EdfaPay Launches SAMA-Approved Smart SoftPOS for Seamless Saudi Payments

Editorial Team

Last updated 22-01-2026

3 min

EdfaPay secured Saudi Central Bank approval, clearing Smart SoftPOS to launch in the Kingdom.

Merchants can accept contactless cards on Android devices, with “no extra kit, no wires”.

The platform meets SAMA’s strict security and compliance standards.

Banks and fintechs get “API-driven and white-label” tools via a single dashboard.

The Riyadh-founded firm is expanding globally, despite payments being “a tough crowd”.

EdfaPay has quietly ticked an important box in Saudi Arabia after securing the necessary technical approvals from the Payments Authorization Center at the Saudi Central Bank, paving the way for its Smart SoftPOS to go live in the Kingdom. In plain terms, this means merchants can now accept card payments straight from Android phones or tablets, without lugging around traditional point-of-sale hardware. Spot on timing, really, as many small businesses are already doing everything else on their mobiles.

SoftPOS, for anyone who hasn’t bumped into the term before, turns a standard device into a contactless payment terminal. No extra kit, no wires, less of a faff. From what’s been outlined, EdfaPay’s setup meets SAMA’s compliance and security requirements, which is no small feat in a market that takes payments oversight seriously.

The company positions itself as more than just a merchant tool. Its platform is built to support banks, licensed payment firms and merchant service providers, giving them a ready-made infrastructure to roll out digital payment services quickly. There’s a full stack here: contactless SoftPOS, an e-payment gateway and several digital payment channels, all bundled into one system. The idea is flexibility, fewer legacy terminals, and a cleaner way to serve different sectors.

One detail that caught my eye, and believe it or not this matters, is the API-driven and white-label angle. Banks and fintechs can launch payment services under their own brand, managed through a single dashboard. I’ve seen, over the years around founders and operators in the MENA ecosystem, how painful fragmented dashboards can be, so this feels like a sensible move. I reckon this unified approach will definately appeal to larger enterprises trying to simplify operations.

Founded in Riyadh in 2022, EdfaPay is still relatively young but already operates across MENA, South Asia and Latin America. That mix of local know-how with ambitions to scale globally is familiar territory for readers at Arageek, and it’s something we’ve watched many startups chase, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. On the flip side, expanding across regions with different regulations is no walk in the park, and payments is a tough crowd.

That said, seeing more SAMA-approved solutions entering the Saudi market is good news for merchants who just want things to work. I’m not a fan of hype for hype’s sake, but if this reduces friction for businesses on the ground, then it’s a step in the right direction, and chuffed to bits is how some shop owners might feel when they ditch bulky terminals, you know?

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