The subsidiary may now move on with a beta launch of its Sharia-compliant banking services thanks to the clearance.

According to STC Pay, "selected users" will now be able to transfer their digital wallet accounts—which have been active since the company's founding in 2018—to an STC Bank account.

Currently, the company's digital wallet product provides both commercial and retail account services, enabling both domestic and international payments. Among other things, it provides its Qitaf loyalty program and the bill-splitting service Qattah.

According to the company, those who decide to transfer their accounts will receive "additional banking services" in addition to an international bank account number (IBAN).

The beta launch expands upon the digital banking license that STC Pay—the first fintech in the Kingdom to get this approval—obtained from SAMA in 2021.

At the time, the subsidiary announced that Saudi Telecom Company will contribute more than $213 million to support its conversion into a digital bank, leveraging $667 million in capital.

According to STC Pay, the beta phase will be followed "later in the year" by the official public debut of STC Bank, at which point its range of financial products will be expanded.