Saudi Arabia’s Riyad Bank is setting upgrading its payment system. It has opted for Gemalto’s Clarista Contactless EMV card, powered with the industry-standard MULTOS operating system. This will be Saudi Arabia’s first contactless payment method. The introduction of contactless cards puts Riyad Bank at the forefront of one of the most powerful trends currently shaping the consumer environment in Saudi Arabia, where the contactless infrastructure is being established. According to Khalid Hariry, senior vice president and head of Retail Products and Services section at the bank, the bank had achieved SAMA2 certification recently and Gemalto was first to offer a dual interface card that meets this requirement.
