Arabnet Arabnet

Gate2Play has received an undisclosed amount in investment funds from INET, and both parties have formed a mutual partnership to complement each other’s strengths, resolve their weaknesses, and ultimately take over the Saudi payment market.

If you don’t know these services, Gate2Pay help e-commerce websites, as well as online games, and online businesses in general that are looking to enter the MENA market, by providing them with their online payment brand HyperPay, and through consultancy. INET on the other hand connect and operate 90% of point of sale machines on behalf of the banks in Saudi Arabia - they’re a dealer for both banks and merchants, and they manage physical transaction processing gateways called iSPAN, and are well connected with many merchants, most of the banks and the Saudi government.

Gate2Play Recent Developments

We reached out to Gate2Pay co-founder and CEO Muhannad Ebwini who explained their recent push in operations:

“In the last quarter Gate2Pay had 400% growth in number of transactions. We already have good business relations with many merchants, and now things are looking even better onwards.”

Gate2Pay also recently turned down a full acquisition of the company right at the final stage of the deal - the offer was made by a huge Saudi retail group (they trusted us not to disclose the amount). Ebwini commented “We preferred to take the investment from INET, which kept us most of the company’s equity. These are indeed exciting times…”

Gate2Pay plan on expanding to Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait and other countries in the region, but will be focusing on the Saudi market for the first year or so.

How Both Parties Benefit from the Partnership

INET

They want to expand their services to satisfy online demand and MPOS (mobile point of sale). Gate2Play have one the best solutions worldwide called PAY.ON, which hails from Germany. INET received the system for MPOS, POS, and online payment processing from Gate2Play, and have consequently increased their relations with the current merchants, and created opportunities for new ones.

Gate2Play

Gate2Play are already closing deals with some of INET’s connections, closing deals with many merchants and 2 banks. They will be expanding to another 3 to 5 banks by the end of 2015. Ebwini exclaimed:

“We need to give our merchants the flexibility to choose their own preferred bank, not limit their options. We know a lot of public companies can’t easily open bank accounts and establish bank relations with new banks, so this is much more convenient for them.”

Some of the merchants Ebwini mentions already have complete packages from their banks, facilities, loans, POS, and they wish to expand their relations with the same banks. Soon Gate2Play will be able to offer their merchants their services through a good selection of banks in the area.