Tabby’s Hosam Arab on payment trends, IPO plans and 24 Fintech

As the fintech landscape in the Middle East continues to evolve, few companies have made as significant an impact as Tabby, the region’s leading shopping and financial services app. At the helm of this innovative enterprise is Hosam Arab, co-founder and CEO, whose vision is reshaping the future of retail finance.

In this interview, Hosam discusses Tabby’s strategic relocation to Saudi Arabia, its role in the fintech revolution, and the company’s exciting plans for the future.

With over 14 million users and partnerships with more than 40,000 merchants, Tabby is set to showcase its latest innovations at the 24 Fintech event, being held from September 3-5, at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center, marking another milestone in its journey towards financial inclusivity and a cashless society in the MENA region.

You will be present at the 2024 fintech event in Saudi Arabia. How do you perceive the role of such events in shaping the fintech landscape in the region? What will you be showcasing here?

The fintech landscape in the MENA region has developed rapidly in the last few years. Events like 24 Fintech in Riyadh are the perfect platforms for fintechs, investors, and industry experts to get together and explore avenues for collaboration. As the payment landscape evolves rapidly, there’s a unique opportunity to redefine people’s relationship with money.

We’re excited to share the ‘Future of Tabby’ by showcasing some new products we hope to bring to the Saudi market.

Joining 24 Fintech with our peers allows us to discover ways to advance our mission of creating fair and transparent personal finance services, and empowering people to make the most of their money.

How do you see the fintech landscape, particularly with retail finance, evolving in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East region in the coming years?

Due to the ambition to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Arabian government provides great conditions for emerging fintech firms, where we can work together towards financial inclusivity and a cashless society.

After seeing such strong growth in BNPL over the past few years, I think we will see retail finance expand beyond retail. Shoppers want to be able to spend, save and manage their money all in one place. We will see lots of innovation in the upcoming years, and I hope Tabby can be one of the drivers.

What were the strategic reasons behind relocating Tabby’s headquarters from the UAE to Saudi Arabia in 2023? How has the move to Saudi Arabia impacted your operations and your relationship with stakeholders, including regulators?

It made sense for us to relocate our headquarters to Saudi Arabia as it represents the majority of our customer base, so it was a natural fit for our business where we’re market leaders. Our business is growing strongly in the kingdom, and our relationship with local regulators has strengthened.

Given that approximately 75 to 80 per cent of Tabby’s customer base originates from Saudi Arabia, how have you adapted your services to meet the specific needs of this market? Can you elaborate on the importance of obtaining regulatory approval from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for your buy now, pay later services?

All our products are built first and foremost for the Saudi market. Our mission is to create tools to help improve financial inclusivity and healthy spending habits. Part of that is to be fully Sharia compliant and not charge interest. We have no immediate plans to grow Tabby overseas, allowing us to focus on building products specifically for the Middle East.

We see it as our duty to work with SAMA to ensure consumers get proper protection. Financial institutions should be held to high standards and graduating from SAMA’s regulatory sandbox and then receiving the BNPL license was an important step for us.

With more than 14 million registered users and partnerships with more than 40,000 merchants, what strategies have you employed to achieve such a scale? How do you ensure that your partnerships with merchants remain mutually beneficial and continue to grow?

BNPL growth comes from a mutually beneficial business model between shoppers, merchants and us. Shoppers love the financial flexibility, merchants enjoy increasing their core retail metrics, and we build the solution.

Tabby specifically excels in tying that triangle into a seamless user experience. Signing up as a shopper takes a few seconds, and merchants can integrate our payment solution into their checkout in a few minutes. The critical part of growing a business is creating a product people enjoy using and generating results.

On the merchant’s side, our job is to help grow their business, and we’re doing that by developing different products and solutions for them to use.

Tabby Shop gets brands in front of more shoppers, and we’re working on bringing our Tabby Card to Saudi Arabia to provide a better omnichannel shopping experience.

How does Tabby plan to elevate customer relations through an enhanced value proposition in 2024? Do you plan to introduce any new features or services to improve customer engagement and satisfaction?

At Tabby, we’re working hard to introduce new features and products to improve the lives of consumers and retailers.

During 24 Fintech, we will display prototypes of additional financial services that we hope to bring to the market soon.

There have been discussions about Tabby pursuing an initial public offering on the Saudi stock market. Can you share any updates on this plan? What are your key objectives for Tabby in the next few years, and how do you plan to achieve them?

​​We’re very happy to be able to report strong growth numbers since Tabby’s inception and this has always piqued investors’ interest. However, we know that there is huge growth potential in both retail and consumer finance. This makes an IPO the logical next step for Tabby. We will share further details when we have them.

We plan to keep working hard, creating innovative solutions to provide financial flexibility to our customers. As well as working with regulators to ensure we proceed with the highest degree of compliance.