subsidiaries

Driven by robust government support, the aggressively growing FinTech industry remains central in the Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify the economy, with the National FinTech Strategy recognised as a key pillar of the Kingdom’s Financial Sector Development Program of Vision 2030; At the close of 2023, Saudi Arabia boasted 216 active Fintechs across the Kingdom, creating over 6,500 jobs, and attracting unprecedented venture capital investments worth a remarkable USD 1.84 Bn. across several subsectors including payments, finance, insurance and open banking.

This very promising and highly competitive market set the backdrop for a strong performance by alrajhi bank’s payments FinTech neoleap, as it continued to transform the digital payments landscape in Saudi Arabia with cutting-edge solutions that simplify financial transactions. Aligned with the new ‘harmonize the group’ strategy, neoleap contributed to the bank’s consumer (B2C) and business (B2B – inclusive of both merchants and financial institutions) offerings during the year in review.

In order to maintain and grow market share during the reporting period, neoleap continued to enhance the stability and agility of its technology and services, and evolve as an end-to-end fintech ecosystem that provides merchants and customers with an unparalleled user experience. Despite the challenges from the competitive market and a highly regulated operating environment, neoleap recorded significant growth in numbers by the end of the reporting period.

Key Business Highlights of 2024

Key Performance Highlights of 2024 and YoY Comparison

Payment Gateway (neogate)

Points-of-Sale (POS)

The subsidiary launched a Data Aggregation business vertical with POS data provision as its main product. Given the data-driven nature of the B2B segment, the product was well received by clients, and showed strong growth during the first full year of going live:

Exploring new business models and geographies

As part of the alrajhi group, neoleap continued to explore and leverage Group synergies in line with the new ‘harmonize the group’ strategy, and cross-sell products to merchants and customers, providing bundled solutions such as POS financing, insurance, Cards and Marketplace to name a few. Such tailored solutions based on distinct requirements allows neoleap to develop specialised business propositions, and penetrate new markets and geographies that operate under different regulations, business setups, operating environments and market needs. As such, the successful expansion of Merchant Acquiring Processing for the alrajhi bank Jordan branch in 2023, will be followed by the launch of card processing services for both Jordan and Kuwait international branches in 2025.

Finding the right talent

During the reporting period, attracting and retaining professionals with domain expertise remained a key challenge across the Saudi FinTech industry. As part of alrajhi group’s growing ecosystem of subsidiaries and financial services, hiring from within the group takes priority. However, given the unique skills and expertise required by neoleap, the subsidiary also focused on expanding its external recruitment channels; this included the participation in relevant job fairs as well as collaborating with recruiters to provide them a better understanding of the distinctive blend of technical, financial, regulatory and commercial talent required in the FinTech domain. With a strong reputation as one of the Kingdom’s fastest growing, market leading FinTechs, neoleap offered an attractive employee value proposition comprising an innovation-led work environment, competitive compensation and benefits, learning and development opportunities, and promising career progression.

Employee engagement plays a vital role at neoleap, with the subsidiary hosting a number of events throughout the year in review to nurture a company culture that fosters collaboration and inclusivity as much as innovation. The neoleap onboarding programme gave new employees a detailed induction and better understanding of the subsidiary and their teams to enable better engagement. The ‘Employee of the Month’ recognition continued to celebrate employee performances and achievements throughout 2024, and Team Day-outs were planned by department heads among other sporting, cultural and religious events to boost team morale and nurture a strong team culture. Volunteering was also encouraged across events related to the FinTech industry. Taking advantage of the supportive regulatory environment, neoleap also actively participated in programs facilitated by regulatory bodies during the year in review.