Ministry of Tourism (KSA) expands its revenue streams

Unifying a fragmented payment system

The Ministry of Tourism, a pivotal agency in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategy, plays a critical role in developing and diversifying the Kingdom’s tourism sector. Responsible for managing national tourism development, implementing strategic initiatives, and creating world-class visitor experiences, the ministry sought to modernize its technological infrastructure to support its transformative goals.

Working with technological limitations

Prior to our engagement, the Ministry of Tourism operated with a highly fragmented payment collection system with their Legacy systems, characterized by significant technological limitations. Payment methods were restricted, with minimal digital payment options and predominantly manual, paper-based transaction processes that created substantial operational inefficiencies.

Challenge

The Ministry of Tourism confronted multifaceted challenges in its revenue management ecosystem, characterized by:

Payment Collection Fragmentation
- Absence of a centralized payment platform
- Disjointed revenue tracking across multiple service domains
- Manual and inefficient payment collection processes

System Integration Constraints
- Limited digital payment infrastructure
- Lack of seamless connectivity with internal government systems
- Inadequate support for modern eCommerce payment methods

Regulatory and Compliance Complexities
- Difficulties in meeting Saudi Arabia’s evolving digital regulatory requirements
- Challenges in generating comprehensive financial reports
- Manual reconciliation processes prone to errors and inefficiencies

Strategic Imperatives
- The Ministry was required to – Consolidate revenue streams
- Ensure regulatory compliance
- Enhance operational transparency
- Improve customer payment experience

This comprehensive set of challenges demanded a sophisticated, integrated digital payment platform that could address technological, operational, and regulatory requirements simultaneously.

Solution

Considering all these challenges, we started off and developed a centralized, robust payment ecosystem specifically tailored to the Ministry of Tourism’s complex requirements, addressing their technological and operational challenges through strategic technological interventions.

Core Platform Capabilities

Unified Revenue Management
- Consolidated revenue tracking across licensing, eVisa, and penalty services
- Created a single, comprehensive financial management framework
Advanced Integration Architecture
- Seamless connectivity with existing Government Resource Planning (GRP) system
- Enabled efficient, real-time data synchronization
Payment Method Expansion
- Integrated multiple digital payment channels
- Supported modern payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, Mada, Apple Pay

Regulatory Compliance Framework

Implemented advanced eInvoicing capabilities
Ensured full alignment with ZATCA regulatory requirements
Developed automated compliance verification mechanisms

Technological Innovation Highlights

Custom-built reconciliation engine
Secure, scalable digital infrastructure
Real-time financial reporting capabilities

The solution represented a holistic digital transformation approach, converting fragmented processes into a streamlined, efficient, and compliant payment ecosystem.

Result

Our solution catalyzed a remarkable transformation in the client’s digital payment capabilities. Today, the platform processes millions of transactions seamlessly, handling billions of SAR in monthly payment volumes – a testament to its robust architecture and scalability. Beyond the impressive transaction volumes, the solution’s true success lies in its consistent evolution alongside market demands and regulatory requirements. The platform has maintained unwavering compliance with industry standards while continuously introducing innovative features that enhance customer experience. Our decade-long partnership with the client speaks volumes about our solution’s reliability and our team’s ability to adapt to evolving business needs. What began as a critical intervention has evolved into a flagship success story, with the platform now serving as a benchmark for payment solutions in the Middle East. The solution’s comprehensive feature set, from multi-service payments to advanced digital wallet capabilities, has positioned our client at the forefront of the region’s digital payment landscape, demonstrating how technological excellence can drive market leadership and customer satisfaction.

The ePayment platform processes millions of transactions daily, collecting billions in revenue on monthly basis
The solution has maintained consistent compliance with industry regulations while rolling out innovative features

Over 10 years of continued partnership reflects the client’s confidence in our ability to deliver exceptional results and adapt to their growing needs
The clients payment platform is now a benchmark in the Middle East for reliability, scalability and above all, customer satisfaction.

From 2014 until now, we have processed upwards of X million transactions, amounting to Y trillion in collection. With so much work that has gone into the project and the thousands of hours on the project, we have rolled out services continuously until now and the work continues to grow.