The shareholders of payment solutions provider and fintech enabler in the MEA region, Arab Financial Services Company (“AFS”)decided to increase the company’s authorised share capital to US$ 150 million and its issued and paid-up share capital to US$ 98 million. The decision was taken at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on 5 December 2021, subject to Central Bank of Bahrain approval. The capital increase aims to propel AFS’s revenue growth and strategic expansion.
AFS’s Board of Directors welcomed the shareholders’ strong commitment to support the company’s strategy. With a well-defined plan and an agile approach, AFS aims to continually provide innovative payment solutions and services to meet the evolving needs of its customers.
Commenting on the capital increase, AFS’s Chairman, Sael Al Waary, said: “We are excited to embark on this new journey in our growth trajectory. Aided by this funding, AFS will strengthen its digital payments and fintech offering, expand into new markets with even more ground-breaking payments solutions, and further solidify its position in the MEA financial ecosystem.”
“As a pioneer and a leader in the payments industry, AFS started its journey with offering travellers’ cheques followed by cards processing and has today evolved dynamically as a core payment processing, fintech, and merchant acquiring business. AFS has successfully laid the groundwork to drive its next chapter of growth with cutting-edge digital payment technologies. The shareholders are strongly committed to supporting this vision and are confident of the leadership’s capabilities to achieve it.”
Samer Soliman, AFS’s CEO, added: “AFS has developed a future-ready strategy that includes innovative payment solutions, expansion across different geographies while investing in human capital. Our shareholders’ commitment to invest in AFS underscores their confidence in our strategy and potential while the continued leadership and support of our majority shareholder Bank ABC demonstrates a strong vote of confidence in AFS. This capital will not only enable the execution of our strategy consistently and reliably in a rapidly evolving payments landscape but will ultimately generate the digital payment solutions of the future that drive growth.”
Regulated by The Central Bank of Bahrain, and majority-owned by Bank ABC, AFS boasts numerous ground-breaking end-to-end digital payment services and solutions. These span debit, credit, and Islamic card processing, merchant acquiring, fintech, and a suite of state-of-the-art value-added services. Its dedication to innovation has positioned AFS as a driving market force delivering a rich portfolio of payment solutions including popular digital mobile wallets, market-leading merchant acquiring services, Bahrain’s leading digital payroll solution, global contact centers and more. Providing the highest quality payments solutions that are trusted by businesses, AFS has offices and data centers in Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman.
