Mena Series with Dorra Mahbouli: Building Payment Orchestration Business in Saudi Arabia with Andrew Riabchuk, Founder of Akurateco

On April 9, 2024, Andrew Riabchuk, Founder of Akurateco, joined an episode of the Voice of FinTech MENA Series, hosted by Dorra Mahbouli, to discuss the evolution of payment orchestration and Akurateco’s role in the Saudi Arabian market.

During that conversation, Andrew shared how Akurateco supports PSPs, banks, telecom companies, and other businesses with white-label payment gateway solutions, helping them meet local market needs, navigate compliance, build partnerships, and accelerate time to market amid Saudi Arabia’s rapid digital growth, Vision 2030, and rising demand for flexible payment infrastructure.

Podcast source: https://share.transistor.fm/e/3c0c258b

Read the full conversation below.

The Story Behind Akurateco

Host: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Voice of FinTech MENA region edition. I’m your host today, Dora Mahbouli, and we are thrilled to have Andrew Riabchouk with us, the visionary founder of Akurateco, joining us on the show.

Andrew is a recognized leader in the fintech industry, known for his deep expertise in payment solutions and financial technology. Under his leadership, Akurateco has become a beacon of innovation, offering cutting-edge payment orchestration solutions. Today, we will dive into Andrew’s experience, the unique value Akurateco brings to the Saudi Arabian market, and other topics, including the challenges he has faced.

So, without further introduction, let’s start with the questions and welcome Andrew to this session.

Andrew: Thank you very much. First of all, thank you, Dora, for the invitation to this podcast. I hope today’s conversation will be helpful for all listeners and readers of the media. I’m ready to start.

Host: Nice, amazing. Andrew, just to start, could you share with us the why behind Akurateco? What inspired you to focus specifically on a payment orchestration platform and white-label payment gateway solutions? What’s the why behind it?

Andrew: First of all, as the founder of the company, together with my co-founders, there are actually three of us: me, the CEO of the company, Vlad, and Alexandra. All three of us have significant experience in the payment landscape. I personally have more than 15 years of experience in fintech and different projects, mostly related to payment processing. I founded a few companies in Europe that are still up and running. I was able, let’s say, to track the overall development of the payment industry and payment infrastructure, and it is quite different from how it was 15 years ago. There is the complexity of technology, the complexity of licensing issues, and requirements from the market, which, let’s say, require you to create very specific products.

So, at a certain moment, we decided to concentrate on a purely technological solution, which is what Akurateco actually is, and avoid, let’s say, the limitations of licensing and the limitations of concentrating on specific verticals. That is how Akurateco was actually born.

Three or four years ago, we identified that, especially for greenfield PSPs, but not only for greenfield PSPs, it was important to concentrate on pure business activities like sales and marketing. For them, it made sense to outsource the whole technological solution to others. Historically, that was exactly the time when other competitors had just appeared on the market. The majority of them also had experience in the payment sector. Even four years ago, there was no such term as payment orchestration, but then it appeared. So we decided to step in, and here we are now.

Akurateco’s Value in the Saudi Arabian Market

Host: Okay, Andrew, so this was the why behind it. But if we focus on your operation in Saudi Arabia, what unique value do you offer in that market? How would you differentiate yourself from other players in the Saudi market or in the region? How do you position yourself?

Andrew: As I said earlier, I already had significant experience, which actually means that we already had the first and second generations of the platform. So, currently, what Akurateco sells as the platform itself is the third generation of the processing platform, which normally suits different types of clients, including payment service providers, international merchants, telecom companies, banks, and so on.

The unique feature, or let’s say the unique differentiation that we believe we have, is our support, based on an understanding of all the details of the payment business, because we have this experience.

Also, what is very important is the flexibility of installation, because in Saudi Arabia, as in other countries in the region, there is a regulation requiring all transactions to be processed on Saudi soil. Our platform and systems allow that. We are cloud-agnostic; we can do installations on bare metal, and so on. So, the flexibility of installation is very important.

And, of course, cutting-edge technologies. The third generation of the platform means that we have already learned all the lessons, let’s say, and made all the conclusions after the first and second generations. I believe that is all worth mentioning.

Key Use Cases for White-Label Payment Infrastructure

Host: Okay, so you mentioned that you have multiple types of clients that could be part of your ecosystem. However, can you delve into one or two use cases that you have developed in the region or in the Saudi market? And what other types of use cases would you be thinking of where the white-label payment gateway you provide could be used?

Andrew: The first client in Saudi Arabia signed with us almost three years ago. Back at the time, it was a greenfield PSP. The market was quite different three or three and a half years ago in Saudi Arabia. There was only one regulator, SAMA, instead of two regulators, SPG and SAMA, as there are now. This type of client, a greenfield or startup PSP that is trying to focus on a specific vertical or a specific geography, in this particular case, both geography and vertical, could be one good example of a potential customer of ours.

So, when a PSP is starting, it needs to get a license and start its sales and marketing activities. But at the same time, the PSP needs to invest a lot of money and effort into developing the product and developing the processing platform. Instead, this company could rent it from us. That is why greenfield PSPs or startup PSPs are a very important sector and segment of our potential customers.

There are more examples in the Saudi market. For instance, a PSP originally from the UAE may have plans to expand to different markets, and among those markets is Saudi Arabia, because it is hard to overestimate the importance of the Saudi market. And, of course, if they are operating in a market where there is no such regulation requiring the platform to be installed inside the country, Saudi Arabia is different.

So, to be able to work in the Saudi Arabian market, you have to install your platform, the old one or the new one, in the Saudi market. That is why, for a more mature PSP that already has a presence in the UAE and other countries, it makes absolute sense to start with us and rent the platform from us, as we have experience and more working connections with data centers and cloud providers that are already certified by local regulators.

So, this is another segment of our customers: PSPs that are trying to expand to a new market. For them, of course, decreasing time to market and increasing efficiency makes absolutely perfect sense when they start with us.

One more example could be creating a side payment business from already established companies, such as telecoms. Normally, telecoms have a significant client base, and payments are always very close to telecom services. Very often, they can recognize additional revenue streams in payments. To combine this with their own product, they definitely need a payment platform.

So, telecom providers, or not only telecom providers, but also other service providers, IP providers, cable providers, TV providers, and so on, can benefit from this. For them, it makes absolutely perfect sense not to invest in creating the business in-house, but rather to rent it from us. This is the third quite significant segment of our customers, not only in Saudi Arabia, but in Saudi Arabia as well.

Why Saudi Arabia Became a Strategic Market

Host: Okay, great. You have multiple types of clients, from telecoms to startups to some established companies, depending on the use case. The decision to enter the Saudi Arabian market must have been strategic. Can you elaborate on why you chose to enter this market three years ago, before some of the regulatory challenges were even added to the picture?

So why did you decide to enter the market, especially three years ago? And what is your vision for that market? How do you plan to evolve? How do you plan to offer more solutions to meet the changing demands? What is going on?

Andrew: Yes, choosing to enter the Saudi Arabian market was quite a strategic move for Akurateco, and that was driven by reasons such as rapid digital growth. By far, the country is developing quite fast. It is very visible to the eye.

I have just returned from LEAP. We were participating in LEAP, one of the biggest tech conferences in the world. This year, there were around 215,000 visitors and a few thousand exhibitors. It was really huge.

So yes, I can see the difference between how it was in October of last year, then in October of the previous year, and how it is now. Life is changing pretty rapidly. Everything is changing. And the fintech segment is one of the leaders that is changing very fast. So rapid digital growth is one of the reasons.

Also, Vision 2030, the whole idea behind it, looks very impressive. The country’s Vision 2030 aims to diversify the economy and boost the digital sector, and it creates a really welcoming environment for fintech innovation and for companies like ours.

Market gap is another reason. The population of Saudi Arabia is larger than that of its neighbors. It is around 40 million and slightly more, and it is a rich country. You cannot overestimate the market gap. Despite the growth, there still was, and still is, room for more flexible and comprehensive payment solutions. If you tailor them to local needs, you can definitely succeed.

And there is also economic potential. The economic potential of Saudi Arabia is clear. It has a large economy, and its position as a leader in the region suggests a significant opportunity for growth and expansion. We saw Saudi Arabia as a market ripe for digital payment solutions, with, on one hand, strong government backing, but also regulations. But growth could not be delivered without regulations. We see this gap, where Akurateco’s flexible, innovative, and technical approach is a good fit.

Akurateco’s Vision for Growth in Saudi Arabia

Andrew: Regarding the vision for Akurateco’s future in the Saudi Arabian market, first of all, in terms of the product, because we are a technological company, we see potential in adding more payment options to the platform, including mobile wallets, BNPL, and others, which are rapidly growing in the market.

We also need to stay up to date with rules. Although we are a technological company and are not obliged to be licensed, our clients are obliged to be licensed. So we have to understand what is going on and stay up to date with rules, licensing requirements, regulations, and so on.

Another point is using smart technology. Nowadays, it is not a big secret that AI is booming, and AI could probably be the next big thing for fintech as well. We are already using AI to create new payment integrations, for anti-fraud checks, and for many other aspects. So I think that investing in AI will be quite important for us, including in the Saudi Arabian market.

We also want to help businesses go global. Some companies are starting from Saudi Arabia, some companies are from the region, from the MENA region, and some companies would like to expand to Saudi Arabia. Because of differences in payment options, regulations, and so on, it is sometimes not easy to deliver, so we would like to help businesses go global.

Of course, it is very important to find and work with local partners. This is part of the mentality of the region, and it definitely helps you move faster. So we plan to team up with local banks and companies to provide better services and more tailored products for the market, and so on.

We would also like to support the community. We are visiting a few events in Saudi Arabia. As I mentioned earlier, we attended LEAP. This year, we are also going to Seamless. It is going to be the second time for us visiting Seamless with a booth. It is important to support the community and move forward with that.

At the end, of course, the main goal for all of us and our customers is to make payments easier for everyone, more seamless, and more advanced.

So, like that. In a few words.

Navigating Regulation and Compliance

Host: Andrew, thank you for these insights and for the very clear vision that you have for the Saudi market.

You said earlier that you are more of a technology company rather than part of the fintech regulatory side, let’s say. But still, regulation plays a crucial role in the fintech sector in general, especially when we have regulations that are updating all the time. So it is very important to keep up with those regulations.

To what extent do these frameworks in Saudi Arabia impact your operations, even though you are a technology firm, and your product development? How do you ensure compliance, either for you or for your clients, even if you are not licensed? As you mentioned, your clients should sometimes be licensed. And how do you ensure that the whole framework keeps up with regulations, with SAMA, et cetera? Do you have a team internally? How do you expect to develop the product while taking these updates into consideration?

Andrew: First of all, I would like to go back in history, around three years ago. Back at the time, there was only one regulator, SAMA. But now there are two: SAMA and SPG, Saudi Payment Gateway, and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. Both of them significantly shape our operations and product development.

And as you said, it is absolutely correct that we are not under the direct regulation of those two, but our clients are. We closely monitor the forthcoming regulations by SPG and SAMA. These regulations are really crucial for ensuring the security and efficiency of fintech operations.

The main guidance for us is not a regulator, but the certification of PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider, which we complete on an annual basis. This is more technological, yes. So if one of our clients would like to achieve a financial license, let’s say in Saudi Arabia, they need to provide documents and follow procedures that we normally prepare and align with PCI DSS certification, but not only that. That is why we have a few people in-house who help our customers prepare and implement those procedures, which are guided by both the technical SPG regulator and the financial regulator.

By monitoring those updates and documents, we stay ahead of the changes. We can practically adjust our products to comply with new requirements because we are always getting feedback from our customers, and they are getting feedback from the regulators. The landscape of licensing regulations has also changed dramatically.

Over the last two years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of licenses issued by the regulator. It is showing year-to-year multiplication. Three or four years ago, SAMA probably issued three or four licenses, and over the last two years, there have been dozens, and this continues to multiply.

Of course, every new license and every new certification comes with new requirements and becomes harder and more sophisticated to obtain. For us, this also means that it becomes harder to comply with those rules and regulations. But the key to success here is to stay up to date with what the regulator wants and to understand the background of these requirements. That is actually what we are trying to do, and what we are doing quite successfully at the moment.

Host: Okay. So you are taking more of a proactive approach, actually. You anticipate, you try to stay very close to the client, and at the same time, you give feedback and anticipate.

Andrew: Absolutely. Yes, we have to, because otherwise we would not be able to deliver the product that is expected by our customers.

Collaboration Between Fintechs, Banks, and Akurateco

Host: Okay. Very clear, and that is a very important success formula that you have just shared with us. But talking about collaborations that are a little bit challenging, usually between fintechs and traditional financial institutions, these collaborations are increasing, but at the same time, they are still challenging.

So what role do you play, and how do you collaborate with both, especially when there are three types of use cases or three models at the same time, such as a traditional bank involved in a project, a fintech, and Akurateco, for example? How do you enhance this payment ecosystem through this type of collaboration, especially since this type of collaboration is still challenging?

Andrew: At Akurateco, we team up with banks and financial institutions, and those financial institutions could either be our clients, partners of our clients, or partners of ours. This creates different scenarios when working with them.

But in general, if we are talking about partnerships, let’s take banks, for instance, as potential customers. Banks have big networks and lots of customers, but they are not always quick to change and deliver the product expected by the client within the required timeframe. So we create partnerships with banks to connect our advanced payment technology with their services and their client base.

This means it is a win-win, because businesses and customers get better payment options. For example, if a bank is working on big and sophisticated processing software, such as MPGS or CyberSource, MPGS by Mastercard and CyberSource for a reason, at some point, the bank may want to step more directly into communication with merchants.

The merchant expects to have a merchant onboarding portal, simple and convenient dashboards, reporting, a billing section, and so on. Not all processing software, mostly related to card processing, has these features. And that is exactly where we could be a good fit.

So we can become a top-up layer on this banking processing software and deliver really demanded services for banks and their customers. We can do it quite quickly because, compared with a bank, we are a small, very flexible, and fast company. At the same time, it is hard to overestimate the value of the licenses that banks have and their huge client base.

Having quick solutions, technical solutions, cutting-edge solutions, and their customer base normally brings a lot of value for banks. That is exactly what customers expect at that moment.

Regarding rules, even with new regulations by SAMA or SPG, if they relate in particular to handling customer data, implementing them for a bank takes a lot of time because it is a huge organization with many procedures, bureaucracy, and so on. Instead, the bank could outsource this to us. So we, as the front end of their actual product, could implement it much faster, align with changes, and align with new regulations. If the bank does it faster than its competitors, of course, it would definitely be a significant advantage compared to others.

Ease of use and innovation, which we have in our platform, can also attract banks a lot. Our expertise is also important because we are not only software providers, but also professionals with more than 15 years of experience. Our expertise is very important for banks because banks normally do a lot of things. A bank is not focused only on payments; it is focused on payments, loans, credits, and different verticals of banking products. It is not possible to be professional everywhere. So we have quite specific and very deep expertise in this segment, and it helps create really successful and mutual collaboration with banks.

In short, our collaboration with banks and financial institutions helps them and us bring the best of both worlds: their big networks and our fast, flexible technology. In the end, it creates quicker and better payment options for businesses and customers, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

Host: Clear. Thank you very much, Andrew, for these insights. As I understand it, technical solutions are important, but the expertise of the team is also very important in making things more agile, better optimized, and quicker to implement.

Advice for Fintech Startups Entering Saudi Arabia

Host: Finally, I would like to ask you a question as an entrepreneur with more than 15 years of expertise, as you mentioned, in the payments sector and in fintech in general. What advice would you give to startups that are looking to innovate in payment solutions in Saudi Arabia? I am focusing on startups because other kinds of clients are also looking for such advice, but startups especially, whether they are already established and moving into the Saudi Arabian market or starting from scratch in the Saudi Arabian market, need this type of expertise even more, especially at the beginning, and to gain some go-to-market enhancement. So what advice would you give to such clients?

Andrew: As with any market, but I think this is especially important for the Saudi Arabian market, every startup has to understand the local market nuances. It has to dive deep into understanding the unique needs, regulations, and customer behaviors.

Each market has its nuances, but the Saudi Arabian market, as I said, has a lot of nuances. Success often depends on how your solution is tailored, how you meet those local specifics, how you find your local partners, whether you work with them efficiently, and so on.

Second, I would also advise focusing on compliance because I have said multiple times during today’s discussion that regulation is evolving, and it is evolving quite fast and quite differently compared with how it was three or four years ago. So you should focus on compliance. If you are a fintech that needs to be compliant, or if you are a tech team like us that still works with clients who are under the compliance of regulators, you have to take care of that and pay a lot of attention. It not only helps avoid future complications but also builds trust with your partners and customers, which is important.

Try to build flexible solutions. The payment landscape is rapidly evolving. Design your platform or your product to be flexible, scalable, and based on modern infrastructure technologies, so it can quickly adapt to new regulations, payment methods, and customer demands, especially if you are talking about a startup from the fintech segment.

Invest in partnerships and leverage partnerships. Collaborate with local banks, financial institutions, other fintechs, technological providers, and local communities, and exchange opinions. It will definitely help when working in complex financial ecosystems.

Invest in security. Invest in security and redundancy. Recently at LEAP, I attended a presentation by Checkout.com. With the growth of financial products and the growth of payments in the market, the importance of security and handling cases like failed declines is very important. I would say that security is quite a promising scope for potential startups if you are concentrating on it. But even if you are not concentrating on it, and it is not your core business, think about security. Do not forget about it because otherwise, at the stage of your rapid growth, it could play an unpleasant joke on you.

Concentrate on user experience. Users are different in different countries, and they expect different things from almost the same product, or different aspects are important to them. Simplify the payment process for users, if we are talking about payments. A seamless and intuitive user experience can dramatically increase your acceptance rate and revenue. So, think about user experience.

Educate your audience. In emerging markets, this is very important, especially when a new product is coming to the market, whether it is BNPL or not BNPL, or more sophisticated products. You have to educate your audience, and then you will definitely be rewarded afterward.

And last but not least, be patient and persistent. I am not saying that something is going slowly, but, as I said, because of the mentality, it probably takes some time to achieve results. This is my advice, I think.

Host: Very clear, and I really liked your advice about the security part, which we tend not to keep among the priorities, let’s say. It is one of the points that we think about, but maybe not as a priority from the beginning. I think anticipating this part is very important. Very great advice and insight about this, Andrew.

How to Connect With Akurateco Team

Host: So, Andrew, just before we finish, where can we find you? What is the best way to reach out to Akurateco?

Andrew: You can find me everywhere. I am always on LinkedIn. Anyone can feel free to contact me through LinkedIn because it is normally my working environment, and I would be more than happy to discuss any topic on this matter or answer any questions.

Of course, you can always find any of my colleagues and me on our website, akurateco.com. On our website, you can also find the nearest events where we are participating, so you can meet us face-to-face and probably discuss some industry topics or exchange opinions, and so on.

And if today’s topic is Saudi Arabia, as I said, I will be happy to see you in Riyadh at Seamless. If I am not mistaken, it is going to be in September of this year. Or, if you are talking about the region, Seamless in Dubai is going to be at the end of May.

And if, by chance, you are in Europe, there are plenty of events where my colleagues or I are participating. So feel free to contact me in any way that is convenient and good for you. Thank you.

Host: Thank you, Andrew. Thank you very much. I really had the pleasure of listening to your insights and your advice, and I hope the audience did as well.

Do you have anything to add to the session before we finish?

Final Thoughts on the Future of Fintech

Andrew: Regarding what is happening now in fintech, I think that we are currently living in a very interesting period of time. New businesses are appearing, which three, four, or five years ago were not even in dreams. New opportunities are coming with those new businesses and those new segments of work because new markets are opening.

It is hard to imagine that you were able to travel to Saudi Arabia six or seven years ago. It was almost impossible for the average European. Now it is one of the most prominent markets in the region.

So I think that we are in quite a good time, especially for fintech. If you do everything properly, if you really believe in your idea, if you put in a lot of effort, if you work hard, if you create not only a product but also a culture around the product, if you believe in this culture, and if you try to find good partners, I think success is going to be 100%. I would advise the whole audience to keep up, move on, do what they want, and achieve the goals they want, because it is all possible.

Host: Thank you, Andrew. Thank you very much again. This was the Voice of FinTech MENA region session. I hope you enjoyed it, and keep listening to us. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you, everyone.

Andrew: Thank you, Dora. Thank you, everyone.