SkipCash Founder and Managing Director Mohammed Al Dulaimi addressing a media roundtable at the company’s headquarters in Lusail City recently.
Qatar-based mobile payment app SkipCash is planning to expand to cover additional market segments in the country as well as explore foreign markets across the Gulf region. The fintech company is also gearing up to attract visitors to the upcoming World Cup here next year to use its cashless payment solutions before eventually expanding beyond Qatar, SkipCash Founder and Managing Director Mohammed Al Dulaimi has said.
Addressing a media round table at the company’s headquarters in Lusail City recently, Al Dulaimi said SkipCash, which was launched in December 2020, has now grown to include over 250 partner brands from various sectors locally. Merchant onboarding has accelerated and SkipCash now aims to have about 800 partner merchants by year-end, he added. The mobile application now has more than 26,000 users with over 9,000 successful payment transactions conducted.
“Right now, as a strategic plan, we will scale the business until World Cup 2022. We’re expecting two million visitors to Doha during the event, and around 60 percent of the visitors are coming from the Mena region. During the World Cup, they will get to experience the convenience of using SkipCash while spending in major World Cup attractions at the fan zones, stadiums, and other activities. It will be the right time to promote SkipCash to those audience,” said Al Dulaimi.
He added: “Our plan is to go beyond Qatar after the World Cup games, at the beginning of 2023. We will explore different markets. And we are interested to go to GCC first, and then other Arabian countries. Based on the studies, the Mena region is still heavily reliant on paper money utilisation. So with our solution, we see that there is potential for SkipCash to grow on those markets”.
SkipCash has recently announced that it has closed a QR7m ($1.92m) seed round funding from private Qatari investors. The funding represented the second round of investments the company received, following an awarded product development fund of QR700,000 in July 2020 from QSTP.
“The fund helped the company to scale the business in a short period of time. We managed to approach different segments in the market. And soon, we’re going to do another round of funding by year-end. We’ll start discussing with local and regional investors by October or November. This will help grow the business further before World Cup 2022. This scaling will also target additional segments such as transportation, government entities, big merchants such as grocery and retail stores, and other businesses. This will scale the business in Qatar and beyond,” said Al Dulaimi.
Al Dulaimi said SkipCash has recently partnered with Capstone Real Estate, Regency Travel, and Starlink to allow clients to pay their monthly rent, complete their bookings, and pay for their purchases through the app.
SkipCash is also currently finalising new partnerships with telecommunication companies and with media giant beINSports. The Qatari fintech is also working with the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) to include debit cards in its solutions, he added.
“Moreover, SkipCash will have its dedicated loyalty program offering customers additional benefits and points. All payments are completed securely and safely, without the need to visit any branch. SkipCash is a national company with a global vision that contributes to Qatar’s digital transformation and the financial technology sector. The application has been the ideal contactless secure payment solution during the pandemic,” added Al Dulaimi.
Licensed by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and regulated by the QCB, SkipCash provides consumers and merchants with convenient payment experience. Using QR codes, the app facilitates secure digital payment by eliminating cash, physical cards, and point-of-sale (POS) devices. Users can securely add their credit card to the app, monitor their spending via visual spending reports, organise their payment receipts, and enable virtual accounts for their children and other family members. It also gives them access to vouchers and coupons from different merchants.
