PAYFORT, the Arab world's leading online payment service provider, on Sunday announced that it is now a Shopify payment partner. PAYFORT will be working with the leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), to help startups and SMBs in the Arab region create online stores using PAYFORT's online payment solutions. PAYFORT's merchants will be able to use Shopify's software to design, set-up and manage their online stores. According to the PAYFORT State of Payments 2016 report, the value of online transactions in the Arab world could grow nearly 300 percent by 2020, potentially reaching more than US$69 billion transactions per year. "Many startups have a clear vision for what they want to achieve, but often struggle with the technology required for ecommerce," said Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of PAYFORT. "PAYFORT has already launched a number of initiatives aimed at helping SMBs get online. Now startups in the Middle East can create their ecommerce store easily using Shopify to begin selling online, offering their customers a choice of payment options via PAYFORT's payment solution." "Shopify's mission is to make commerce better for everyone and to spread entrepreneurship around the globe, so we're excited to add PAYFORT as a payment partner, servicing the Arab countries," said Brennan Loh, Director of Business Development, Shopify. "Businesses can now set-up their online stores quickly and easily, with support by PAYFORT's payment solutions." Businesses worldwide have created more than 275,000 online stores using Shopify, selling an estimated $17 billion of goods and services. PAYFORT has been focused on breaking down the barriers for the Middle East's small to medium sized businesses. PAYFORT introduced its START solution last year to allow startups and SMBs to fast-track their online payment set-up and benefit from new, easy-to-use online payment applications. Businesses can set-up a START account in less than 5 minutes, without being required to provide a deposit, avoiding complicated and time-consuming bank procedures traditionally associated with establishing ecommerce operations in the Arab world. "PAYFORT's work with Shopify is another milestone in our effort to help businesses in the region simplify the process of taking their business online," said Soudodi. "By taking the pain out of setting up an online store with secure payment options, companies can focus on their core businesses and help drive the region's fast growing online commerce market." Through its work with Shopify, PAYFORT aims to make the process of selling online even easier for the region's startups and SMBs. Shopify makes it possible for any business to add ecommerce features to its website and sell products. Developers can go beyond embedding buy buttons to build custom, branded online stores on any website, platform, or app. (https://www.shopify.com/payfort) PAYFORT has longstanding relationships with banks across the region and supports credit/debit card payment, through globally recognized payment leaders such as American Express, CashU, MasterCard, and Visa.
