In the heart of Saudi Arabia’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, one institution stands out for seamlessly blending cultural traditions with cutting-edge technology. STC Bank, which began as a digital wallet in 2018 before receiving its full banking license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) in 2025, has quickly established itself as a formidable player in the region’s fintech revolution.
Offering cutting-edge digital banking tailored to Saudi identity
What distinguishes STC Bank in an increasingly competitive digital banking market is its deep understanding of Saudi cultural practices and its ability to digitize them into modern financial services. This approach has resonated profoundly with the kingdom’s predominantly young, tech-savvy population.
“The future of banking in Saudi Arabia isn’t just about digitization — it’s about culturally relevant digitization. Achieving this balance is an important differentiator for us. This is what we believe will also make banking more relevant and responsive to our customers,” said Nizar Altwaijri, CEO, STC Bank.
This cultural sensitivity is evident in two of the bank’s most popular features: Qattah and Eidiyah, both of which transform traditional Saudi social practices into seamless digital experiences.
Qattah: Reimagining group expenses for the digital age
The Qattah feature digitizes a deeply familiar cultural practice where Saudis pool money among friends, family, or colleagues for shared expenses. Traditionally, organizing such group contributions involved messaging apps, manual calculations, or face-to-face follow-ups. However, this practice often results in confusion or delayed payments.
STC Bank’s solution allows users to initiate a group expense directly within the app, notify participants through their mobile numbers, and receive real-time contributions into a shared pool. The entire process is tracked transparently, with notifications ensuring everyone stays informed — all securely within the STC Bank ecosystem.
This approach to expense splitting has proven particularly popular among younger users. According to recent data from the Saudi Central Bank, peer-to-peer transactions among users aged 18-34 increased by 78 percent in 2024, with digital expense-splitting features being a key driver of this growth.
Eidiyah: Preserving tradition in a digital envelope
Another culturally significant innovation is the seasonal Eidiyah feature, which digitizes the tradition of giving monetary gifts to children and loved ones during Eid celebrations.
The feature allows users to send digital monetary gifts wrapped in festive, personalized digital envelopes carrying warm Eid greetings and celebratory visuals. Available exclusively during Eid periods, the feature transforms standard money transfers into a culturally rich digital experience that preserves the emotional essence of this important tradition.
Through this feature, STC Bank has managed to preserve the emotional and cultural significance of Eidiyah while making it accessible to a new generation of customers, who are mainly mobile-first clients of digital banking services.
Simplifying banking fundamentals
Beyond these culturally-specific innovations, STC Bank has also simplified fundamental banking operations.
Since 2018, the bank has enabled users to transfer money via mobile numbers rather than complex bank details — a feature that has dramatically streamlined peer-to-peer transactions. By linking bank accounts with mobile numbers, STC Bank allows users to bypass the traditional hurdles of entering complete banking information when sending money to friends, family, or businesses.
Accessible banking for all
A cornerstone of STC Bank’s philosophy is accessibility. The full suite of banking services — including dedicated IBAN accounts and all innovative features — is available to any individual with a valid ID and internet access. The streamlined onboarding process takes just two minutes, eliminating traditional barriers to banking services.
This approach has contributed significantly to financial inclusion efforts in the kingdom. According to data from SAMA, banking penetration has reached 97 percent of eligible Saudi residents in early 2025, compared to 89 percent in 2020.
Vision 2030 and the future of Saudi fintech industry
STC Bank’s innovations align perfectly with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, particularly the Financial Sector Development Program launched in 2017. This ambitious program aims to create a more digital and user-centric financial sector while increasing private sector contribution.
Recent data from Statista shows that digital banks in Saudi Arabia are expected to grow steadily at the rate of 5.69 percent in the next four years, leading to a market volume of $10.30 billion by the end of 2029.
STC Bank is well-positioned to ride this wave of growth, given its innovative offers, and may well be at the forefront of digital banking in the kingdom in the years to come.
“Saudi Arabia is now witnessing one of the fastest fintech adoption rates globally. The kingdom’s unique combination of a young, digitally-native population, strong government support, and an innovative financial ecosystem has created perfect conditions for this transformation to thrive,” Altwaijri explained.
And despite the challenges ahead, including intensifying competition and the need to continuously innovate, STC Bank represents the future of fintech not just in Saudi Arabia, but in markets worldwide where cultural context remains a powerful force in consumer behavior.
For a financial sector being rapidly transformed by technology, STC Bank demonstrates that the most successful innovations may be those that remember and respect cultural heritage while embracing technological and digital advancements.
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