The Geidea story: how Geidea went from a loyalty program to a payment terminal giant
The story of Geidea and its founder Abdullah Al-Othman: from an idea in 2008 and a loyalty program in 2011, to the first point-of-sale device in 2013, to an investment of more than 1 billion riyals from Gulf Capital, and an acquiring license from the Saudi Central Bank.
Full film transcript
A Saudi company says it is the only non-bank in the Kingdom licensed to accept card payments itself.
Its name: Geidea.
In 2008, Abdullah Al-Othman saw an opportunity: small shops wanted to accept electronic payments.
In 2011, Geidea launched as a customer loyalty program.
In 2013, it released its first point-of-sale device, and that's where the transformation began.
In 2018, Gulf Capital of Abu Dhabi invested more than 1 billion riyals.
At the time, it was the largest fintech deal in Saudi Arabia.
In 2021, it received an acquiring license from the Saudi Central Bank.
Meaning it accepts payments and settles them to the merchant, with no bank in the middle.
Then it expanded to the UAE and Egypt, and turned the phone itself into a payment device.
Today, Geidea says it has more than 530,000 merchants and more than 825,000 devices.
Valuation? Undisclosed. And Gulf Capital's stake? Also undisclosed.
The lesson for you as a founder: sometimes the first product is just a door, and the real opportunity is behind it.
Follow us at Saudi Founders.
Detailed figures and sources are in the Geidea profile in the directory.
