Quick answer
You do not need three payment contracts to accept mada, cards and Apple Pay in your app. One Saudi payment gateway covers all three under a single merchant account with one settlement to your bank, and the integration is included in our app package at no extra cost. What stays with you: a valid commercial registration, a business bank account in the company name, and a gateway account opened in your own name. The first real payment is usually delayed by missing merchant documents, not by code.
What the merchant needs before integration
The gateway opens the account for the business, not the developer, so the paperwork starts with you. Three items matter most: a valid commercial registration whose activity matches what the app sells; a business bank account in the company name, because settlements go only there; and a gateway account opened by the owner or an authorized signatory. Some gateways also require a refund policy page, which we build in either package; both are on the pricing page.
Open the gateway account in your own name from day one. An account opened by the developer means your money passes through someone else's account, and we decline that arrangement even when a client asks for it.
Apple Pay steps: Merchant ID, certificates, domain verification
Apple Pay is a layer above the gateway: the card stays a mada, Visa or Mastercard card, and Apple passes encrypted data to the gateway that processes it. The steps:
- An Apple Developer account in the company name, the same one that publishes the app.
- A Merchant ID created in the developer portal. It links the app to the merchant account and does not change after release.
- A payment processing certificate. The gateway generates a request, we upload it to Apple and return the issued certificate to the gateway, which alone can decrypt Apple Pay data with it.
- The Apple Pay capability enabled in Xcode and bound to the same Merchant ID.
- Domain verification, needed only when payments also run on the web. An app alone skips it.
mada inside Apple Pay needs no extra work from you: if the gateway supports the mada network and your account is enabled for it, mada cards in Apple Wallet work in the same flow. Per-transaction fees are set by the gateway and differ between mada, cards and Apple Pay, so ask for them in writing before signing.
What our app package includes and what stays with the merchant
| Item | Who does it | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Opening the gateway account | Merchant | In the company name; we send the document list |
| Commercial registration and bank account | Merchant | A gateway requirement |
| Merchant ID and certificates | Horizon Tech | Temporary developer access, then revoked |
| Payment screen and gateway integration | Horizon Tech | mada, cards and Apple Pay in one flow |
| Server-side payment confirmation | Horizon Tech | Orders confirmed from the server, not the app |
| Test cards, then one live payment | Both | The merchant pays one riyal from their phone |
| Gateway keys and accounts | Handed to merchant | Source code and accounts in the client's name |
The integration is included in the SAR 3,999 app package and the SAR 4,399 app with linked website package. We do not carry the gateway's per-transaction fees. If your project sells products, see the online store package and our e-commerce service.
Common mistakes that delay the first payment
- A bank account in a person's name rather than the company: the most frequent reason a file comes back.
- An individual Apple Developer account. A Merchant ID normally needs an organization account.
- Testing only on the simulator. Apple Pay completes only on a real device with a real card.
- Trusting the app's response alone. Without server confirmation you get paid orders with no settlement, or the reverse.
Tabby and Tamara: when to add installments
Installments are a second layer over direct payment and need a separate contract with the provider. We integrate Tabby and Tamara in client projects, but we advise on timing: launch first with mada, cards and Apple Pay, then add installments once you have a sales record to show the provider, which charges a commission per installment order. Installments pay off when the average order is high enough that splitting it changes the buying decision. The full comparison is in our guide to app payment gateways in Saudi Arabia, and our process in mobile app development.
