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PayTabs Group has agreed to acquire Amazon Payment Services’ Middle East and North Africa operations in a deal worth more than $100 million, announced 7 September 2026. Once completed, the combined business is expected to process more than SAR 150 billion (about $40 billion) annually, making PayTabs the largest payments infrastructure provider in the MENA region.
PayTabs Group has agreed to acquire Amazon Payment Services’ MENA business, formerly known as PayFort, for more than $100 million, a deal expected to make PayTabs the region’s largest payments infrastructure provider.
Amazon Payment Services operates across nine MENA markets, serving more than 3,500 businesses with support for global card networks plus regional methods including Mada, Knet and Meeza.
This is PayTabs’ second disclosed regional acquisition in 2026, after buying UAE contactless payments firm TAPn’GO outright in April, part of a wider consolidation push rather than a standalone deal.
What the deal actually covers
Amazon Payment Services, the rebranded successor to PayFort, gives merchants processing infrastructure across nine MENA markets, supporting international card networks alongside regional payment methods such as Saudi Arabia’s Mada, Kuwait’s Knet and Egypt’s Meeza. PayTabs said continuity will be a priority during integration, with minimal disruption expected for existing merchants, alongside faster onboarding and stronger local compliance once the two businesses combine.
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A second acquisition in the same year
PayTabs, founded in Saudi Arabia in 2014 by Abdulaziz Fahad Al-Jouf, acquired UAE contactless payments firm TAPn’GO outright in April 2026, folding its checkout technology, covering bill-splitting, tipping and QR-code ordering, into PayTabs’ own Super App. That deal’s terms were undisclosed, but it already served more than 20,000 businesses across retail, hospitality, healthcare and entertainment at the time of the acquisition. Two disclosed acquisitions in five months point to a deliberate regional consolidation strategy rather than an opportunistic one-off purchase.
Why it matters
For MENA’s payments consolidation wave
PayTabs becoming the region’s largest payments infrastructure provider, by its own and reported combined-volume estimate, changes the competitive landscape for merchants weighing which processor to build on. A single provider spanning nine markets with both global card-network and regional-method support reduces the need for merchants operating across multiple MENA countries to stitch together separate processors per market.
For Amazon’s regional payments strategy
Amazon entered MENA payments processing through the PayFort acquisition in 2017, then rebranded it as Amazon Payment Services. Selling that business to PayTabs suggests Amazon is stepping back from operating its own regional payments infrastructure directly, though neither company has said whether Amazon retains any ongoing relationship with the unit post-sale.
What’s next
Regulatory approvals still required across the nine markets involved, or what happens to Amazon Payment Services’ branding and staff after integration is still not clear. Whether the SAR 150 billion combined processing estimate holds up once the deal closes is the more concrete number to track.
FAQ
What did PayTabs agree to acquire?
Amazon Payment Services’ Middle East and North Africa business, formerly known as PayFort, in a deal worth more than $100 million.
What is Amazon Payment Services?
A payments processing provider operating across nine MENA markets, supporting global card networks and regional payment methods including Mada, Knet and Meeza, serving more than 3,500 businesses.
How big does this make PayTabs?
The combined business is expected to process more than SAR 150 billion (about $40 billion) annually, which PayTabs and reporting on the deal describe as making it the largest payments infrastructure provider in the region.
Is this PayTabs’ first acquisition this year?
No. PayTabs acquired UAE contactless payments firm TAPn’GO outright in April 2026, integrating its checkout technology into PayTabs’ own Super App.
When does the deal close?
Neither company has disclosed a closing date or confirmed which regulatory approvals are still pending across the nine markets involved.
Editor’s Take: It signals about Amazon’s broader regional ambitions. Amazon Payment Services was Amazon’s own infrastructure bet on MENA commerce, not a bolted-on side project. Selling it to a competitor is a different kind of move than simply divesting a non-core asset. Worth watching whether this is an isolated retreat from payments specifically, or an early signal of Amazon narrowing its direct infrastructure footprint in the region more broadly.