Riyad Bank teams up with Mastercard to tackle rising cyber threats

May 26, 2025

Mastercard has launched its first Cyber Resilience Center in the Middle East, located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The centre is designed to bring financial sector stakeholders together to boost cybersecurity collaboration and safeguard the Kingdom’s digital payments ecosystem.

Riyad Bank is the centre’s first official partner, supporting joint efforts in training, cybersecurity standards adoption, and risk assessment. The centre supports the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and contributes to building digital resilience across the region.

Built on three pillars—education, standards, and preparedness—the centre will provide Arabic-language certifications, host cyber defence exercises, and help institutions track and improve their security posture.

Mastercard EVP, division president, West Arabia Adam Jones said, “We live in an ultra-connected world where cyber threats are becoming more targeted and complex, even as the need for trust and assurance increases. The launch of the Cyber Resilience Center in Riyadh reflects Mastercard’s commitment to staying ahead of emerging risks and helping our partners do the same.”

Riyad Bank SVP and head of cyber & information security department Ibrahim A Al-Sulobi said, “At Riyad Bank, safeguarding customer trust is central to everything we do… This partnership enables us to further strengthen our defense frameworks, accelerate the adoption of global best practices of global security, and fortify security in the Kingdom’s financial sector.”

Mastercard has invested $10.7bn in cybersecurity innovation over the past six years and continues to grow its capabilities, including through the recent acquisition of threat intelligence firm Recorded Future.

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