Regulatory Alerts2016-06-18
GCC POS Pricing Policy
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) mandates a standardized 1% service fee for cross-border Point-of-Sale transactions within GCC countries, capped at SAR 37.5 per transaction and strictly prohibiting cost pass-through to customers. When Saudi MADA cards are issued in Bahrain, local banks receive 0.9% of the transaction value plus a capped SAR 2 MADA system fee, while acquiring Bahraini cards via Saudi terminals imposes a 1.5% merchant fee capped at SAR 80, distributed across acquiring banks, MADA, and the GCC network. Financial institutions and merchants must fully implement these fee structures and compliance requirements immediately upon the operational launch of the cross-border service.
Translated Document
We would like to inform you that the GCC countries have decided to apply a service fee for Point-of-Sale (POS) operations among GCC countries at a rate of 1% of the transaction value, with a maximum cap of (SAR 37.5) per transaction, to be paid by the host network to the issuing network. No costs from this service fee should be passed on to the customer. As the POS service between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain will soon be operational, SAMA emphasizes compliance with the following: » When using MADA bank cards at merchant terminals in Bahrain (MADA as an issuer): Local issuing banks will receive 0.9% of the transaction value for each purchase transaction conducted in GCC countries and routed through the GCC network, with MADA system fees at 0.1%, capped at (SAR 2).
»When using MADA POS terminals to process transactions with cards issued by banks in Bahrain (MADA as an acquirer): Merchants will be charged 1.5% of the transaction value, capped at (SAR 80), which includes Acquiring bank fees (0.4%), MADA system fees (0.1%, capped at SAR 2), and GCC network fees (1%, capped at SAR 37.5).
Accordingly, SAMA emphasizes the implementation of the above service fee policy upon the launch and operation of the service.
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