Founded in 1994, Network International wasted no time becoming the first independent payment vendor in the Middle East to be certified by Mastercard and Visa. And many more firsts followed.
Network International would go on to be the first in the region to open a bureau for EMV chip personalisation, the first to offer real-time payment capabilities to UAE merchants, the first to launch mobile point-of-sale devices in the UAE, and the first Middle Eastern acquirer to establish its own e-commerce platform.
Such was the company’s early success that the prestigious Abraaj Group bought a 49% stake in the business less than ten years later. In 2011, Network International went public, listing with a valuation of over USD 2bn, joining the FTSE 250 list of companies at the same time.
Today, the company continues to deliver accessible, simple and innovative payment solutions to businesses in the Middle East and beyond. It now enjoys a long-held reputation as the quickest acquirer in the UAE and as the Middle East and Africa’s leading digital commerce enabler.
In 2021, Network International processed over USD 42bn worth of payments for over 150,000 merchants across its comprehensive portfolio of products. That equates to around 980 million transactions on more than 18 million cards for over 200 financial institutions.
Today, with decades of experience in the financial services, payments and tech sectors, Network International continues to expand its operation into new markets. The company’s largest business segment is the Middle East, where it facilitates payments for merchants and consumers in countries such as the UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, among others. Network International also provides its services across Africa in countries including Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.
