Network International and WooCommerce announce strategic partnership to accelerate MEA e-commerce

• Strategic alliance empowers merchants in the region to access seamless, secure, and locally relevant payment solutions

• Enhances online conversion rates, builds customer trust, and improves operational efficiency for SMEs and online businesses

April 21, 2026 – Network International (Network), a leading fintech company across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), has announced a strategic partnership with WooCommerce, one of the world’s most widely used open-source e-commerce platforms. The partnership will empower merchants in the region to access seamless, secure, and locally relevant payment solutions, significantly boosting the digital economy.

Through this collaboration, merchants across the MEA region can now integrate Network’s advanced payment capabilities directly into their WooCommerce stores with greater simplicity and speed. This integration is designed to enhance online conversion rates, build customer trust, and improve operational efficiency for SMEs and online businesses.

The partnership unlocks several major enhancements specifically designed to support merchants and accelerate digital adoption across the region. Network’s robust payment plugin ‘N-Genius Online by Network for WooCommerce’ is now discoverable and installable directly from the WooCommerce Marketplace. The plugin will be featured prominently within WooCommerce’s payments settings interface, giving high visibility to merchants who are actively seeking a payment provider or looking to optimise their existing infrastructure.

By eliminating onboarding friction and technical complexity, merchants can enable Network’s payment solution in seconds, allowing them to go live instantly and accept payments faster. The integration supports local payment methods, adheres to specific compliance frameworks, and accommodates settlement preferences relevant to MEA merchants, ensuring a smooth, secure, and fully compliant payments experience tailored to regional needs.

This partnership delivers substantial benefits across the digital commerce ecosystem. Merchants receive a trusted, secure, fast, and simple payments activation process, leading to improved checkout performance and reduced cart abandonment rates.

Martin Pitcock, SVP E-Commerce and Digital Experience at Network International, commented: “Our partnership with WooCommerce marks a significant milestone in our commitment to empowering SMEs and e-commerce across the Middle East and Africa. By integrating our advanced payment solutions seamlessly into one of the world’s most popular e-commerce platforms, we are making it easy for MEA merchants to access secure, localised, and efficient payment processing. This collaboration is set to increase digital commerce adoption, drive economic growth, and drive financial inclusion for many cash-dominant businesses, while delivering an unparalleled checkout experience for consumers across the region.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Network International to offer our MEA merchants best-in-class, local payment rails,” said Kevin Wild, Director, Payment Partnerships at Woo. “This integration addresses critical market needs, simplifying the payment activation process and ensuring that WooCommerce store owners can effectively serve their customers with trusted and compliant payment options. It underscores our dedication to providing a robust and relevant platform for businesses worldwide.”

A study by Euromonitor International in cooperation with EZDubai has indicated that the UAE’s e-commerce market has experienced rapid growth in recent years, reaching approximately AED 32.3 billion in 2024, with projections to exceed AED 50.6 billion by 2029.

About Network International

Network  International is the Middle East and Africa’s leading fintech company. Our purpose is to help businesses and economies grow by simplifying payments and commerce. We serve a diverse ecosystem of banks, fintechs, telcos, merchants, governments, and public sector entities spanning 50+ countries – empowering our partners with innovative technology, value-added services, and deep expertise in payment systems and infrastructure. Our 3,000+ team strength on the ground works closely with 250+ financial institutions and 240,000+ merchants to deliver reliable, scalable, and future-ready payment and fintech solutions across the region.

About Woo

Woo (woocommerce.com) is the company behind WooCommerce, the open-source ecommerce platform powering more than 4 million online stores. Built on WordPress, WooCommerce offers unlimited extensibility and flexibility for store owners and builders. Woo is a fully distributed company with employees all over the world, dedicated to empowering success for merchants, developers, and anyone else making a living through ecommerce.