- Digital wallets, led by Apple Pay, carry 40% of Saudi online payments (Worldpay via Antom, 2025). Most of those payments run on mada cards.
- Apple charges merchants nothing. Most gateways price Apple Pay as the card inside it; Amazon Payment Services bills it at the card rate, even with mada inside.
- For a store selling SAR 20,000 a month, that pricing difference adds SAR 207 a month in fees.
- Salla and Zid switch Apple Pay on through their built-in payments, and Shopify hosts Apple's domain file for you. On WooCommerce or a custom site, you upload that file yourself.
- Test with a real mada card in Apple Pay on an iPhone, then check the rate it was charged in your gateway dashboard.
Apple Pay is how Saudi Arabia pays online. Shoppers double-click their iPhone, glance at Face ID and the order is paid, usually with a mada card inside.
For your store, that's a faster checkout and fewer abandoned carts. Apple doesn't charge you anything for it either.
The setup takes an afternoon. You switch it on through your payment gateway, prove you own your domain, then test it on a real iPhone.
How popular is Apple Pay in Saudi Arabia?
Very. Digital wallets are now the single biggest way Saudis pay online, and Apple Pay leads them.
Apple Pay launched in the Kingdom on 19 February 2019. Al Rajhi Bank, NCB and Riyad Bank were among the first issuers, and mada cards worked in it from the start. Today almost every Saudi bank supports it.
The growth comes from three things:
- iPhones are everywhere. Saudi Arabia is a high-iPhone market, so a large share of your mobile visitors can use it.
- It's the easy way to use mada. Shoppers add their mada card to Apple Wallet once, then never type it again.
- It works in stores too. Saudis tap their phones at cafés and malls every day, so paying online the same way feels normal.
Apple Pay is also live in all six GCC countries since Oman joined in September 2024. One setup can serve your Gulf shoppers wherever they are. For the full picture of how Saudis pay, see our guide to payment methods in Saudi Arabia.
How does Apple Pay work with mada?
Apple Pay isn't a separate payment network. It's a secure wrapper around a card the shopper already owns.
In Saudi Arabia, that card is usually mada, the national debit network run by SAMA (the Saudi Central Bank). So mada is the rail underneath, and Apple Pay is the button people press.
Here's what happens when a shopper taps Pay:
- Their iPhone creates a one-time token in place of the real card number.
- The shopper confirms with Face ID, Touch ID or their passcode.
- Your gateway receives the token and charges the card inside it, mada or Visa or Mastercard.
- The money reaches your Saudi bank account on the gateway's normal payout cycle.
The catch? Your gateway must process mada inside Apple Pay through the domestic mada system.
A gateway that only handles international schemes charges co-badged mada cards as Visa or Mastercard. That means more declines and higher fees.
So when you pick a gateway, ask one plain question: "Do you process mada cards inside Apple Pay domestically?"
Why Apple Pay lifts checkout conversion
Apple Pay removes the two steps where Saudi shoppers most often give up: typing a card number on a phone and waiting for the bank's SMS code.
Saudi banks send a one-time code by SMS for most online card payments. When that message is slow, or the shopper is abroad on another SIM, the sale stalls. Apple Pay confirms the shopper with Face ID instead, so there's no code to wait for.
- Fewer failed payments. Checkout.com found about a third of shoppers in the region would switch stores after a single failed payment.
- Faster mobile checkout. No card form, no address typing if the shopper's details are in Apple Wallet.
- More trust. The Apple Pay mark next to mada tells a Saudi shopper your store is set up for them.
Payment is only one place carts die. Fix the rest with our guide to checkout abandonment.
What does Apple Pay cost a Saudi store?
Apple charges merchants nothing. Your gateway bills each Apple Pay payment, and the rate depends on how it prices the card inside.
Most gateways treat Apple Pay as the card inside it. A mada card in Apple Pay pays the mada rate, about 1%, and a credit card pays the card rate.
Amazon Payment Services (APS) is the exception. It bills Apple Pay at its standard card rate of 2.8% plus SAR 1, even when there's a mada card inside.
| Mada (card form) | Mada inside Apple Pay | Credit card inside Apple Pay | Monthly fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Payment Services | 1% | 2.8% + SAR 1 (card rate) | 2.8% + SAR 1 | SAR 200 |
| PayTabs (Paymes plan) | 1% | 1% | 2.25% + SAR 1 | SAR 49 |
| Telr (KSA) | 1% | 1% | 2.6–3% + SAR 1 | SAR 99–259 |
| Tap, HyperPay, Moyasar, Geidea | Quote | Ask for the mada rate in writing | Quote | Quote |
On top of the gateway fee, two costs apply to every method. Saudi Arabia charges 15% VAT on the gateway's fee, not on your sale. And on Shopify you'll add a 0.2–2% Shopify fee, because Shopify Payments isn't available in the Kingdom.
Worked example: a store selling SAR 20,000 a month
Say your store takes 100 orders a month at SAR 200 each. Sixty shoppers pay with Apple Pay: 45 with a mada card inside and 15 with a credit card.
| Apple Pay orders | APS (card rate on all Apple Pay) | Same rates, mada priced as mada |
|---|---|---|
| 45 on mada (SAR 9,000) | SAR 297 | SAR 90 |
| 15 on credit cards (SAR 3,000) | SAR 99 | SAR 99 |
| Apple Pay fees before VAT | SAR 396 | SAR 189 |
Both columns use APS's published rate card. The only change is how mada inside Apple Pay is billed.
That one line costs SAR 207 a month, or about SAR 2,500 a year. On one mada order in Apple Pay, that's SAR 6.60 at the card rate against SAR 2 at the mada rate.
APS still wins on other things for some sellers, such as its STC Pay pricing and Shopify app. Just put the Apple Pay line in your comparison.
Compare gateways with your own Apple Pay share
Set your monthly sales, order count and the share of payments made with Apple Pay. The calculator applies the APS exception for you, then adds the Shopify fee and VAT.
Payment gateway fee comparator
Estimated monthly cost of gateways that publish their rates
Where is your business registered?
These gateways onboard Saudi entities (CR or, for some, a freelance licence) and settle in SAR.
Average ticket: SAR 200.00
Apple Pay is priced as the card inside it. Exception: Amazon Payment Services charges Apple Pay at its card rate, even for mada.
Store platform
Shopify plan
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway.
Cheapest published option: PayTabs Paymes
effective rate: 4.07%
Shopify's fee here is SAR 1,000. On Grow it would be SAR 500 (before the plan price difference).
Estimated monthly cost
- Processing (% + fixed)
- Monthly fee
- Shopify transaction fee
- VAT on gateway fees (15%)
#1PayTabs PaymesCheapest
SAR 2,034 · 4.07%
Paymes SuperApp pricing ("testing phase"). International cards assumed at the credit rate.
#2Telr KSA
SAR 2,172 – SAR 2,448 · 4.34%–4.90%
Published as a range: cards 2.6-3% + SAR 1, SAR 99-259/month. Bar shows low to high.
#3Amazon Payment Services
SAR 2,651 · 5.30%
Standard Plan. Apple Pay billed at card rate. International card rates may differ.
Quote-based gateways
These do not publish rates, so we can't rank them. Ask each for a written rate card split by method.
- Tap Payments — Native Shopify checkout app; mada, Apple Pay, Jaywan (UAE), KNET.
- HyperPay — Riyadh-based, Shopify app. Only third-party estimates exist.
- Moyasar — Saudi entities only (CR or freelance licence); STC Pay supported.
- Checkout.com — Enterprise acquirer, flat-rate or interchange++. mada for KSA entities only.
- Geidea — Rates negotiated per merchant. Shopify app with Tabby and Tamara.
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway.
Estimates based on published fees as of October 2026; confirm with the provider. Excludes refunds, chargebacks, FX, payout and setup fees. Shopify plan subscriptions not included.
For the full gateway-by-gateway rate cards, see our directory of Saudi payment gateway providers.
How do you set up Apple Pay on your store?
You never sign up with Apple directly. You turn Apple Pay on through your platform's payments or your gateway, and they handle Apple's side.
What you do depends on your platform:
How it works: Shopify Payments isn't available in Saudi Arabia, so Apple Pay runs through your outside gateway.
- Pick a gateway whose Shopify app works in Shopify's native checkout. Tap's Native Checkout app supports Apple Pay with mada.
- Go to Settings, then Payments. Click Manage on your gateway and select Apple Pay under Wallets.
- Your domain needs an active SSL certificate. Shopify domains have one by default.
- Shopify hosts Apple's domain verification file for your store, so there's nothing to upload. If your gateway app asks you to verify the domain, do it from the Shopify admin.
- Redirect plugins send shoppers to the gateway's own page, and some don't offer Apple Pay at all. Ask before you install.
Platform choice still open? Compare the options in our Salla vs Zid breakdown.
How does Apple Pay domain verification work?
Before Apple shows the Apple Pay button on a website, it checks that the merchant really controls that domain. You prove it by hosting a small file your gateway gives you.
Shopify hosts the file for you, and so do Salla and Zid when you use their built-in payments. On WooCommerce or a custom site, it's your job, and it takes about ten minutes.
Here's the process, using Moyasar's dashboard as the example. Other gateways follow the same pattern:
- 1
Add your domain in the gateway dashboard
In Moyasar, go to Settings, then Apple Pay Domains. Enter the exact host where checkout happens, such as shop.yourbrand.sa.
- 2
Download the verification file
Click Download Association. The file is called apple-developer-merchantid-domain-association.
- 3
Upload it to your site
Place it at /.well-known/apple-developer-merchantid-domain-association, with no file extension.
- 4
Check it opens in a browser
Visit the full URL. You should see the raw file, with no redirect, login screen or error page.
- 5
Validate, then register
Click Validate so the gateway checks the file, then Register so Apple confirms it. The domain then shows as registered.
- 6
Repeat for every host
Register the www and non-www versions separately, plus any language subdomain you take payments on.
Need a developer to handle it? Our Shopify development team in Saudi Arabia sets up gateways and Apple Pay as part of a launch.
Test Apple Pay before you launch
A few real test orders catch almost every Apple Pay problem before your shoppers do.
Use a real card, not a test card, for at least one payment of each type. Then refund it, so you know the refund flow works too.
Running Shopify? Our guide to mada on Shopify has the full launch test for mada payments.
Notes for foreign companies
- You can still offer Apple Pay. Stores outside Saudi Arabia accept Apple Pay through gateways like Stripe or Shopify Payments where they're available.
- Mada inside will charge as Visa or Mastercard. Co-badged mada cards go through the international scheme. Expect more declines and higher fees than domestic mada.
- Some mada cards will fail. Cards not enabled for international online shopping decline on foreign gateways.
- A Saudi entity fixes it. It unlocks local gateways with domestic mada inside Apple Pay.
See exactly when domestic mada becomes possible in can a foreign company accept mada?.
Notes for UAE and GCC sellers
- One button, six countries. Apple Pay is live across the GCC, so enable it on every market you sell to.
- UAE Shopify stores get it built in. Shopify Payments works in the UAE and turns on Apple Pay automatically.
- Local rails still matter. Kuwait leans on KNET and Bahrain on BenefitPay, so Apple Pay sits alongside them, not instead of them.
Compare every Gulf market in our guide to GCC payment methods, or head back to the payments hub.
Compare Saudi gateways that support Apple Pay
These providers were independently researched. Ask at least two for a written rate card with Apple Pay on mada priced on its own line.
Tap Payments
Best for: GCC-wide merchants that want one gateway with mada, KNET-region coverage and marketplace splits
- Calls itself a licensed payment institution in Saudi Arabia, licensed across the GCC
- mada payment gateway certification
- PCI DSS Level 1
Moyasar
Best for: Saudi-registered stores on WooCommerce, Zid or a custom site that want a developer-friendly local gateway
- Says it operates under the supervision of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)
- Says it is PCI DSS Level 1 and eMSP-certified
- Methods: mada, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, STC Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay
HyperPay
Best for: Mid-size and enterprise Saudi merchants wanting gateway plus payouts and spend tools
- Says it holds a Saudi Central Bank licence
- PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701
- Claims to serve hundreds of thousands of clients and partners across the Arab world
PayTabs
Best for: Multi-country GCC/MENA sellers that need local debit schemes (mada, KNET, OmanNet) on one contract
- Accepts mada, KNET, OmanNet, Meeza, UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB
- Wallets: Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, STC Pay, URPAY, PayPal
- BNPL at checkout: Tabby, Tamara, valU, Souhoola
Telr
Best for: Small UAE/KSA stores that want transparent published pricing and payment links
- Says it is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE for retail payment services
- Publishes its full price list
- Unlimited payment links and branded invoices on all plans
Checkout.com
Best for: Cross-border and high-volume brands that want one global acquirer with GCC local acquiring
- Says it has local acquiring in 50+ countries including the Middle East
- 19 offices worldwide
- Publishes an annual MENA consumer payments report
Frequently asked questions
No. Apple doesn't bill the merchant for Apple Pay payments. Your only cost is your payment gateway's fee, plus 15% VAT on that fee. Ask your gateway how it prices Apple Pay before you sign.
Sources & further reading
- Al Rajhi Bank launches Apple Pay to customers in the Kingdom (19 Feb 2019) — Al Rajhi Bank
- Payment methods in Saudi Arabia (Worldpay data, 2025) — Antom
- Amazon Payment Services pricing (KSA) — Amazon Payment Services
- PayTabs pricing — PayTabs
- Apple Pay web registration — Moyasar
- Configure Apple Pay on the web — Apple Developer
- Activating Apple Pay — Shopify Help Center
- Apple Pay countries and regions — Apple Support
This guide is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and fees change — always confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor.
Maya is MiddleEastEcom's lead guide and editor. She researches GCC marketplaces, payments and regulations and turns them into practical playbooks for sellers.
Meet Maya
