Chinas iPayLinks entry to impact Middle East fintech market

The Middle East region is fast establishing itself as an emerging cross-border e-commerce market due to its ballooning smartphone penetration and growing consumer purchasing power.

The entry of iPayLinks, a Chinese provider of cross-border payment services, into the regional fintech space has been termed a game-changer. iPayLinks, which already has a licensed branch in Dubai, as well as a SAGIA-licensed subsidiary in Riyadh, is aiming to build up the one-stop payment solution for the Middle East cross-border businesses.

This has further made the region an attractive e-commerce destination with big and medium-size players jostling for a piece of the action. MENA’s online sales have continued to register impressive growth over the years with the region’s trade volume expected to reach $26 billion by 2020.

The GCC countries aim to boost trade and investment ties with the world’s second largest economy — China. This follows 35-year strong diplomatic relations between GCC countries and China. With recent actions, it is believed more than 2,000+ enterprises would benefit from bilateral relations, as China’s internet giant Tencent and Didi are set to expand their horizons in the region.

Headquartered in the CBD of Shanghai, iPayLinks is expected to bridge China’s and the Middle East’s e-payment industry ultimately contributing to the region’s e-commerce growth and convenient payment facilities.

“Business-to-consumer is a rapidly growing trend for e-payments among consumers in the GCC region. We also envisage that business-to-business will follow suit as more companies warm up to the idea of moving most of their payments options online. The GCC and UAE, in particular, are leading on this as more local businesses embrace cross-border business. iPayLinks is, therefore, strategically placed to offer seamless services that will enhance cross-border e-commerce. iPayLinks will provide real-time solutions that meet the regional e-commerce business demands by cooperating with regional acquirers and financial institutions,” said Ben Wang, regional director, iPayLinks.

Following emerging fintech trends, gaps, challenges and a booming e-commerce cross-border business in the region, iPayLinks also aims to build a cross-border e-wallet for enterprises and marketplace merchants.

This, according to iPayLinks, will help streamline the process of pay in and out by vendors in the region which will, in turn, boost revenues and avoid extra charges.

iPayLinks has raised multiple rounds of investments from prominent investors in fintech industry such as Tecent, Legend Capital, Vision+ Capital, Phoenix Fortune and Kairous Capital. It has been featured among the top 50 fintech companies by KPMG and Deloitte and among the top unlisted companies by Forbes.