The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) launched the instant payment system sarie, under the patronage of His Excellency Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak. Commenting on the achievement, the Central Bank Governor said that the launch of the sarie system comes as part of a series of SAMA-led initiatives to promote the national payments’ ecosystem and to enhance its infrastructure, aiming to achieve financial inclusion. Saudi Payments said that the sarie services will allow the banking sector’s clients to send and receive low-value local transactions around the clock and for a low fee, not exceeding one Saudi…

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced that it will be launching a round the clock instant payment system effective from 21st of February onwards. Upon its activation, the system will allow financial institutions, companies, and individuals to complete transactions instantaneously across various banks 24/7. SAMA said in a statement that this initiative follows the successful activation of the system’s first pilot phase with several Saudi banks. The system, supervised by SAMA, is in line with the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) to achieve the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan. SAMA has clarified that the system developed…

The Saudi Central Bank, previously known as Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), is planning to go live with open banking during the first half of 2022. The Go-Live Phase will be the third and last phase of SAMA’s open banking strategy, and will precede the Design Phase and the Implementation Phase. SAMA’s open banking roadmap was outlined in a new policy paper released on January 10, 2021, which articulates the regulator’s implementation plan and its ambitions for open banking. According to the paper, SAMA believes that open banking will provide financial sector stakeholders with the opportunity to leverage on the…

Personetics, a Tel Aviv-based global provider of data-driven personalisation and customer engagement solutions for banks and financial services providers, announced it has raised $75 million in funding from Warburg Pincus LLC, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. Personetics is backed by Viola Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Nyca Partners. Banks use Personetics’ agile tools and its low-code engagement builder, a creation and management console, to quickly modify hundreds of pre-programmed insights and build customised user journeys. This enables banks to share real-time personalised insights and advice, as well as automated, self adjustable financial wellness programmes…

GoDaddy Inc, an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company, announced the introduction of a free online training course titled ‘Start and Grow Online with GoDaddy’ designed to help entrepreneurs take their businesses online. GoDaddy is partnering with Startups Without Borders, an entrepreneurship support and resource hub/network, for the initiative. The course aims to train entrepreneurs from across the MENA region using GoDaddy’s know-how and online tools and solutions, including using GoDaddy Website Builder and E-Store. The free training online course titled “Start and Grow Online with GoDaddy” consists of an intensive 4-hour educational workshop to help…

Amazon is aggressively expanding its e-commerce business in the Middle East, multiplying product launches with the introduction of home services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in July 2020, payment processing services in the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in December 2020, and the launch of Amazon Prime in Saudi Arabia in January 2021. The American tech giant has been focusing on entering emerging markets to fuel its growth, eyeing these markets’ rapid mobile Internet adoption, lack of legacy infrastructure and growing number of the population entering the middle class. In MENA, Amazon’s acquisition of Dubai-based online…

UAE’s e-commerce retailer LetsTango.com and Aramex, a global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions, have partnered to fuel cross-border e-commerce in the region by marketing Thailand products. According to the partnership, LetsTango.com will add to its brand roster an array of brands from Thailand while Aramex will provide its logistics solutions to effectively reach more businesses and consumers regionally in the UAE and Middle East. LetsTango.com said about its growth plans that it plans to have similar collaborations with other unnamed South Asian countries as well. Commenting on the partnership, Alex Tchablakian, COO of LetsTango.com said, “Our partnership with…

Global Shares, an Irish equity compensation management solutions provider, announce that it has opened an office in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. The company has 16 other offices across Europe, America and Asia. Global Shares said that the Middle East is a region of huge strategic importance to Global Shares as more and more companies recognise the importance of equity-based compensation. The new office has onboarded 20 Arabic speaking staff so far. Additionally, its opening follows the company’s roll out of the Arabic version of its online portal and mobile app. Global Shares has also partnered with Saudi investment bank NCB…

Fintech funding in Africa jumped 49.3% in 2020 to US$160 million. The amount was raised by 99 fintech startups, making fintech the dominant tech sector of 2020, a new report by regional startup news and research portal Disrupt Africa found. The annual African Tech Startups Funding Report, released on January 21, 2021, looks at the major tech funding trends observed in Africa last year. According to the study, fintech attracted the lion’s share of 2020’s African tech startup funding with more startups securing funding than any other sector and a combined total that dwarfed all others. Not only fintech surpassed…

Abu Dhabi-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider NymCard announced that they have raised US$ 7.6 million during a Series A funding round bringing the firm’s total funding to $12 million to date. The funding round led by Shorooq Partners and joined by OTF Jasoor Ventures and VentureSouq will be used to support NymCard’s growth in the MENA region. NymCard provides card issuing and processing solutions for financial institutions, banks and fintechs in the region. NymCard said that its platform digitises the payment card experience end-to-end to help cut down programme costs and launch customer focused propositions in less than 8 weeks. Using…

Hakbah platform, a Saudi-based fintech startup that specialises in alternative savings and savings groups, announced the closure of its seed round with a value of USD 1.2 million (SAR 4.5 million). Details of the investors were not disclosed. The startup received the funding six months after obtaining the approval of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to launch its commercial services in the Kingdom at the end of July 2020. Hakbah said that it aims to modernise and ease saving behaviors through the Hakbah App for Savings Groups to help individuals increase their monthly regular saving amounts within the financial system.…

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) announced that Verofax, a Malaysian-based asset digitisation and traceability services provider, as the winner of its ‘BisB Innovation Challenge’. The bank had collaborated with the FinHub 973, Central Bank of Bahrain’s digital lab for this fintech competition where 14 startups from around the globe had participated. Verofax was selected after rigorous screening to ensure a solution with the requisite level of feasibility and security to maintain the confidentiality and security of customers’ financial data. Verofax offered a PoC for an AI-powered credit scoring solution, incorporating alternative and unstructured datasets, to improve the banks speed and provide…

Tamara, a Saudi-based buy now pay later platform, announced the closure of its seed funding round with an investment of 22.5 million Saudi riyals (US$ 6 million) led by the Impact46 Venture Capital Fund. The startup reported that this is the largest seed funding round in the Kingdom and the third in the region. Other investors include a group of local and regional funds such as Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, Hala Ventures, and Nama Ventures. A few family investment offices also participated in the funding round. Founded in 2020 by entrepreneur Abdul Majeed Al-Sikhan, co-founder of…

SaaS banking platform Mambu and Ta3meed, an Islamic fintech in trade finance in Saudi Arabia, announced a strategic partnership to deliver Islamic fintech financing solutions for SMEs in the region. With this partnership, Mambu’s agile core banking technology will be integrated into Ta3meed’s automated Purchase Order (PO) financing platform. Ta3meed’s Islamic fintech platform provides PO financing in Saudi Arabia, offering funding to SMEs based on government-issued and guaranteed POs. Ta3meed’s platform is regulated and permitted in the sandbox by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) managing the entire funding process in accordance with Islamic regulations. The combined solutions aims to aid…

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has established eight new offices in Tel Aviv, New York, San Francisco, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Beijing and Seoul. The global network of offices, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), expands ADIO’s reach in key overseas markets where it is looking to attract innovative businesses to establish and grow in the Emirates. International startups and businesses will have access to the full range of support that ADIO provides, including its investor care services and incentives. ADIO’s international expansion complements its new AED 2 billion (USD 545 million) Innovation Programme, which…

South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya have historically been the fintech hubs of Africa, but the next chapter for the industry in the continent will likely come from new, fast-growing ecosystems, including Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda, according to a new report. The Africa Fintech: State of the Industry 2020 report, produced by Africa Fintech Summit in partnership with EFG EV Fintech and released in October 2020, looks at the state of fintech in Africa, outlining the key trends and emerging fintech ecosystems to watch out for. Ethiopia According to the study, Ethiopia is undergoing an unprecedented acceleration of its digital transformation…

Rain Financial Inc, a licensed cryptocurrency platform and custodian, announced that it had raised $6 million during a Series A funding round. The round was led by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), a venture capital firm in the Middle East, with participation from existing and new investors namely Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT Digital Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel Fintech Ventures, and DIFC Fintech Fund. Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain with satellite offices in Riyadh, Cairo, and San Francisco, the company offering buying, selling, and custody services was founded in 2017 by four of its founders; Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson, Joseph…

Visa’s third edition of its global research study, “Visa Back to Business Study – 2021 Outlook”, found that both the continued small and micro business’ (SMB) shift towards digital commerce and changing consumer payments habits embracing digital payments in the UAE will continue into 2021. According to Visa’s study, by the end of 2020, 97% compared to the global average of 83% of SMBs surveyed in UAE had embraced new forms of digital technology to meet changing consumer behaviors. Shahebaz Khan, General Manager for the UAE, Visa said: “While there had been a sudden surge in e-commerce and digital payments…

Telecom provider Virgin Mobile was awarded a banking agent license through the Saudi Investment Bank, allowing it to offer electronic international remittance to its customers in KSA. Under the agreement, The Saudi Investment Bank and Virgin Mobile will use their combined capabilities and expertise to build, develop and commercially execute a unique value proposition and strategically positioned solutions for the end user. This builds on the joint digital infrastructure to provide electronic international remittance services through its strong distribution presence and network in the Kingdom, providing customers with easy, fast and more convenient digital financial services that enhances the mobile…

In Tanzania, the fintech sector is still nascent with less than 50 companies, among which 68% in their early stages and 20% still at the pre-startup stage and not fully launched yet, a research found. An assessment of the Tanzanian fintech landscape by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with Tanzania’s Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Commission and local innovation hub Sahara Ventures, identified just 34 active fintech startups in the country as of November 2020. These fintech startups focus on six market segments – payments and remittances, lending and financing, insurance, savings, investments, and personal finance…