Western Union, an American worldwide financial services and communications company, has set out to acquire a 15% stake for $200 million in Saudi Digital Payments Company (stc pay), a fully owned subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, subject to receiving all regulatory approvals.

stc pay has rapidly developed into a leading digital wallet service in Saudi Arabia, a young and quickly developing market which offers huge potential for digital services.

With a strong base of over 4 million customers and an established regional brand in the fast-growing digital wallet market, Western Union believes that stc pay is poised to experience strong growth in the future.

Western Union currently partners with stc pay, providing money transfer services that allow stc pay’s users to send money from its app to 200+ countries and territories in 130+ currencies through its extensive global network.

“I am extremely pleased with the progress of Western Union’s digital growth strategy this year. A key element of this strategy is partnering with innovative financial companies to expand services for their customers and drive incremental growth for Western Union. Our strategy has proven to be successful, and I am encouraged by the meaningful contribution our partnership with stc pay made to Western Union’s digital growth in 2020,”

said Western Union Chief Executive Officer Hikmet Ersek.

Commenting on the transaction, stc pay CEO Ahmed Alenazi said:

“We are delighted that such a prestigious and visionary company as Western Union has identified stc pay as a company with such strong prospects. We are grateful for their appreciation of the strength of the brand and the business we are growing. Their focus on customers’ changing needs and the drive for innovation makes them the ideal partner for our next period of growth.”