ACI Worldwide, the real-time payments software provider, has partnered with Arab Financial Services (AFS), the Middle East and Africa region’s digital payment solutions provider and fintech enabler, to collaboratively drive digital payments modernisation for banks, fintechs and merchants across the region.
During a 10-year strategic partnership, AFS plans to leverage the ACI Worldwide Enterprise Payments Platform, a single transaction processing platform for all payment types, backed by cutting-edge security, flexible cloud-ready technology and multi-language, multi-currency, multi-institution capabilities to drive the retail banking modernisation for its banking and fintech customers.
Regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, AFS is owned by 37 banks and financial institutions, serving over 60 clients across the Middle East and Africa region. The company provides numerous groundbreaking, end-to-end digital payment products, services and solutions to banks and merchant groups.
Samer Soliman, CEO of Arab Financial Services, commented: “As the payments landscape becomes ever more intricate and prone to disruption, a reliable technology partner offering industry-leading solutions is crucial.
“Together, AFS and ACI Worldwide are committed to empowering our customers with cutting-edge technology that streamlines operations, fosters growth and also unlocks new levels of profitability.”
AFS’ approach to the provision of financial services is evidenced by a series of market-leading payment services that span card processing services, merchant acquiring, fintech solutions and value-added services.
Optimising conversion rates
AFS will also deploy the ACI Payments Orchestration Platform, enabling its merchant customers to orchestrate payments using one solution, one platform and one API integration for optimal conversion rates at minimal operation costs. It will enable merchants and payment service providers to provide customers with more seamless and secure customer journeys.
Santhosh Rao, senior vice president of MEASA at ACI Worldwide, also explained: “ACI’s partnership with Arab Financial Services is an important milestone in our strategy to support banks and merchants in the Middle East in their quest for digital payments modernisation.
“Our flexible, agile and innovative payment software solutions will now be available to banks, financial institutions and merchants across the region. AFS is now in a strong position to support all customers in the region on their quest for digital transformation and innovation while enabling the resiliency and service quality required by next-generation payment systems.”
