Mashreq Bank, a leading financial institution based in the United Arab Emirates, has completed the transition of its payments division into a wholly owned subsidiary, IDFAA Payment Services LLC, with a brand name NEOPAY, supported by Mashreq.
NEOPAY, powered by Mashreq Bank, will reportedly leverage the latest tech and innovation, including card processing and merchant acquiring systems, processing switches and PoS inventory to provide an intuitive payments experience to merchants and consumers.
As mentioned in the announcement, it builds on the successes of Mashreq’s merchant acquiring division, which handles $22 billion of yearly volume across the retail, government, hospitality and digital commerce sectors. NEOPAY will be consolidating all existing payment systems into a single platform.
The introduction of NEOPAY comes at an important time in the payments industry, in which virtual payments are increasing. Stats reveal that across the MENA region – and especially in the GCC area – over 70% of consumers are looking to complete transactions via mobile phones, with payments through credit card and mobile phone apps surging YoY.
NEOPAY is now well -positioned as one of the major merchant acquirers in the UAE; with Mashreq’s volumes surging by over 50% in 2021 compared to figures from 2020. The merchant acquiring division handled more than 300 million transfer last year – and has also seen digital commerce volumes surge by over 170% compared to volume from 2020.
Fernando Morillo – Senior Executive Vice President And Group Head Of Retail Banking Group, Mashreq Bank, stated:
“The launch of NEOPAY, is a strategic move that will help fuel the growth of Mashreq’s payment business, and enable us to solidify our leadership role in the rapidly evolving payments space. Mashreq is already a leader when it comes to offering omni-channel payment products that add value for our customers, whether it be through point-of-sales terminals, innovative integration solutions that work with merchant cash registers and unattended self-service, transit and mobile payments solutions. As digital payments continue to rise in popularity, we are proud to launch this service and further strengthen our position as the largest and fastest growing e-commerce acquirer in the UAE.”
Vibhor Mundhada, CEO at NEOPAY, remarked:
“We are constantly aiming to offer solutions which help our customers, citizens, government and the private sector to grasp the enormous benefits of the digital economy. The launch of NEOPAY is further evidence of our ongoing commitment to shape the future of payments across the region. This new brand, under a standalone entity, will combine the powerful Mashreq brand with the very latest cutting-edge technology to drive our growth agenda.”
Its business lines will reportedly include a merchant acquiring and issuing processing business, consumer payment platforms, and value-added services like data monetization, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ and other software solutions.
Via the platform, small merchants and SMEs may also take advantage of SaaS based on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) bundles with payments capabilities – offering a complete solution to start and manage their business.
NEOPAY’s tech assets reportedly include a card processing system, merchant acquiring system, processing switch, payment gateway technology and POS inventory and software.
All systems used by NEOPAY are PCI DSS certified, which ensures that the subsidiary’s data security meets internationally-recognized standards.
As noted in the update, all of NEOPAY’s transaction processing will be handled in-house with owned and licensed technology systems.