Page 140 - July 2024 Issue 632

Sailesh Malhotra (General Manager GCC Region – Geidea):

Geidea helps today’s start-ups to become tomorrow’s leaders

ailesh Malhotra, General Manager GCC Region at Geidea, is a high-performing, seasoned
Sstrategic leader & business development executive, with over 22 years of exhaustive experience,
working across key markets of Asia within the financial payments industry and creating strategic
alliances to acquire, retain and successfully build mutually beneficial and profitable merchant
partnerships. Mr. Malhotra has an indelible reputation in not just implementing, but executing
ingenious strategic plans to cultivate a strong pipeline of iconic, industry leading merchant backed
business; strengthening company value proposition along with accomplishing broad territory
objectives that spur growth in fast-paced, ever-evolving dynamic environments. Throughout his
career, Mr. Malhotra has demonstrated a focused, highly driven & customer-centric approach
which has earned him the utmost respect from stakeholders and peers across various lines of
business. Al Bayan Magazine met Mr. Malhotra on the sidelines of Seamless Middle East 2024 and
conducted the following interview.

“ We are committed to transforming industries towards environmental
consciousness and carbon neutrality ”

• Can you give us an idea about your company? continued commitment to shaping a robust fintech industry, we look forward to
- Founded in Saudi Arabia in 2008 by entrepreneur Abdullah Faisal Al-Othman, leveraging this platform to foster innovation, and continued growth. At Seamless
Geidea is a leading and fully licensed payment service provider offering digital Middle East 2024, we are showcasing our full suite of cutting-edge solutions
banking technology, Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals and business management including payments, merchant acquiring, POS Ecosystem, SoftPOS, E-com-
solutions serving both financial institutions and small businesses in retail and dig- merce, and VAS. We are also highlighting our dedication to pioneering advance-
ital commerce. As the leading payment solutions provider, we are based in ments in the fintech landscape, and giving visitors the opportunity to interact with
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and offer services in several locations across the GCC, Geidea’s team and discover the latest developments in merchant services, digi-
including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Geidea has become the first non- tal banking, e-wallets, and identity verification.
bank entity in the Kingdom to obtain an acquiring license from the Saudi Central
• Sustainability is one of the most important aspects discussed across all
Bank “SAMA” to provide financial services directly to merchants and small and industries. How are you contributing to that?
medium enterprises. Today, we have over one thousand employees, serve over
- We are big on sustainability. In that sense, we have entered into a strategic part-
150 thousand merchants, and provide more than 700 thousand payment terminals nership with Fils, a revolutionary force in simplified climate action, empowering
in addition to ATM networks with 75% market share across the Kingdom alone. Until businesses of all sizes to embed climate positivity into transactions using their
recently, only the bigger players could enjoy the latest tech. Now, we are making it API. Geidea’s collaboration with Fils not only underlines its commitment to
available for everyone, giving smaller businesses the chance to get ahead and reach reshaping the digital payments landscape but also signifies a pioneering step
for more. Just like the nimble businesses we serve and the latest technology that we towards a sustainable future, aligning seamlessly with Fils’ mission to transform
provide, the secret is in our inclusive and forward-thinking strategy. industries, including banking, travel, eCommerce, and fintech, towards environ-
• What makes Geidea special and unique? mental consciousness and carbon neutrality. This exclusive partnership is set to
- At Geidea, we believe today’s start-ups are tomorrow’s leaders and thus we help make a lasting impact on the UAE’s digital payments sector and beyond. Fresh
them get there. Since its inception, the company strived to make payments and from being the official payment and POS provider for the United Nations Climate
commerce technology accessible, affordable and intuitive for everyone. Our mis- Change Conference (COP 28), Geidea demonstrates its unwavering commitment
sion has always been to empower merchants of all types and sizes with the tools to sustainability through this groundbreaking collaboration with Fils. In this innov-
to start, manage and grow their business. We have a rapidly growing team of ative partnership, Geidea and Fils are set to embed sustainability into every
entrepreneurs who come from all over the world. Our people are as smart, inno- aspect of their activities. Merchants will now have the capability to empower cus-
vative and forward thinking as our technology. Moreover, if one looks at Geidea tomers by providing estimates of carbon emissions for specific transactions using
in a detailed manner, he will realize many verticals within each of its pillars, which Geidea’s payment gateways. Whether it is flights, rides, products, or shipping,
other companies don’t have. We manufacture our own POS machines, and we customers can gain valuable insights into the carbon intensity of their actions.
not only acquire and process transactions with the merchants through their direct This not only fosters a culture of sustainability but also enables informed decision-
relationships with us but we also process transactions for other institutions which making. After being given an estimate of their carbon footprint, the collaboration
are not licensed. So, we provide BIN sponsorship to those entities and they can with Fils allows customers to seamlessly contribute to trusted carbon credit pro-
then go and acquire merchants in the marketplace. In addition, we have a very suc- jects directly from any product interface. This streamlined process empowers
cessful POS business. We believe that the latest payments and commerce tech- users to actively support a greener future and reduce their carbon footprint effort-
nology should be accessible, affordable and intuitive for everyone. Whether on the lessly with every transaction. At Geidea, we are thrilled to continue leveraging our
go, in store or online, we give merchants of all types the freedom to spend less time technology to contribute to impactful and tangible solutions. This partnership with
on complex tasks, and more time with the parts of the business they know and love. Fils aligns with our mission to go beyond conventional payment services, intro-
Supporting small businesses succeed is at the heart of what we do, and innovation ducing a new era where sustainability is integrated into the very fabric of digital
is what powers us to do that. Our 2-in-1 business solution seamlessly allows mer- transactions.
chants to accept all payment types from chip and pin, to contactless and digital wal- • What are the main challenges that you are facing?
lets, while providing simple and powerful tools to manage inventory, sales, online - I think the most important challenge that every industry faces is the increase in
orders and much more, all from one single app. technology cost. The solutions that we get are often fragmented so we have to
• What is the added value behind your participation at Seamless Middle East purchase them from different sources and then integrate them all together. This
requires a lot of spending. Also, fraud has become a huge issue for all organiza-
2024?
- Seamless Middle East 2024 is the region’s premier event for payments, fintech, tions. There are new fraud trends emerging all the time and businesses need to
e-commerce, and digital commerce industries. Geidea recognizes the signifi- consider these while developing strategies to fight fraud. Nevertheless, we, as
Geidea, have very good solutions in place and our talented team is managing our
cance of Seamless Middle East as a hub for industry collaboration, innovation,
and thought leadership. As a leading player in the fintech space, we are commit- risk and fraud solutions on a daily basis.
ted to staying at the forefront of industry developments and leveraging opportuni- • What are your future plans?
ties to drive innovation and growth. The growth of the fintech industry is occurring - As a Saudi start up, we are proud to work with some of the leading companies
at an unprecedented rate, and it’s essential for all stakeholders to harness the lat- in the world. We are funded by one of the region’s largest private equity firms and
est developments through collaboration. Thus, Seamless Middle East provides work with global financial and tech partners to bring the best solutions to market.
that opportunity for industry leaders, innovators, and stakeholders to come Nonetheless, we look forward to expanding the product offering in the UAE, Saudi
together, exchange ideas, and drive forward the future of fintech. As part of our Arabia and Egypt as well as to entering into new markets.
2024 (ƒ«dƒj) Rƒ“ - 632 O~©dG - ájOÉ°üàb’G ¿É«ÑdG 140