted money movement solutions. The continued growth of Visa Direct reflects both the strength of our infrastructure and the increasing demand for faster, more secure, and more convenient ways to move money."

Ali Bailoun, Senior Vice President and Group General Manager for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman at Visa.

The companies involved

Visa is a global leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, and financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories. The company maintains a massive footprint in the Middle East, recently engaging with regulators and industry leaders at Money20/20 Middle East to discuss the future of cross-border commerce and digital payments.

Alrajhi Bank, headquartered in Riyadh, is one of the largest Islamic banks in the world and a dominant force in the Saudi Arabian retail banking sector. It has a significant digital presence and is a key player in the Kingdom's financial modernization. Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) is another major institution in the Kingdom's financial landscape, providing a wide range of corporate and retail banking services. Alinma Bank joins these institutions in the Visa Direct expansion, contributing to a competitive landscape where traditional banks are increasingly adopting fintech-driven solutions to meet the high demand for digital-first remittance services. These partnerships allow the banks to leverage Visa's global rails to provide real-time or near-real-time payment capabilities to their customer bases.

What FF News has reported before

Visa’s activity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been a consistent focus of recent reporting. FF News recently covered how Visa Scores Regional Partnership with LALIGA to Drive Fan Engagement Across MENA, illustrating the company’s strategy to blend payment utility with lifestyle and entertainment sectors. Beyond consumer payments, the broader Saudi financial ecosystem is seeing significant infrastructure upgrades. This includes developments in the debt market, as seen when Tradeweb Boosts Saudi Debt Market with New Local-to-Local Trading Workflow. These moves collectively highlight a period of intense digital transformation within the Kingdom’s financial services sector, supported by both global payment networks and local institutional heavyweights.

What this means

The 50% growth in Visa Direct volumes in Saudi Arabia signals that the "remittance-as-a-service" model is no longer a niche fintech offering but a core banking requirement. By integrating directly with the Kingdom’s largest banks like alrajhi and SAB, Visa is effectively neutralizing the threat from standalone remittance apps that previously won market share on speed and user experience. This puts immense pressure on smaller, regional exchange houses that lack the global rail integration of a network like Visa. The real challenge now shifts from speed to security; as one in four users reports fraud, the winner in this market will be the provider that can prove its "trusted" status while maintaining the frictionless experience consumers now demand.