​In Implantation of the Payment Systems Enhanced Strategy, and in pursuance of the goal of reducing dependence on cash and spreading and improving electronic services, SAMA has announced the completion of a number of initiatives to develop the Saudi Payment Network (SPAN) in its new identity "mada". mada infrastructure was upgraded to process more than seven-fold its POS/ATM transactions. SAMA has completed reviewing and developing the technical aspects of the system in line with domestic market needs and global trends. Accordingly, it has developed a set of standards that will raise the service level to cope with the economic growth of the Kingdom.

            The great capacity expansion of mada system has enabled banks to scale up the provision of POS terminals. The number of terminals increased by 86 thousand to 225 thousand In 2015, up 62.4% from 2014. In 2015, other sectors were included in mada such as fuel stations, cafes and fast food restaurants in addition to the expansion in retail sector in general. This was in the context of expanding POS terminals and reducing dependence on cash. Growth in terminals was accompanied with a growth 22.2% of in transactions to reach to 443 million transactions. The value of transactions also increased 12.8% to SAR 191.7 billion in the same period. This reflects the trust established in "mada" as a secure and fast payment means.

The expansion and upgrading of mada system has helped in time-efficiency, as the time consumed for completing transactions through mada has fallen to 6 seconds from 25 seconds in the pre-upgrade period. Concurrently, a new feature was introduced to contribute to time-efficient transactions, which is executing low-value transactions (less than SAR 75) in one second. Banks have already started issuing cards supporting this feature.

            SAMA has highlighted that it devoting great attention to raising card data security and reducing the risk of fraud by applying the highest security standard as one of the key pillars of mada. As a result, mada has qualified for the certificate of compliance with the Payment Cards Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) set by PCI Security Standards Council. SAMA has also developed additional standards to boost POS transaction privacy such as the requirement of PIN pads to be placed toward cardholders and shielded in such a way as to enhance the privacy of cardholders when entering their PIN. In addition, an SMS message is sent to the cardholder for every transaction on their account.

            The number of cash withdrawal transactions through mada totaled 754.5 million in 2015, up 20.3% from 2014. Transaction values increased 19.5% in 2015 to SAR 435 billion from SAR 364 billion in 2014.

            The upgrade of "mada" has also involved additional features, such as allowing cardholders to raise their daily purchase limit through POS terminals from SAR 20,000 to SAR 60,000 upon request. Atheer service is also a new service that allows cardholders to make contactless payments in a secure, flexible and fast manner without inserting the card into the POS terminal device for any purchase with an amount of no more than SAR 100. This service is currently on trial at some merchants and is expected to be officially launched at the end of September 2016.

            SAMA is keen on furthering and innovating electronic banking services within a strategy developed specifically for this purpose, the implementation of which will be over the next years. SAMA is, within the framework of the Payment Systems Enhanced Strategy, seeking to establish the core pillars of electronic services, which are timeliness, credibility and security. It is also aiming at expanding the range of its services to include all economic sectors and regions of the Kingdom.