The Future Bank Of SMEs

the region’s SME community.

Hala considers itself a onestop shop for the financial needs of SMEs. How are these needs evolving and how are you keeping up?

Maher Loubieh: Hala started back in 2018 as Halalah, providing B2C services. Then, during Covid-19, we noticed there was a big, underserved segment of SMEs and startups that few financial institutions were catering to. This was when we decided to shift our business model to provide financial services to support SMEs.

When Hala started its SME journey, our focus was on creating a basic payment product that fit the needs of merchants, especially in line with the government mandate for digitization. Along the way, the needs of those merchants started to mature, and their demands became more relevant to their growth journey. As such, Hala’s roadmap had to evolve too, with outputs ranging from additional payment features to more complex financial solutions. Today, we help companies to manage, run, and grow their businesses through no-hassle, plug-and-play solutions. We never stop innovating, iterating new solutions based on feedback and customer needs.

You currently process more than 3 billion worth of transactions on an annual basis. What is your strategy for maintaining and building on this achievement?

Esam Alnahdi: Hala has grown its customer base during the past two years, crossing 45,000 SMEs in Saudi, which currently process more than one million transactions per day. Even though those volumes put us ahead of major acquirers in the Saudi market, this is just the beginning. Hala is adding more services and products to help companies grow their businesses, which will in turn increase our customer retention. Additionally, Hala is making a move into other untapped segments that include freelancers and startups.