mada depends on the direct link to a bank account (through a Debit Card) from which withdrawals are taken and when payment transactions are made. Hence, Debit Cards are a  convenient and secure alternative to cash. Debit cards also allow instant withdrawal of cash from thousands of ATMs spread across the Kingdom and where accepted, outside the country. Furthermore, debit card transactions are a fast, safe, and easy way of paying in shops, restaurants, or other locations through POS terminals, where the cost of a purchase is charged directly to a holder's account without any exchange of cash. Cardholders can also use their debit cards to get from certain shops instead of ATMs, through the Naqd  service.

   mada card can have a daily limit of SAR 5,000 for cash withdrawals and up to SAR 60,000 for purchases made. Cardholders can benefit in the following ways:

• Registering for online banking services and activating other electronic bank channels like phone banking.
• Benefit from banks exclusive offers and rewards programs offered exclusively  to cardholders when they use their cards for purchases.
• Monitoring debit card transactions and controlling e-channels easily.
• Stay informed regarding cash withdrawals and purchase transactions through instant SMS notifications.
• Convenience in paying bills related to government services and other SADAD billers by using debit cards at ATMs, POS terminals, online, and in phone banking. 

Prepaid cards are linked to prepaid records and are intended to be used on the principle of “light account" structures in accordance with the Regulatory Rules for Prepaid Payment Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued in 2012. These records offer limited functionality compared to standard bank accounts, providing only transactional services at POS terminals and ATMs, bill payment through SADAD, and remittance services.

Based on the type of program and the product specifications in general, these electronic records are used to provide basic payment services, such as ATM cash withdrawals, POS purchases, and SADAD bill payments, and they offer SMS/online/ATM-based record maintenance, that is, a transaction history.

Standard banking services are not provided through these records. Nor can they be used to initiate record-to-record transfers unless the beneficiary is a SADAD corporate biller and/or international remittance beneficiary. Furthermore, prepaid records do not allow for automated or teller-less cash funding (e.g., ATM-based deposits). All prepaid cards are funded by verified and approved funding sources. However, this restriction can be lifted as certain prepaid programs may choose to allow ATM-based cash funding.

Generally prepaid cards can be categorized into one of the three following classifications:

• Generic Open Loop prepaid card:

The payments functionality is identical to a standard mada debit card allowing cardholders to withdraw  (via ATM ), make purchases (through  PoS terminals ) and make bill payments  via SADAD.

• Generic Restricted Loop prepaid card:

Restricted loop prepaid cards will be limited for use at a predetermined set of merchants.

• Generic Closed Loop prepaid card:

A closed loop prepaid card is a merchant specific prepaid card. It can only be used at a certain merchant or location (e.g. a Coffee Shop prepaid card can only be used at that specific Coffee Shop store locations).

Prepaid payment services can be used across a range of different acceptance models or prepaid payment service programs. For more details on these programs, please refer to the Regulatory Rules for Prepaid Payment Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As an added-value service, naqd service is available at mada POS terminals wherever you see the mada cash back sign. It enables cardholders to withdraw cash at a participating merchant any time they pay through the mada payment card. It is an option offered to retail consumers where the cardholder  can request to add an extra amount to the purchase price and receive the added amount in cash. For example, a customer purchasing SAR 50 worth of goods at a supermarket might ask for 150 riyals cash back. They would therefore pay a total of SAR 200 (SAR 50 + SAR 150) using their debit card and receive SAR 150 in cash along with their goods. The maximum amount that can be withdrawn using this service is up to SAR 400 per day per card.

Cash back using debit cards provides customers with a convenient method of obtaining cash when purchasing goods and services without having to make a separate trip to an ATM or bank. It is therefore advantageous for those in need to withdraw cash easily, quickly, securely and directly at the shop checkout, even in places where there is no cash machines.

Additional benefits to merchants and business owners include less cash handling in the retail outlet and therefore improved security and reduced cash management costs. It can also be a complementary service to offer customers as well as being an attractive feature for cardholders who visit a retail outlet because they need cash. Sales may increase if consumers who want to withdraw cash have to make a purchase to be able to withdraw that cash. Business owners do not need to worry as the cash back portion of the transaction is offered free of charge with no associated transactional fees either for them or the cardholders. 

atheer is a value-added service for mada that allows cardholders to make their purchase payments in a safe, easy and fast manner simply by waving the card in front of the PoS terminal. mada cardholders can use this service for any single purchase amount that is less than 100 SAR. Cardholders may be asked to enter their PIN occasionally for extra security.

mada cardholders that is atheer-enabled can benefit from the service as per the following rules:

• Cardholder is not required to enter their PIN for purchase transactions done through atheer for amounts up to SR 100.
• When total cumulative amount of atheer transactions triggers SR 300, then cardholder will be requested to insert his card & enter his PIN. This is required for extra security and to reset atheer values in order to use the service again.

Coming Soon

mada Pay

mada Pay is payment service utilizing customer’s smartphones, through a wallet base application that provides the highest safety standards and state of the art Tokenization methodology. This service allows bank customers to upload all their cards (whether their mada debit or banks credit cards) into a single wallet on their Mobile phone. There are no limits on the number of cards that the cardholder can load on their mada Pay wallet. Cardholders can load their cards on more than one mobile phone.

mada Pay is developed to support all cards issued by mada member banks whether they are debit, prepaid or credit (VISA & MasterCard). The readiness for each of these cards, will depend on the issuing bank readiness to support mada Pay. Please ensure to check with your issuing bank on their mada Pay availability and readiness.

Today mada Pay is only available on Android devices and can be downloaded from the official Google play stores. Cardholders mobile devices must be running on Android operating system version 6.0 "Marshmallow" and above.

The mobile device needs to be equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) capability.

Cardholders phone must be set to one of the protection options set in the mobile settings prior to the use of mada Pay. Cardholders must ensure that their phone is connected to the Internet while adding the bankcards and that the phone has not been rooted or jailbroken.

mada Pay single transaction limit

mada Pay maximum cumulative spend limit is set to 100SAR excluding any other fees imposed by the merchant within the Kingdom or outside. For transactions performed on mada Pay outside the Kingdom, there is the possibility that the cardholder may be charged cross border fees similar to a traditional debit or credit card transaction.

Cardholders will be able to complete the payment for purchases at any mada atheer enabled POS devices, with a maximum purchase limit of 100SAR. To use mada Pay, cardholders simply tap their mobile phone (after the phone has been unlocked) at a mada atheer POS. 

mada Pay is accepted inside and outside the Kingdom at millions of merchant locations around the globe with NFC cable POS devices.

Total number of cards permitted for mada Pay 

Cardholders may add all of the mada debit and credit cards as there is no limit on the number of cards to be loaded on mada Pay wallet. It is also possible to add the same cards on a mobile phone that is enabled for mada Pay wallet, and it may be subject to banks fees based on banks own terms and conditions.

mada Pay use of Tokenization functionality

To protect cardholders data mada Pay has introduced the Tokenization approach whereby mada card number with a unique digital identifier known as a ‘token’ in the mada Pay wallet in the mobile. This token then allows cardholders to perform payments using mada Pay to be processed without exposing sensitive account details that could breach security and privacy of the cardholder.

To put it simply, your payment information is encrypted and stored on secure servers that will ensure your stored cards details are never exposed to third parties. Your original information is not shared with any merchants when you make the payment.

mada Pay security features

mada Pay cardholder must add their mada card to the mada Pay wallet, where mada pay service replaces the mada card number with a series of randomly-generated numbers, which is called the “token.” or “virtual account”. Each payment card set up in the app gets a token or virtual account number instead of the original card number to enable the transaction to go through. The virtual card number is useless and cannot be used by itself to retrieve any of your details.

mada Pay User Requirements

Cardholders who wish to use mada Pay must ensure that the following requirements are supported by their Mobile Phones:

• Cardholder’s mobile phone must operates on Android 6.0
• The mobile phone is capable of support NFC Functionality
• The cardholder has a valid mada Debit card issued by a mada issuing member
• The cardholder has access to the Official Google Store and can download the mada Pay application from the Google Play.
• Cardholders must ensure that their mobile phone has NOT been ROOTED
• Cardholder must ensure that the mobile phone has the access to the Internet while adding their mada card
•  Cardholders can load the mada card by following the Application instructions, and also ensure to activate the screen lock feature.