Services
Are Tabby and Tamara for stores worth their commission? The short answer: yes, provided your profit margin is high enough, or installments clearly raise your average basket. If your margin is thin, the commission will eat your profit. The commission commonly quoted in the Saudi market is around 6.99% of the order value plus a fixed fee of about SAR 1.5, with 15% VAT added on top. But it is not officially published, and it is negotiated based on your business and sales volume. Below we calculate the real cost on a SAR 500 order and set out a formula that tells you when installments make you money and when they lose you money, then move on to the difference between Tabby and Tamara, how to activate them on Salla and Zid, and what happens with returns and settlement.
On the checkout page, the customer chooses Tabby or Tamara instead of a card. The company assesses the request within seconds. If approved, the customer pays only the first installment, and the rest is usually split into four interest-free monthly payments. Both companies also offer other plans depending on the product and the customer.
As a merchant, you receive the full order value minus the commission, on the agreed settlement date. Collecting the installments from the customer is the BNPL company's responsibility, along with the risk of the customer defaulting. That is what you pay the commission for: you sell for cash, and the customer buys in installments.
"Buy Now, Pay Later" in the Kingdom is a licensed activity supervised by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). Both Tabby and Tamara have obtained SAMA licenses to operate it. The Saudi BNPL market is governed by the Rules Regulating Buy Now Pay Later Companies published in SAMA's rulebook, and the most important points for a store owner include:
Tabby states that its merchant pricing has two parts: a variable percentage that differs by sector and business profile, and a fixed fee on each successful transaction. It says the fees include the payment gateway cost and that there are no upfront integration fees. The percentage itself is written into your contract and not published to the public. Tamara is similar: its merchant agreement states that its fees exclude taxes and that the merchant bears any tax imposed on them.
The figure commonly quoted among merchants is 6.99% + SAR 1.5 per transaction, which is a reasonable starting point for calculations, not a fixed price. Stores with large sales volumes or in low-risk sectors often get lower rates through negotiation. At the time of writing, neither company had published an official merchant price list for Saudi Arabia. So treat all the figures below as approximate as of 2026 and negotiable based on sales volume and sector, and ask for your written offer before any decision.
| Payment method | Approximate fee (before VAT) | Fee on a SAR 500 order | 15% VAT on the fee | Total including VAT | Share of the order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mada via a payment gateway | ~1% (varies between gateways) | SAR 5.00 | SAR 0.75 | SAR 5.75 | ~1.2% |
| Apple Pay (with a mada card) | Usually the same as the gateway's mada fee | SAR 5.00 | SAR 0.75 | SAR 5.75 | ~1.2% |
| Credit card (Visa/Mastercard) | ~2.5% + SAR 1 | SAR 13.50 | SAR 2.03 | SAR 15.53 | ~3.1% |
| Tabby or Tamara (installments) | ~6.99% + SAR 1.5 (negotiable) | SAR 36.45 | SAR 5.47 | SAR 41.92 | ~8.4% |
The first takeaway from the table: an order paid in installments costs you about 7 times as much as an order paid with mada, roughly SAR 36 extra on every SAR 500. Installments do not make you money just by being there. They make you money if they bring you orders you would not have got otherwise, or bigger baskets. To understand gateway fees in detail, see our guide to the best online payment gateways in Saudi Arabia. And for how Apple Pay relates to mada cards, read our article on Apple Pay in your online store.
The right question is not "How much is the commission?" The question is: how many new orders must installments bring in to cover the commission difference? Use this simple formula:
Break-even rate = (BNPL fee − mada fee) ÷ gross profit per order
What the result means: out of every 100 customers paying in installments, how many must be new customers for you to break even? That is, customers who would not have bought without installments. The rest would have bought anyway and have simply moved from mada to a more expensive payment method.
It is enough for 16 out of every 100 installment customers to be new customers. In fashion, beauty and gifts, purchases are impulsive and baskets are mid-sized, so this is a realistic rate. Installments here are usually a winning decision.
Here, more than half of installment customers must be new customers, which is hard. The solution is not necessarily to reject installments. The solution is to negotiate a lower rate, enable them on higher-margin categories such as accessories and extended warranties, or set a minimum eligible order value.
Using the same figures (a SAR 500 order and a SAR 36.17 fee difference between installments and mada), this is the share of installment customers who must be new customers for you to break even. Find your margin in the first column:
| Gross profit margin | Profit on a SAR 500 order | Break-even rate (new customers among installment customers) |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | SAR 50 | 72% (usually a loss) |
| 20% | SAR 100 | 36% |
| 30% | SAR 150 | 24% |
| 45% | SAR 225 | 16% |
| 60% | SAR 300 | 12% (usually profitable) |
If your negotiated commission is lower than 6.99%, recalculate with the new fee difference, and all the rates will drop.
If installments raise a customer's basket from SAR 500 to 650 in a store with a 35% margin, the extra profit is SAR 52.5. That is more than the entire commission difference, even if not a single new customer arrives. So always measure two things together: Did new customers come? And did the basket grow?
The commission is a service subject to 15% VAT, and it appears on the BNPL company's invoice. Here there is an important difference between two types of stores. If your store is registered for VAT with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), this VAT is usually input tax that you recover in your return, provided you receive a valid tax invoice. Your actual cost is then the commission before VAT. But if you are below the mandatory registration threshold (SAR 375,000 in annual sales) and have not registered, the 15% is an extra, non-recoverable cost. Factor it into your margin as in the table above, and check your specific situation with your accountant.
Do installments make you money or eat your margin?
Send us your margin and average basket, and we will calculate your break-even rate with you, then activate Tabby, Tamara, mada and Apple Pay in your store.
In Tabby and Tamara's marketing materials and in many articles, you will read figures about higher average baskets and checkout completion rates. These are the providers' own figures, not independent studies of your store. For example, Tabby advertises on its merchant page a 33% increase in average basket and an 18% increase in conversion rate; these are the provider's figures, not an independent study. Installments do influence purchasing, but the size of the effect varies widely by sector:
Improving the checkout page alone may raise conversion before any installments. That is why our guide is worth reading: conversion rate optimization (CRO).
Tabby and Tamara for stores are similar in concept and regulation, and the real difference shows up in your own contract. There is no absolute "best", and we will not take sides without data. Here is a table of what can be verified, and what you should ask about:
| Criterion | Tabby | Tamara |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing in Saudi Arabia | Licensed by SAMA for BNPL activity | Licensed by SAMA for BNPL activity |
| Fee structure | A percentage by sector + a fixed fee, including the gateway cost | Fees per contract, with the VAT on them borne by the merchant |
| Settlement | Periodic per contract (usually weekly) | Weekly per the published merchant terms, with the first transactions possibly held for a period |
| Availability on Salla and Zid | Available on both platforms | Available on both platforms |
| Customer default risk | Borne by the company on approved transactions | Borne by the company on approved transactions, with exceptions such as non-delivery |
In practice, many Saudi stores enable both options. Some customers have an account with only one of them, or have available credit with one but not the other, so offering both reduces declines at checkout. The cost does not double as a result, because you pay commission only on the orders that go through each of them.
Activating Tabby and Tamara for stores on Saudi platforms is simpler than many expect, but it goes through a review by the BNPL company and is not instant:
You will usually need a valid commercial registration or a freelance certificate, a bank account in the business's name with an IBAN certificate, the ID of the registration owner, and complete business details in your store. On Salla, activating some BNPL providers is tied to a specific plan, so check your plan before applying. Prepare these documents in advance as clear PDFs, because a missing document is the most common reason for a delayed review.
If you are still choosing your platform, start with our comparison of Salla vs Zid vs WooCommerce. And if you want a custom store with full payment integration, this is the e-commerce store design service at Bateel.
What surprises merchants most after activation is not the commission. The surprise is what happens after the sale:
And remember that installments are a payment method, not a marketing plan. Feature them in your ads and product pages as part of a digital marketing plan that measures cost per customer and actual return.
Tabby does not publish a standard merchant rate. Its pricing is a variable percentage based on sector and sales volume, plus a fixed fee on each successful transaction. The figure commonly quoted among merchants is about 6.99% + SAR 1.5, with 15% VAT added. It is an approximate, negotiable figure, so rely on the written offer in your contract.
There is no fixed answer: like Tabby's, Tamara's merchant rate is set for each merchant based on their business and sales volume, and neither company publishes an official price list. The best approach is to request two written offers at the same time and compare the percentage, fixed fee, settlement cycle and how commission is handled on returns. Many merchants enable both options.
Usually not. The BNPL company pays you the order value and bears the customer's default risk on approved transactions. But liability returns to you in cases specified in the contract, such as an undelivered order, missing customer details or a breach of terms. So always keep proof of delivery from the shipping company.
No. SAMA's rules regulating "Buy Now, Pay Later" companies prohibit charging the consumer fees for the service, whether by the company or the store, except for late payment penalties in accordance with the regulations. The commission is a cost the merchant bears within their margin, so it must be factored into product pricing in advance.
A number of Sharia specialists consider the commission a merchant pays for marketing and collection services permissible, while passing it on to the customer is prohibited because it becomes an increase on a debt. This is consistent with SAMA's rules, which prohibit charging the consumer service fees. For a ruling on your specific case, consult an accredited Sharia authority.
From the dashboard, open payment methods and choose the installment service. You will need a commercial registration or a freelance certificate, and a bank account in the business's name. After the request is reviewed and the contract signed, the option appears to customers on the checkout page. We also recommend showing the installment message on the product page.
A sales pitch will not settle your decision on Tabby and Tamara for stores; your store's numbers will: your profit margin, your average basket and your return rate. Calculate the break-even rate, negotiate the commission, enable installments where they make you money, then measure the result after two months.
At Bateel Tech Solutions, we build stores on Salla, Zid and custom solutions, activate mada, Apple Pay and installments, and set up tracking so you know the impact of each payment method on your sales. Send us your margin and average basket via WhatsApp or through our Contact Us Page, and we will calculate your break-even rate with you in a free consultation.
