Tabby
Gulf region buy-now-pay-later app letting shoppers split payments at 65,000+ retailers.
The call
Tabby leads a licensed Saudi/UAE BNPL duopoly with banks structurally slow to copy it, while Visa's AI checkout agents and its own IPO timeline sit as the two things worth watching.
Tabby is a lending company in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that lets people split purchases into payments instead of paying all at once. Big banks can't easily compete because offering interest-free payments would hurt their credit card profits, and Tabby has government licenses that are hard to get. The real threat is that Visa and Mastercard are building AI checkout systems that could let shoppers pay through their app or card directly without needing Tabby's app, which would take away Tabby's biggest advantage: being the familiar way to pay at checkout. If those AI checkouts roll out widely in the next 1-2 years, shoppers might stop using Tabby even if the company's lending business stays healthy.
Why
01
AI pressure: Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol and Intelligent Commerce AI checkout agents. AI shopping agents could pick checkout options automatically, pushing Tabby's app out of the payment screen consumers see. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Gulf banks and card issuers, plus Tamara's offline/Saudia push. Banks could copy interest-free installments but that eats their own card interest revenue, slowing any real move. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. SAMA and UAE Central Bank licenses, 25M+ users, 65,000+ merchant integrations, and proprietary repayment data on those users.
What would change this call
Tabby's Tadawul IPO either files or slips further past its repeatedly delayed 2025-2026 timeline. Shows whether investor confidence and liquidity plans are holding or deteriorating.
Tabby reports Q3/Q4 2026 Saudi profitability figures after Tabby Cash cashback promo and SAR 50k loan expansion. Tests whether higher-risk lending and cashback burn erode the claimed profitability.
Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol or Intelligent Commerce launches visibly in UAE/Saudi checkout flows with named partners like Aldar. Would show AI-agent checkout starting to bypass Tabby's placement at merchant checkout.
Tabby reports Q3/Q4 2026 Saudi profitability figures after Tabby Cash cashback promo and SAR 50k loan expansion. Tests whether higher-risk lending and cashback burn erode the claimed profitability.
Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol or Intelligent Commerce launches visibly in UAE/Saudi checkout flows with named partners like Aldar. Would show AI-agent checkout starting to bypass Tabby's placement at merchant checkout.
Key numbers
- Tabby and Tamara hold >90% of Saudi BNPL transactions
- Tabby merchant revenue run-rate ~$338M vs Tamara ~$245M
- 25M+ registered users, 65,000+ retailers
Named risks
- Saudi profitability could reverse as Tabby scales into higher-risk SAR 50,000 consumer loans and SME finance.
- IPO on Tadawul repeatedly delayed since September 2024, clouding equity liquidity for investors and employees.
- Visa/Mastercard AI-agent checkout infrastructure could disintermediate BNPL app placement at checkout within 6 to 18 months.
- Tabby Cash 3% cashback promotion running to November 2026 creates near-term cash burn exposure.
- Reputational/customer-trust incidents, such as the June 2026 erroneous voucher email, generate negative press.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Tamara | contesting | Together holding >90% of Saudi BNPL transactions as of Dec 2025, with Tamara expanding offline via a Saudia partnership |
| Visa/Mastercard (AI-agent checkout) | losing to | Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol targets mainstream AI-agent checkout adoption in 2026, naming Middle East partner Aldar, threatening BNPL app placement |
| Gulf banks and card issuers | gaining on | Structurally disincentivized from competing since interest-free installments cannibalize card interest revenue, as of 2026 analysis |
| Postpay, Cashew Payments, Madfu, MISPay | contesting | Smaller UAE and Saudi BNPL challengers noted as niche competitors in 2026 market reports |
Questions people ask
- Is Tabby profitable in 2026?
- Tabby has reached profitability in its core Saudi Arabia market as of May 2026, per a third-party funding dossier, though group-wide profitability across all markets and new lending products remains unconfirmed.
- Who owns Tabby and is it public?
- Tabby is a private, venture-backed company, not publicly traded. Investors include Sequoia Capital India, PayPal Ventures, Mubadala, Blue Pool Capital and Hassana Investment Company. An IPO on Saudi's Tadawul exchange has been discussed since September 2024 but remained pending as of July 2026.
- Who is Tabby's biggest competitor?
- Tamara, a Riyadh-founded BNPL rival launched in 2020. As of December 2025, Tabby and Tamara together hold over 90% of BNPL transactions in Saudi Arabia, per Redseer Strategy Consultants, forming a near-duopoly.
- Could AI replace Tabby's checkout business?
- Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, introduced October 2025 with Middle East partner Aldar, aims to make AI-agent checkout mainstream in 2026, which could bypass BNPL apps at checkout, though Tabby's regulated lending core is harder to replicate.
- Is Tabby a safe company to join in 2026?
- Tabby grew to roughly 3,816 employees by December 2025, up 97.5% from 1,932 in 2023, with 412 active job postings (+134% YoY), indicating active hiring rather than layoffs, though its IPO remains delayed.
- How much funding has Tabby raised and at what valuation?
- Tabby's Series E closed at $160M at a $3.3B valuation in February 2025, led by Blue Pool Capital and Hassana Investment Company. A secondary share sale in October 2025 pushed implied valuation to $4.5B, per a May 2026 dossier.
Timeline
- 2026-07-13Launched Tabby Cash spending account with debit card and up to 3% cashback in UAE
- 2026-06-29Received SAMA consumer finance and SME finance licenses, enabling loans up to SAR 50,000
- 2026-06-26Erroneous mass email promising Dh5,000 Emirates voucher retracted, drew negative UAE press
- 2026-04-15Received Stored Value Facilities (SVF) wallet license from UAE Central Bank
- 2025-12-19Report cites Tabby and Tamara holding over 90% of Saudi BNPL transactions
- 2025-10-01Secondary share sale co-led by HSG and Boyu Capital implies $4.5B valuation
- 2025-09-16Announced NVIDIA HGX partnership for internal AI infrastructure
- 2025-02-12Closed Series E: $160M at $3.3B valuation, led by Blue Pool Capital and Hassana
- 2023-12-01Closed $150M debt facility and $700M J.P. Morgan receivables securitization
- 2023-11-01Closed Series D: $200M at $1.5B valuation
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Saudi battle for buy-now-pay-later supremacy heads offline (2025-12-19)
- Tabby vs. Tamara: GMV & market share (2026-03-09)
- Tabby Raises $160m Series E Funding at $3.3b Valuation (2025-02-12)
- How Much Did Tabby Raise? Funding & Key Investors (2026-05-23)
- Tabby Secures Finance Licences (2026-06-29)
- Tabby secures finance licences from the Saudi Central Bank (2026-06-29)
- Tabby secures wallet licence in the UAE (2026-04-15)
- Tabby puts money back in its place (2026-07-13)
- $319M ARR, $4.5B Valuation (2025-11-22)
- Flexible payments, AI now shape how Gulf shoppers buy (2026-03-30)
- Visa and Partners Complete Secure AI Transactions (2026-01-01)
- Tabby Newsroom (2025-09-16)