European fintech ecosystem builder finleap entered into a strategic partnership with Bahraini telecoms company Batelco, according to an announcement earlier this week. The partnership is aimed at promoting open banking in the MENA region. Batelco recently became the first GCC-based company to secure an open banking license. The partnership will see finleap connect extend its open banking technology and digital frontend application to the newly formed Batelco Financial Services. Based on this, Batelco Financial Services will be launching its own open banking platform built on finleap connect’s technology. Batelco Financial Services aims to offer “a state-of-the-art financial service platform,” with…

Rental collection platform Ajar has expanded its operations to Bahrain, according to a recent announcement. With a presence in Kuwait and the UAE, the company will now offer its property management and rent collection in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The launch is an opportunity to demonstrate the role that fintech plays in real estate management, an announcement from the company said. The platform is built for individual landlords, property managers and real estate companies to collect rents from tenants through Ajar’s online platform. The platform allows Ajar’s enterprise users to track rental collection of each property, link properties or portfolios…

The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has partnered with Bahrain Fintech Bay to launch a Digital Banking Challenge, according to a statement. The challenge is aimed at bolstering the digital capabilities of Bahraini youth, and enabling them to explore emerging tech trends. The Digital Banking Challenge is specifically looking for Bahraini youth to develop innovative solutions for NBB’s new digital banking app. The challenge starts with an “intensive” bootcamp and selection process, where applicants will get to know NBB’s digital outlook better through technical and strategic sessions with NBB business teams. This will be followed by a six-week Digital Incubation…

Payments fintech dopay has secured a banking agent licence from Bank ABC Egypt for a virtual banking platform, a statement from the company said. The collaboration will allow dopay to offer its B2B payment and banking platform for SMEs and corporates in Egypt. The platform will allow businesses to open instant accounts for employees, contractors and beneficiaries, and make payments in real time. Each account comes with a debit card, and payments are processed on weekends and holidays. dopay’s cloud payroll service lets employers remit salaries electronically to unbanked staff through a dopay account. Founded in 2014, dopay is an…

Airome Technologies, a Singapore-based developer of cybersecurity solutions for digital banking and e-document management systems, was announced as a representative vendor by Gartner. The Vendor Identification for User Authentication 2021 report contains a comprehensive list of user authentication vendors who meant to provide security and risk management leaders responsible for IAM. According to the Gartner’s market guide for user authentication, “As remote work increases access management tool adoption, and security controls shift to identity, the ability to secure access with AM strategies aligned with continuous adaptive risk and trust assessment is paramount. Cost optimization for IT spending (e.g., AM) will…

Dubai-based personal finance and investment platform Sarwa has gathered US$15 million in a Series B round of funding, the company announced in a statement. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment firm Mubadala Investment Company led the round. Participating investors included 500 Startups, KIPCO, Shorooq Partners, MEVP, DIFC, Hambro Perks Oryx Fund, HALA Venture and Vision Ventures. Mubadala and 500 Startups will also be assigned their representatives to Sarwa’s board. Funding will be used to expand its market presence and team, and launch new products, the company said. Sarwa currently has over 40,000 registered users from across the MENA region, and is a…

Israeli venture investing platform OurCrowd has signed an MoU with the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) to bolster strategic investments by the Government of Azerbaijan in OurCrowd’s portfolio. The agreement is the first of its kind since Azerbaijan opened its Trade and Tourism Offices in Israel. It makes OurCrowd the first Israeli business to collaborate with the Azerbaijani government since the offices were set up, a statement said. OurCrowd is an equity crowdfunding platform providing access to startup and venture fund investments in Israel. The company currently has 118,000 global investors, including funds, multinational companies, and private investors. Under the agreement,…

UAE-based buy now pay later (BNPL) company tabby has secured US$50 million in its latest round of funding, according to a statement by the company today. The Series B round was led by Global Founders Capital and STV. Delivery Hero, CCVA and other existing backers of tabby participated in the round, the statement said. Existing investors include Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Investment, Raed Ventures, Global Ventures, MSA Capital, VentureSouq, Outliers VC, JIMCO, and HOF. Funding will be funnelled towards growing the company’s product suite, and expanding into new GCC-based markets, the company said. The company is also looking to address growing…

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)-owned digital wallet Payit has announced a partnership with digital support services provider PLATX Omni Channel Conversational Commerce to provide a first-of-its-kind solution for UAE-based merchants. The two companies will enable merchants to collect customer payments via social messaging app WhatsApp. The service would only require merchants to share their WhatsApp-enabled mobile number with customers. A chatbot would then take customers through the payments process, and merchants will receive payment confirmation in real time. This would be the first WhatsApp-based B2C retail payment solution to be launched in the Middle East region. The only other WhatsApp-based…

Jordanian point-of-sale platform POSRocket has secured US$5 million in their latest funding round, the company announced in a statement today. Investors Finance in Motion, Algebra Ventures, Vision Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, Edgo group, Innovative Startups And SMEs Fund (ISSF), Etihad Bank, and Seedstars pitched in, along with Saudi Arabia-based angel investors. POSRocket did not disclose the funding stage. Funding will be used to hire talent, diversify product offerings, and expand into new markets, the statement noted. Founded in 2016 by Zeid Husban, the company has a presence in Egypt and Kuwait, apart from Jordan. It has plans to expand to Saudi…

UAE-based fintech baraka has raised US$4 million in a seed stage round, the company announced today. The round was raised from Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, Raptor Group, Tribe Capital, and Nuwa Capital. Existing investors FJ Labs, VentureSouq, and Class 5 Global also participated. The funding tops up an earlier US$1 million pre-seed round that the company had raised in March this year. The round was led by Class 5 Global, with participation from FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, and Careem Co-founder Abdulla Elyas. Alongside the funding, the company has also launched a commission-free mobile investment app…

Paymentology is introducing its BankingLive 2.0 solution, a cloud-based processing platform, to the Middle East, the company said in a statement. The UK-based payment technology solutions provider has deployed the BankingLive 2.0 solution with Mox Bank, a digital bank by Standard Chartered Bank and partners HKT, PCCW and Trip.com. With the deployment of the solution, Mox Bank has reached over 100,000 customers in seven months, the statement said. “The Middle East is one of the fastest growing digital banking markets and has a desire to deploy cutting-edge innovative technology which is why Paymentology is so well placed and their expertise…

Forus Capital, a Saudi Arabia-based Islamic P2P lending marketplace, has raised a Series A round of funding for an undisclosed amount, the company announced in a statement today. The round was co-led by Saudi conglomerate Yazeed Alrajhi and Brothers Holdings, and Riyad Bank’s Riyad Fintech Fund. The funding will be channeled towards innovation, and market and product expansion. Forus Capital is a Shariah-compliant debt marketplace founded in 2019 by Nosaibah Alrajhi. The company provides lending facilities in the SME debt market. So far, the company has deployed over US$16 million in funding to 57 SMEs, according to the statement. The…

Cairo-based CreditFins, a credit card management fintech, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding, the company announced. The round was led by Flat6Labs, AUC Angels, TA Telecom Holding, and other strategic tech angel investors, the company said. Meanwhile, CreditFins also graduated from the 16th cycle of Flat6Labs’ Cairo Seed Program, alongside seven other digital and tech startups, according to an announcement today. Each of the graduating startups received seed funding of US$31,800 to US$47,700, in exchange for an equity stake of up to 10%. The company focuses on enabling users to pay their credit card bills with savings. Users…

US Fintech company QPS Global will be expanding its operations in the Middle East, the company has announced. To this end, the company will be making an investment of US$10 million in the region over the next 6-12 months. The B2B card issuance and processing platform aims to grow its presence in key Middle East markets by March next year. These include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. “After expanding our reach in the European markets, we are now entering the Middle East by purely focusing on our technological disruption. In fact, we have already secured a deal of…

Global SaaS cloud banking platform Mambu has launched a new digital banking platform for SME financing, according to a statement today. The platform gives banks and fintechs access to scalable loan management technology. It also offers a network of partner solution providers, such as web-based identity authentication, credit checks and loan origination. The platform is designed to enable speedy loan approval, and reduce costs and time to market for SME financing products. The banking and lending solution will help to improve ease of access to SME financing, the company said in the statement. In addition to quicker product launches, it…

Zurich International Life announced that it has expanded ZurichPro’s digital capabilities in partnership with Singapore-headquartered automated advisory fintech 360F.The move will especially service in-force policies, reviewing their sustainability with re-illustration functionalities. 360F’s modern pricing engine, built for the initial launch of ZurichPro in 2020, will be utilised towards the same.The engine built by 360F runs on an efficient and scalable codebase, and has been enhanced with in-force specific versioning logic and validation, a statement from the company said. It is been integrated with product modularisation to reduce maintenance efforts, and provide customer-centric use cases. “This is another step in our…

Dubai-based fintech startup Jingle Pay announced that it would be partnering with UAE-based financial services provider Al Fardan Exchange to provide expat remittances via mobile apps. Under the partnership, users will be able to access a mobile app-based remittance solution. It will feature multiple global destinations, low fees, and attractive foreign exchange rates, a statement said. Transactions can be done anytime and anywhere. The companies aim to provide remittance services to migrant workers through low-cost cross border remittances, and millennial and Gen Z customers as well. The partnership will tap into Al Fardan Exchange’s global processing and clearing capabilities and…

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fintech sector continues to grow and mature on the back of rising adoption of digital payments, booming e-commerce activity and a nascent, yet vibrant, digital banking landscape, a new report by Fintech News Middle East shows. The report, titled Fintech News Middle East: UAE Fintech Report 2021, looks at the state of the fintech ecosystem in the UAE, highlighting key developments and emerging trends observed over the past year. Shift to digital payments According to the report, 2020 saw a uptick in digital payment transactions and a trend away from cash amid COVID-19…

As movement restrictions are easing up around the world, physical events are coming back. In the Middle East, the region’s top fintech hub, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be hosting several major fintech conferences and trade shows in the months to come. Here are 14 of the top upcoming fintech events to attend in the UAE. Finnovex Middle East September 7 – 8, 2021 Conrad Dubai, and virtually The Middle Eastern banking industry is currently focusing on putting the needs of the customers at the forefront, rethinking the definition of digital banking with the application of data, analytics, technology…