Online payment service provider Payfort partnered with commerce platform Shopify to help startups in the Arab region create online stores using the former's online payment solutions. Businesses worldwide have created more than 275,000 online stores using Shopify, selling an estimated worth of $17bn of goods and services. 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 report for 2016, the value of online transactions in the Arab world could grow by almost 300% by 2020, potentially reaching more than $69bn worth of transactions annually. "Startups in the Middle East can create their stores easily using Shopify to begin selling their products online. Customers are now offered a choice of paying via Payfort," said Omar Soudodi, managing director of Payfort. Soudodi said that the partnership with Shopify is a new step to help companies in the region shift to e-commerce practices. Payfort is the payment platform of hundreds of e-commerce websites across the region, such as Souq.com, Dubizzle.com, Landmark, Jumbo Electronics, flynas, Air Arabia, Flyin, Musafir, and bayte.
