Bahrain strike disrupts AWS, SadaPay restores services after days-long outage

A drone strike on cloud infrastructure in Bahrain that disrupted Amazon Web Services (AWS) led to a widespread outage of Pakistani fintech SadaPay, which has now fully restored its services, the company said on March 27.

In an email to users, SadaPay said its app was once again fully operational, with access to transfers, bill payments and card services reinstated after a disruption that lasted several days. The company maintained that customer funds remained “safe and fully accounted for” throughout the outage.

The disruption stemmed from a broader regional issue affecting AWS infrastructure in Bahrain, which impacted multiple financial services platforms. SadaPay said it subsequently migrated its systems from AWS Bahrain to Europe, a move it credited with stabilising operations and enabling a full restoration of services.

The development follows an earlier notification issued on March 24, when the company said its app had become completely unavailable after a drone strike hit AWS infrastructure in Bahrain — the second such incident targeting the facility since March 1. The outage rendered the app inaccessible, although debit cards, ATM withdrawals and point-of-sale transactions continued to function.

While acknowledging that the issue was not specific to its platform, SadaPay said it took responsibility for resolving the disruption for its users and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The company added that improving system reliability remains a priority as it seeks to prevent similar outages going forward.

What is SadaPay?

SadaPay is a Pakistan-based financial technology firm that provides app-based banking and payments services, positioning itself within the country’s expanding but still underdeveloped digital finance sector. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Islamabad by Brandon Timinsky, the company operates as a licensed Electronic Money Institution regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan.