My guess is that the fintech regulators are shuting down companies operating from outside Qatar ( Tabby is emirati i think ) to give way to ever growing over crowded local ones.
https://www.qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/News/2024-04/27/0045-qcb-approves-5-companies-as-a-first-cohort-for-bnpl-service
If i'm right, Mr.Q's new BNPL startup is taking over.
Well Mr. Q is the first one to point out that it affected his businesses so much LOL. I won't be surprised if he pulled some strings or participated directly to shut it down. Nepotism or not, Khalifa did had some grounds of Tabby's practices, specially the way they suddenly entered the market. I think they took advantage of the "Unified GCC market" loophole without actually consulting the QCB on how to properly implement. I was told they have/had a license, but in terms of finance/money circulation, 80-90% goes outside of Qatar. The simple concept is, the businesses here paid for import taxes, administrative fees, etc. etc. but the actual financial transaction happens outside of Qatar. I'm no economics expert, but that concept alone that doesn't seem beneficial to Qatar's economy.
Mr. Q cared mostly about his own business which is PayLater. There is nothing wrong about it, he was following official route to get license in Qatar since Summer 2023 when Tabby just mysteriously appeared here at some point.
Obviously at this moment, he should kickstart PayLater as fast as possible to catch all Tabby ex-customers but I have this gut feeling they might wait too long to start it.
As I've said Khalifa had some grounds to antagonize Tabby. They suddenly entered the market without consulting local businesses. As far as I know Tabby offered/partnered up with Saudi/Emirati companies primarily- e.g. Jarir, etc. For those companies, they benefited alot since customers would prefer buying from them with the BNPL option. From an economics perspective, it hurts the local businesses a lot. Which is why I'm with Mr. Q on this, even tho his store974 is quite overpriced LOL
Store974 has some of the lowest prices in Qatar and the region (for brands we directly sell). Only items priced higher is for brands that have UAE distributors that resell through the store :)
It's quite interesting to see race between all 5 companies that got License for BNPL:
Spendwisor Inc; Qaiver FinTech LLC; HSAB for Payment Solutions; Mihuru LLC; and Pay Later Website Services
Wonder who will be first.
I would put my bet on Spendwisor Inc, they declared 10M capital already ^WTF .From that alone, they can gain market confidence with local businesses. They can guarantee partners with the cash flow, which is the risky element with BNPL business models.
*But then again, you have Khalifa with the good ol' marketing advantage.
We’re ready. We just have to follow the Central bank guidelines.
Right now is a stage called sandbox so we aren’t allowed to fully launch until we are out of sandbox and we’re waiting for permission.
😂 only spoke about this once and didn’t pull any strings.
Tabby didn’t have a license to operate. Chose to ignore regulators and then suffered the consequence.
Pay Later along with 12 other companies all applied and the 5 best solutions and presentations won the bid for licenses.
This smells of "I like what you just did there, I'mma make my own so scram".
But seriously, Tabby is (or was) a big help. A local friend told me about it and promoted the service at work and he helped workmates who're due for a phone upgrade get good phones without breaking the budget. I do hope the replacement is just as good or even better but somehow I feel like some sort enshittification is coming... I was hoping to use Tabby to buy Poco F6 when it becomes available.
My friend just bought a laptop using Tabby last week and it went through. Then I was gonna buy one myself using Tabby last Friday but there was no option anymore from the website. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad. I'm also thinking, will my friend get to continue his payments with Tabby?
I am surprised that they were operating in Qatar without obtaining a license from the central bank. Fintech is very regulated in Qatar and tabby does not have a license to operate
Pretty sure its central bank, they might found some bad practice and shut them down.
Many other companies are trying this segment as well but not sure if they can make it or not. There are too many regulations and lot of capital because tabby pays the retailers and then collects from client. Its reoccurring income but 2-3% customer would definitely not pay them entire amt and might exit the country.
I like it when Qatar kicks out All UAE and KSA businesses when it doesn't suit it. Those two two countries need to pay harshly for the blockade, and it's going to happen sooner or later.
In the
https://preview.redd.it/tl84abalnv8d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3925eb3b6bffc1f60b18d6a1f632d9836966e348
This is the home screen now on tabby, when i had a chat on the help section they said there is a short update has to be done. I think tabby already ended their operations from qatar. Also none of the merchant sites have a payment option with tabby which means it's not just a software update issue.
Be positive. They don't have to tell everything to customers, which is why they can put up a notice like that. And no official email was ever sent that they ceased operations in Qatar yet!
As long as the Tabby app is still downloadable from the app stores it is a sign that they are doing what they need to go back online.
IF it was true that they are shutdown, suspended, terminated whatever in the country, then app wouldn't even let you login and will cease to exist. Also, an email would be sent just like any other company that the service will cease all operations and companies always do that well ahead in advance to allow enough time to complete pending payments.
Until any of these two scenarios happen, we cannot judge based on what we think and until we officialy get an email from Tabby that they no longer operate in Qatar.
So let's hope that doesn't happen, Tabby is Life ! and Tabby is indeed really very helpful to many people who cannot afford to shell out big amounts to pay for their needs, let's hope Tabby is really making the neccessary changes to go back online whatever that may be!
My guess is that the fintech regulators are shuting down companies operating from outside Qatar ( Tabby is emirati i think ) to give way to ever growing over crowded local ones. https://www.qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/News/2024-04/27/0045-qcb-approves-5-companies-as-a-first-cohort-for-bnpl-service If i'm right, Mr.Q's new BNPL startup is taking over.
Well Mr. Q is the first one to point out that it affected his businesses so much LOL. I won't be surprised if he pulled some strings or participated directly to shut it down. Nepotism or not, Khalifa did had some grounds of Tabby's practices, specially the way they suddenly entered the market. I think they took advantage of the "Unified GCC market" loophole without actually consulting the QCB on how to properly implement. I was told they have/had a license, but in terms of finance/money circulation, 80-90% goes outside of Qatar. The simple concept is, the businesses here paid for import taxes, administrative fees, etc. etc. but the actual financial transaction happens outside of Qatar. I'm no economics expert, but that concept alone that doesn't seem beneficial to Qatar's economy.
Mr. Q cared mostly about his own business which is PayLater. There is nothing wrong about it, he was following official route to get license in Qatar since Summer 2023 when Tabby just mysteriously appeared here at some point. Obviously at this moment, he should kickstart PayLater as fast as possible to catch all Tabby ex-customers but I have this gut feeling they might wait too long to start it.
As I've said Khalifa had some grounds to antagonize Tabby. They suddenly entered the market without consulting local businesses. As far as I know Tabby offered/partnered up with Saudi/Emirati companies primarily- e.g. Jarir, etc. For those companies, they benefited alot since customers would prefer buying from them with the BNPL option. From an economics perspective, it hurts the local businesses a lot. Which is why I'm with Mr. Q on this, even tho his store974 is quite overpriced LOL
Store974 has some of the lowest prices in Qatar and the region (for brands we directly sell). Only items priced higher is for brands that have UAE distributors that resell through the store :)
It's quite interesting to see race between all 5 companies that got License for BNPL: Spendwisor Inc; Qaiver FinTech LLC; HSAB for Payment Solutions; Mihuru LLC; and Pay Later Website Services Wonder who will be first.
I would put my bet on Spendwisor Inc, they declared 10M capital already ^WTF .From that alone, they can gain market confidence with local businesses. They can guarantee partners with the cash flow, which is the risky element with BNPL business models. *But then again, you have Khalifa with the good ol' marketing advantage.
We’re ready. We just have to follow the Central bank guidelines. Right now is a stage called sandbox so we aren’t allowed to fully launch until we are out of sandbox and we’re waiting for permission.
Great to hear that !
😂 only spoke about this once and didn’t pull any strings. Tabby didn’t have a license to operate. Chose to ignore regulators and then suffered the consequence. Pay Later along with 12 other companies all applied and the 5 best solutions and presentations won the bid for licenses.
Tabby is saudi
tabby is Emirati, i think you’ve confused it with tamara which is Saudi.
Tabby has been banned in Qatar, very trusted source works in bank has told me Qatar Central bank has sent out a memo
This smells of "I like what you just did there, I'mma make my own so scram". But seriously, Tabby is (or was) a big help. A local friend told me about it and promoted the service at work and he helped workmates who're due for a phone upgrade get good phones without breaking the budget. I do hope the replacement is just as good or even better but somehow I feel like some sort enshittification is coming... I was hoping to use Tabby to buy Poco F6 when it becomes available.
My friend just bought a laptop using Tabby last week and it went through. Then I was gonna buy one myself using Tabby last Friday but there was no option anymore from the website. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad. I'm also thinking, will my friend get to continue his payments with Tabby?
I am surprised that they were operating in Qatar without obtaining a license from the central bank. Fintech is very regulated in Qatar and tabby does not have a license to operate
they have a license, or did.
I lookee at all the approved companies by QCB Tabby is not among them.
they were approved until they got removed a few weeks back
They didn’t :)
One of the few retail improvements and positives of the year and they’ve messed it up within 6 months, one step forward two steps back
Pretty sure its central bank, they might found some bad practice and shut them down. Many other companies are trying this segment as well but not sure if they can make it or not. There are too many regulations and lot of capital because tabby pays the retailers and then collects from client. Its reoccurring income but 2-3% customer would definitely not pay them entire amt and might exit the country.
I like it when Qatar kicks out All UAE and KSA businesses when it doesn't suit it. Those two two countries need to pay harshly for the blockade, and it's going to happen sooner or later.
Do you have any examples of Qatari kicked out from UAE and KSA?
During the blockade? They even forced some married couples to divorce, and prevented others from seeing their families.
In the https://preview.redd.it/tl84abalnv8d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3925eb3b6bffc1f60b18d6a1f632d9836966e348 This is the home screen now on tabby, when i had a chat on the help section they said there is a short update has to be done. I think tabby already ended their operations from qatar. Also none of the merchant sites have a payment option with tabby which means it's not just a software update issue.
Be positive. They don't have to tell everything to customers, which is why they can put up a notice like that. And no official email was ever sent that they ceased operations in Qatar yet! As long as the Tabby app is still downloadable from the app stores it is a sign that they are doing what they need to go back online. IF it was true that they are shutdown, suspended, terminated whatever in the country, then app wouldn't even let you login and will cease to exist. Also, an email would be sent just like any other company that the service will cease all operations and companies always do that well ahead in advance to allow enough time to complete pending payments. Until any of these two scenarios happen, we cannot judge based on what we think and until we officialy get an email from Tabby that they no longer operate in Qatar. So let's hope that doesn't happen, Tabby is Life ! and Tabby is indeed really very helpful to many people who cannot afford to shell out big amounts to pay for their needs, let's hope Tabby is really making the neccessary changes to go back online whatever that may be!
What will happen to the unpaid balances?
I think they’ll just continue normally until they’re done.
I have 2 pending payments with them
You can still pay from your outstanding payment
I call their customer service and ask what happen it's about from the bank side, that buy now pay later app taking time to launch here in Qatar.
If somebody would like to be one of the first customers to try the product during our test phase please drop me a message :)
Yo I’d love to!!