Wio Bank has officially launched in the UAE with its first digital banking app Wio Business that aims to serve startups, freelancers, and small and medium enterprises. The app is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store at a monthly subscription fee of AED 99, though it has been in beta since earlier in the year. Wio says that it plans to launch a range of digital banking apps for individual and businesses, and provide solutions in embedded finance and banking-as-a-service. “Wio Bank heralds the arrival of next generation banking in the region that will enable…

Dubai-based identity proofing solutions provider IDnow announced its participation in the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Accelerate@IATA 2022 accelerator programme. IATA is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing some 290 airlines or 83% of total air traffic. Through the programme, IDnow is contributing to the IATA One ID working group that aims to create a seamless, low-touch, and interoperable global system across airports, airlines and governments. Under IATA’s One ID vision, upon completing document checks remotely, passengers will be able to arrive at the airport ready to fly and proceed through each airport touchpoint via simple biometric recognition.…

UAE banking group Emirates NBD has launched Emirates NBD API Souq, a financial Application Programming Interface (API) developer portal to grant developers access to APIs across six key categories: account services, payments, collections, real-time notifications, trade services and information services. The integration with the bank and ease of use of the portal allows developers to identify, test and integrate APIs into their products and services in a secure environment. The introduction of Emirates NBD’s developer portal further strengthens the bank’s existing API Banking proposition, which was launched last year to advise clients on how APIs can support their business needs.…

UAE fintech Direct Debit Marketplace has launched a platform to allow merchants to accept direct debits for recurring payments such as for school fees, gym memberships, and subscription-based services. The platform is integrated with UAEPASS, the UAE’s national digital identity platform, which makes setting up a fully paperless process. Transactions are also integrated with and regulated by the UAE Central Bank. Set to be fully operational during the fourth quarter of 2022, the platform is now accepting expressions of interest and applications from merchants. Direct Debit is is sponsored by the National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) and an alumni of…

Klickl is the latest cryptocurrency platform to receive the in-principle approval (IPA) of the Financial Services Permission (FSP) from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The IPA allows the company to operate as a broker-dealer and provide digital asset custody services on Al Maryah Island, the financial free zone under ADGM’s jurisdiction. Formerly known as IDCM, the platform recently rebranded to Klickl as it aims to become an “all-in-one crypto super app”. “The regulated route is the only route for any crypto company’s growth if it wants to be a serious player for the long run,” said Michael Zhao, Co-Founder and…

Amman-based lending fintech liwwa has secured US$18.5 million in its Pre-Series B fundraising round. The company lends to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan and Egypt, and also operates peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform liwwa.com. Founded in 2015, liwwa has provided over US$85 million in debt to qualifying SMEs. The company also says that its P2P platform has enabled retail investors to earn returns in excess of 13%. liwwa’s Pre-Series B equity-debt round included debt contributions: Bank al Etihad increased its debt financing agreement by US$5 million and an additional US$8.5 million debt facility was raised from the Capital Bank…

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), rapid digital adoption brought about the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the continued interest in digital banking solutions, prompting mass adoption of neobanking services as a way to access funds, make transactions and manage personal finances and conveniently while remote. Today, the UAE is one of the world’s biggest adopters of digital banking, ranking sixth in digital banking penetration, a new study by Australian financial comparison website Finder found. By the end of 2027, digital banking penetration in the UAE is projected to increase by 22 percentage points to reach 41%. Finder, which conducted a…

UAE-based payments start-up Ziina has announced plans to expand to Jordan. The company previously launched their digital wallet in February 2022 and their payment keyboard earlier this month. The Y-Combinator-backed company previously raised USD 9 million during a seed round in mid-2021 from prominent investors. Zion’s product interface eliminates the need for tedious IBAN and swift code entry and makes the payment experience seamless and social with GIFs, photos, text and emojis. It has been awarded nine international UI/UX design awards, including the Red Dot Award. “The median age in Jordan is around 23 years old, which makes most of the population…

Emirates Development Bank (EDB) announced a new lending feature offered in partnership with peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Beehive that allows SMEs to apply for loans of up to AED5 million (US$1.36 million) directly through its digital banking app and receive approval or feedback within five days. The lending service will be available for UAE-based SMEs operating in EDB’s five priority sectors – manufacturing, healthcare, food security, advanced technology, and infrastructure – and is available on various tenors of up to 60 months. EDB’s app, powered by UAE-based fintech YAP, enables SMEs and startups to set up a business bank account and…

Account-to-account payments platform Vyne entered a new partnership with web development platform Wix that gives Wix’s UK-based merchants access to Vyne’s open banking payments infrastructure, enabling them to offer their customers the ability to pay directly from their mobile banking app. This partnership will give Wix’s merchants in the UK access to Vyne’s full stack payment solutions, including receiving consumer funds, instant full and partial refunds, payouts, batched settlement with full reconciliation, and more. The frictionless payment process will help to improve merchant checkout conversions by offering a seamless UX via different channels, including online checkout, payment by SMS, chat…

Israel is home to a dynamic fintech ecosystem with global reach and traction. In 2021, Israeli-founded fintech startups raised a record of US$4.5 billion, surpassing the three previous years combined, a report by Viola Group, a leading tech-focused investment firm headquartered in Israel, shows. Soaring funding activity and increasing deal sizes suggest that the sector is maturing and continues to attract investors’ interest. Besides globally recognized brands like Rapyd, Next and Melio, there’s a multitude of smaller fast-growing fintech players that are emerging out of Israel. These companies have experienced massive growth over the past year, received backing from renowned…

Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has issued the country’s first digital payment licenses to Ooredoo Money and iPay by Vodafone Qatar. The announcement was made in a tweet on 30 August 2022 that said that the issuance was made “to contribute to the development of the financial technology sector and enhance financial inclusion.” Qatar has been working towards becoming a global fintech hub since the formation of the Qatar Fintech Taskforce in 2017 comprising the QCB, Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), and several financial institutions operating in the country. The QCB is said to be developing a new fintech…

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced that it has updated its Regulatory Sandbox framework as part of its efforts to achieve national strategic goals in the Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDP), a key objective of the Saudi Vision 2030. The updated framework will also support the objectives of the fintech strategy and contribute to the economic empowerment of the Saudi society and its citizens by promoting further innovations in technology-based financial services. SAMA launched the Regulatory Sandbox initiative back in 2018 to garner the participation of local, regional and international fintech institutions seeking to provide innovative financial products and services…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its AWS Middle East (UAE) Region, the second of its kind following that of Bahrain in 2019. Developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as government, education, and nonprofit organisations now have even greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centres located in the UAE, using advanced AWS technologies to drive innovation. AWS estimates that its projected spending on the construction and operation of the new Region will support an average of nearly 6,000 full-time jobs annually at external vendors, with a planned US$5 billion (AED 20…

Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, has selected six fintechs to be a part of its latest cohort of tech startups from a large number of applicants worldwide that chose to setup and scale from the UAE’s capital. For the next two years, the new cohort will participate in Hub71’s Incentive Programme, benefiting from equity-free incentives worth up to AED 500,000 The cohort will also have access to enabling programmes and a vibrant ecosystem of active investors, corporate, government, and academia partners. Since its launch in 2019, Hub71 has brought together a global network of strategic partners, investors and organisations…

In H1 2022, fintech was the preferred industry for startup investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), accounting for 34% of total capital during the period and 22% of transactions, a new report by Magnitt and the Emirates Development Bank (EDB) shows. UAE fintech companies raised a total of US$234 million in the first six months of the year through 28 deals. The figures represent a threefold year-over-year (YoY) increase in total funding amount, and a 65% increase in the number of deals. Fintech’s predominance in the UAE startup scene is further evidenced by the large rounds of funding closed…

Dubai-based digital real estate investment platform, Stake, secured over US$8 million in an oversubscribed pre-series A funding round. This follows a US$4 million seed round the company closed back in June 2021, bringing their total raised funds to over US$12 million. Backed by some of the region’s leading venture capital investors, MEVP and BY Ventures, and participation from returning investors Vivium Holding and Combined Growth Real Estate, the funding marks the largest capital raise by a real estate investment platform in the MENA region. With a base of 42,000 users from over 80 countries and 150 nationalities, Stake plans to…

Keen to enable the new FinTech and support the Open Banking to help bring about innovative business models in the field of financial services, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has given the green light to test a first-of-its kind product by launching thereof in the local market within the Regulatory Sandbox and applying the same to banking transactions of volunteer customers to fully assess and evaluate the product before the final launch in the market. Commenting on the new product, His Excellency the CBK Governor, Basel Al-Haroon, stated that the CBK spares no effort to support the advanced Fintech,…

Zywa, a teen-focused fintech startup aiming to re-imagine banking for Gen Z in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced a seed funding round of $3 million. Investors who participated in the round include Goodwater Capital (the largest consumer tech VC globally), Dubai Future District Fund (venture capital fund of funds of Dubai, anchored by Dubai International Financial Centre and Dubai Future Foundation), Rebel Fund, Trampoline Venture Partners, Zemu VC, and some of the most prominent European family offices, as well as strategic angel investors. The funding shortly followed the company’s pre-seed round of US$1M raised in Feb 2022.…

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced granting permit to a new batch of companies; “Lean Technologies” and “Mod5r” to provide Open Banking Solutions; bringing the total number of permitted Fintech companies operating under its Regulatory Sandbox to 38. This step completes a series of actions undertaken to conquer a stack of strategic objectives including activating SAMA’s sandbox environment role to the realization of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals through the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP). The prominent FSDP is an ambitious program aims at promoting economic growth, savings and investment activities and the financial inclusion. The permit came concurrently with…