US-headquartered technology company Amazon has launched its payment processing service, Amazon Payment Services, for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

This builds on its 2017 acquisition of the UAE-based fintech startup Payfort, which has been renamed Amazon Payment Services as of this month.

Payfort was established in 2013 to enable businesses and government organisations to accept online payments via debit and credit cards.

Payfort was acquired by Amazon alongside the latter's acquisition of Souq.com. Since then, the focus has been on integrating Payfort and Amazon offerings to provide businesses with a "convenient and trusted service".

With the launch of Amazon Payment Services, businesses that use the service will continue to have access to payment services that enable them to accept online payments using both global and local payment methods, offer installment payments for purchases, and monitor payment performance.

Amazon Payment Services partners include Rak Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Mashreq, The Saudi British Bank (SABB), Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank and National Commercial Bank (NCB).

Partners also include local card schemes such as MADA, and Meeza, and international card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard.