SAMA — Saudi Central Bank

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), formerly known as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, serves as the Kingdom’s central bank with responsibility for monetary policy, banking supervision, and financial infrastructure oversight. Under SAMA’s stewardship, electronic payments have reached 79% of all retail transactions — surpassing the 2025 target of 70% two years early — with 11.5 billion card transactions processed in 2024, 14.4 million active digital wallet users, and 2 million POS terminals deployed nationwide. SAMA’s role in the tokenization ecosystem centers on fintech licensing, payment token regulation, and digital riyal CBDC development.

Role in Saudi Tokenization Ecosystem

This entity plays a critical role in Saudi Arabia’s tokenization infrastructure. The institutional framework created by the CMA and SAMA depends on organizations like this to provide the operational, technological, and market infrastructure that transforms regulatory frameworks into functioning markets.

Key Metrics

Tokenization Regulatory Role

SAMA’s regulatory authority over the tokenization ecosystem is complementary to the CMA’s securities oversight:

Payment Token Regulation: SAMA governs all payment token activities in Saudi Arabia, including SAR stablecoins used as the settlement payment leg for tokenized securities trading on Tadawul’s digital platform. The payment token framework mandates 100% reserve backing, SAMA-approved custodians for reserve assets, and monthly reserve attestation.

Digital Riyal CBDC: SAMA’s central bank digital currency program is in Phase 2 pilot testing, with potential to provide the risk-free digital settlement medium for tokenized securities atomic DvP settlement. The digital riyal would eliminate the need for private-sector stablecoins in securities settlement, reducing counterparty risk to zero.

Fintech Sandbox: SAMA’s fintech sandbox has processed 43 participants with a 65% graduation rate (28 entities), significantly exceeding the CMA sandbox’s 37% rate. The SAMA sandbox covers payment services, digital banking, open banking, and financial data analytics.

AML/CFT Joint Oversight: SAMA co-administers the digital asset AML/CFT framework with the CMA through the Joint Digital Assets Committee. SAMA’s Financial Intelligence Unit (SAFIU) receives and processes suspicious transaction reports from all licensed digital asset entities, leveraging Saudi Arabia’s FATF membership (since 2019) standards.

Cross-Border Payment Innovation: Project Aber (bilateral CBDC experiment with the Central Bank of UAE) and BIS mBridge participation position SAMA as a leader in cross-border digital payment infrastructure that supports international tokenized securities settlement.

Strategic Initiatives

SAMA’s initiatives supporting the tokenization ecosystem:

1. Digital riyal deployment — Providing risk-free digital settlement media for capital markets
2. Stablecoin regulation — Framework for SAR-pegged stablecoins used in tokenized securities settlement
3. Open banking expansion — API standards enabling seamless integration between banks and tokenized securities platforms
4. Digital banking ecosystem — 4 licensed digital banks (STC Bank, Vision Bank, D360 Bank, EZ Bank) as distribution channels for tokenized products
5. AML/CFT modernization — Blockchain analytics and travel rule infrastructure supporting FATF compliance across digital asset activities

Ecosystem Connections

SAMA connects to the tokenization ecosystem through:

• Co-regulatory role with CMA via the Joint Digital Assets Committee
• Fintech ecosystem sponsorship through Fintech Saudi
• Payment infrastructure governing stc pay and digital payment platforms
• Settlement infrastructure supporting Edaa and Tadawul digital operations
• Research coordination with the Saudi Blockchain Lab on CBDC and blockchain standards

Network Intelligence

For comprehensive coverage of Saudi Arabia’s tokenization ecosystem across all verticals:

• CMA Framework — Digital asset regulations and licensing
• SAMA Fintech — Fintech sandbox and payment tokens
• Capital Markets — Tadawul digital securities platform
• Ecosystem — Enterprise adoption and venture capital

Related network sites: Saudi Tokenized Real Estate | Dubai Tokenisation | UAE Tokenization Regulations | Capital Tokenization

Saudi FinTech Strategy 2025 and Institutional Coordination

SAMA co-authored the Saudi FinTech Strategy 2025 with the CMA, establishing the multi-year policy framework that governs the Kingdom’s fintech development. The strategy sets explicit targets: 150 licensed fintech entities by 2030, 70% digital payment adoption, and SAR 8 billion in cumulative fintech VC investment. SAMA’s responsibility for payment services, digital banking, and open banking regulation makes the central bank the primary regulatory authority for the infrastructure layer that tokenized securities platforms depend on for settlement and distribution.

SAMA Digital Currency Pilot and Institutional Infrastructure

The digital riyal CBDC program — in Phase 2 pilot testing as of March 2026 — represents SAMA’s most significant infrastructure initiative for the tokenization ecosystem. The digital riyal would provide risk-free digital settlement media for tokenized securities atomic DvP settlement, eliminating the counterparty risk associated with private-sector stablecoins. SAMA’s collaboration with the Saudi Blockchain Lab on programmable payment research — including conditional payments, automated compliance, and programmable escrow — has directly informed the digital riyal’s technical architecture.

Project Aber — SAMA’s bilateral CBDC experiment with the Central Bank of UAE — demonstrated cross-border digital currency settlement feasibility in 2020. SAMA’s subsequent participation in BIS mBridge extends this capability to a multilateral framework, positioning the digital riyal for cross-border tokenized securities settlement across the GCC and beyond.

Elm Company and Digital Infrastructure

Elm Company — operating under PIF ownership but providing digital infrastructure services across government — delivers the Nafath digital identity platform that underpins SAMA’s fintech regulatory framework. All 82 SAMA-licensed fintech entities use Nafath for customer onboarding, ensuring consistent KYC standards across the fintech ecosystem. The Saudi Digital Academy delivers SAMA-designed training programs for fintech regulatory professionals, with specialized modules on AML/CFT compliance, payment token regulation, and digital banking supervision.

SAMA’s Financial Intelligence Unit (SAFIU) has upgraded its blockchain analytics capabilities through partnerships with international compliance technology providers, enabling real-time transaction monitoring across all CMA-approved blockchain protocols. Saudi Arabia’s FATF membership (since 2019) and G20 participation provide the international framework within which SAFIU operates, with the FATF’s 2024 mutual evaluation rating Saudi Arabia “largely compliant” — providing independent validation of the Kingdom’s digital financial services supervision.

PIF’s exploration of tokenization intersects with SAMA’s mandate through the payment settlement infrastructure required for institutional-scale digital securities trading. The digital riyal or SAMA-regulated stablecoins would serve as the payment leg for PIF portfolio company token trades on Tadawul’s digital platform, requiring SAMA’s payment infrastructure to handle settlement volumes that match the scale of PIF’s investment operations.

Payment Infrastructure and Tokenized Securities Settlement

SAMA’s authority over payment infrastructure directly impacts the tokenized securities ecosystem through the payment leg of atomic DvP settlement. Every tokenized securities trade on Tadawul’s digital platform requires SAR settlement through SAMA-regulated payment channels — whether through conventional bank transfers (SARIE), payment tokens, SAR stablecoins, or the planned digital riyal CBDC.

The 4 licensed digital banks — D360, STC Bank, and Saudi Digital Bank — operate under SAMA’s digital banking license framework and serve as distribution channels for tokenized securities to retail investors. STC Bank’s 12 million users and D360’s growing customer base provide the retail distribution infrastructure that the Ministry of Finance’s sovereign digital sukuk program (SAR 5 billion, 2027 launch) plans to leverage for direct-to-consumer government sukuk distribution.

SAMA’s open banking API standards enable seamless integration between banks and CMA-licensed tokenized securities platforms. Platforms like Rasan (12 bank integrations) demonstrate how open banking infrastructure reduces the friction of tokenized securities investment by enabling real-time account verification, payment processing, and financial data aggregation through standardized APIs.

The Saudi Blockchain Lab’s CBDC technical research — covering privacy-preserving transactions, programmable payments, and offline capability — directly informs SAMA’s digital riyal architecture. The Lab’s programmable payment research enables conditional settlement logic that could automate regulatory compliance checks within the payment leg of tokenized securities trades, further reducing settlement risk and operational complexity.

SAMA’s role as co-chair of the Joint Digital Assets Committee with the CMA ensures coordinated oversight of entities whose activities span both securities and payments — such as platforms offering tokenized securities trading with integrated stablecoin settlement.

SAMA’s 82 licensed fintech entities — spanning payments, lending, insurance, and financial data analytics — represent the broadest fintech licensing portfolio among GCC central banks. The SAMA fintech sandbox 65% graduation rate (28 of 43 participants) exceeds the CMA sandbox’s 37% rate, reflecting the lower complexity of payment services compared to securities activities. Fintech Saudi’s accelerator programs feed the SAMA sandbox pipeline with 15-20 new applications annually, supporting the path toward 150 licensed entities by 2030. SAMA’s self-custody regulatory position — permitting self-custody with enhanced due diligence — balances individual autonomy with institutional investor protection standards, distinguishing the Saudi approach from more restrictive GCC peers. SAMA’s foreign exchange reserves of $440 billion+ provide the monetary stability that supports institutional confidence in SAR-denominated tokenized securities and SAR stablecoins used for settlement. SAMA’s G20 participation and bilateral central bank relationships further position the Kingdom as a globally significant digital finance jurisdiction aligned with international regulatory cooperation standards and emerging IOSCO guidance on digital asset regulation. SAMA’s prudential oversight extends to stress-testing digital payment infrastructure against peak transaction scenarios, ensuring that the Kingdom’s payment settlement capacity can accommodate the projected growth in tokenized securities trading volumes as the market scales toward SAR 50 billion by 2030.

For entity-specific inquiries: info@sauditokenisation.com