HSBC has become the fourth founding member to go live on Dubai Economy’s UAE KYC (Know Your Customer) Blockchain Consortium. The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform is a national ecosystem for the exchange of verified “know your customer” data between licensing authorities and financial institutions. The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform supports the vision of the Invest in Dubai (IID) Portal by facilitating instant opening of bank accounts for investors. We are also pleased to see newly onboarded licensing entities and financial institutions in the implementation phase. As the initiative continues to scale up, we hope to see more local and international…

Pakistan’s digital bank UBL has signed an agreement with Temenos and National Data Consultant (NdcTech) to provide and implement a next-generation digital banking solution. Through this agreement, the bank has embarked on a digital transformation journey across all channels, products and segments, including retail, SME and corporate, for its domestic and international markets. Once executed, the bank expects to hyper-scale its digital footprint and provide a modern online banking platform with an integrated, seamless customer experience, covering the entire customer lifecycle from customer onboarding, deposit, loan originations, and digital servicing. Temenos Infinity’s platform enables banks to increase digital revenues and…

Mamo, a Dubai-based digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments platform, has been granted an Innovation Testing License to operate in or from Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the global financial center and fintech hub in the MEASA region. The license has been granted by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to carry out the regulated activity of Providing Money Services. This allows Mamo to test its products and services in a rapidly growing market under conditions defined by the DFSA. Launched in 2017, DFSA’s Innovation Testing Licence (ITL) Programme is a licensed regulatory sandbox which enables approved firms to test new…

Cameroon’s nascent fintech industry is gaining traction this year, a trend reflected by rising digital financial services adoption, considerable funding going towards paytech startups, and several product announcements. Maviance, the owner of digital payment platform for merchants Smobilpay, raised a US$3 million seed round from pan-African fintech MFS Africa, Business in Cameroon reported in May. The investment will help fund Maviance’s expansion across the broader Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) and extend its footprint. The company claims it serves over 500,000 unique customers monthly. MFS Africa, headquartered in South Africa, runs the largest digital payment hub…

Paxful, a global peer-to-peer fintech, announced that its e-commerce solution that allows businesses worldwide to receive bitcoin. The Paxful Pay service is already available and allows customers to pay with almost 400 payment methods – exchanging into bitcoin that is sent to the merchant’s digital wallet. Businesses can register now to add Paxful Pay as a purchase option to their online checkout process. Through Paxful Pay, businesses have the ability to manage their earnings and convert bitcoin into their local currency on the Paxful Marketplace using almost 400 payment methods. Merchants will also have control over the configuration of the…

The Saudi cabinet has granted a digital bank license to STC Pay, a digital payments company which is a fully owned subsidiary of Saudi Telecom. STC Pay will be converted into a local digital bank, with a capital of SAR 2.5 billion. According to Reuters, “the company will inject additional 802 million riyals to retain 85% of STC Pay’s share capital, with Western Union investing 750 million riyals for the remaining 15%”. Additionally, a second digital bank license was granted to a consortium of companies and investors led by Abdul Rahman bin Saad Al-Rashed and sons Company, to establish a…

Tweeq, a Saudi-based provider of spending accounts for individuals and SMEs, announced the closure of an undisclosed seven-figure investment round, co-led by STV and Raed Ventures. The funding round, which follows on the heels of the company’s exclusive partnership with Mastercard and Paymentology, looks to further bolster the product development for its launch in Saudi Arabia, followed by the wider MENA region. Founded in early 2020 by a team of seasoned banking and tech professionals, Tweeq will allow its users to open a feature-rich spending account in a matter of seconds through their mobile app – where they can immediately…

Mashreq has chosen global software company Comarch to deliver investment propositions which will add value to its wealth management services, add reporting functionality, and enhance overall customer experience. The first stage of the project, which has been completed, provides Mashreq with reporting automation and investment propositions. The comprehensive technology platform brings client information together in one centralised digital location, providing relationship managers with significant time and operational efficiencies. This will in turn enhance the productivity of relationship managers, enabling them to provide more focused services to their wealth management clients. Comarch has operated in the Middle East since 2004, supporting…

Visa announced the appointment of Dr. Saeeda Jaffar as Group Country Manager, and Senior Vice President, for its operations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Dr Jaffar will join the global digital payments leader to oversee its presence in six countries and will be based in Dubai. In her new role, Jaffar will report directly to Andrew Torre, Regional President for the Central Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA) and will be part of the CEMEA Leadership Team. Jaffar joins Visa with deep financial services and payments expertise. She has spent the past five years serving as Managing Director…

Amazon Payment Services, a payment processing service in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has launched the Amazon Fintech Lab in the DIFC Innovation Hub. The initiative is the latest in Amazon Payment Services’ efforts to support fintech in the region by providing a forum for discussions on digital payments and the future of the fintech industry. The Amazon Fintech Lab has been designed with the specific intention of supporting innovation in fintech through networking and collaborating with DIFC’s community of SMEs, financial institutions and startups. It will organise programmes where different stakeholders and teams will be hosted…

Developers can start building voice experiences, called “skills” for customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using Amazon’s Alexa Skills Kit (ASK). Skills that developers create which is certified for publication, will be available for customers when Alexa launches in KSA and the UAE later this year. Commercial hardware manufacturers who want to develop Alexa Built-in products for customers in KSA or the UAE can request early access to the invite-only Alexa Voice Service (AVS) developer preview. Along with Echo devices, companies including Samsung and LG will bring Alexa Built-in devices while Philips Hue,…

Egypt’s venture investment ecosystem has emerged as one of the most rapidly developing markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 100% over the past five years, according to the 2020 Egypt Venture Investment Report by Magnitt in partnership with Egypt’s IT Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). In 2020, Egyptian startups raised a new record of US$190 million in venture capital (VC) funding, up 30% year-over-year (YoY). The figure makes the country’s the second largest market in MENA in terms of funding amount and deal count, behind only the United Arab…

Adyen, a Dutch payments platform, has strengthened its regional leadership team with the appointment of Mahmoud Ismail, as Vice President for Acquiring in the Middle East. The firm had recently announced the expansion of its acquiring capabilities in the UAE. Before joining Adyen, Mahmoud worked with the UAE-based merchant acquirer Network International Group since 2016, where he was responsible for building out the eCommerce and digital payments portfolio ins the Middle East. His experience spans strategic alliances, partnerships, and projects serving different verticals such as merchants, banks, PSPs, aggregators, and global processors. A payments industry veteran with more than 10…

Over the past years, the fintech sector in the Middle East has seen substantial growth. According to the State of Fintech report, the number of startups offering financial services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region doubled from just 46 in 2013 to 105 in 2015. MENA’s fintech industry is predicted to enter a new growth era with Accenture and Fintech Hive projecting that by 2022, companies in the space will make up 8% of financial services revenue. As fintech continues to grow in the region, an increasing number of events are being organized to connect these markets…

Ziina, the UAE’s Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payment application backed by Y-Combinator (YC), announced its latest funding round of US$7.5 million. The round will help the company launch its new wallet service and fuel its expansion into Saudi Arabia. Ziina plans on using the proceeds to launch its wallet application with over 20,000 verified users on the waiting list. The company’s latest seed round was led by Avenir Growth Capital and Class 5 Global with participation from Wamda Capital, FJ Labs, Graph Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Jabbar Internet Group and Oman Technology Fund’s Jasoor Ventures. The round also includes Zinal Growth, the investment…

Over the past year, Latvia, Zimbabwe and Israel have witnessed the highest surge in fintech interest worldwide, an analysis by the Fintech News Network found. Latvia considered as one of the most startup-friendly countries in the world Google Trends data between April 2020 and April 2021 show that search queries for fintech and related topics including mobile payments, blockchain, open banking, insurtech and virtual banking, saw the strongest growth in Latvia. This comes on the back of a booming fintech sector and new favorable regulation to be introduced. Boasting 118 fintech startups, Latvia has leveraged its established legacy as a…

Dutch payments company Recharge.com announced the launch of its services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Recharge.com will provide a one-stop-shop marketplace for various categories of branded payments, including call credit, data bundles, shopping, entertainment, gaming, and prepaid money. There will be local and global products for people to choose from and customer service support in both English and Arabic. The announcement comes hot on the heels of a €10 million debt funding round to fuel Recharge.com’s international expansion and the appointment of Michael Kent, one of Europe’s fintech entrepreneurs, as non-executive chairman. The…

Adyen, a global payments platform based in Netherlands, announced the expansion of its local acquiring services to include the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With acquiring capabilities in the UAE, Adyen provides both domestic and international businesses with an improved payments solution, allowing for higher authorisation rates and improved shopper flows with less friction. In the UAE, Adyen supports businesses with the same range of products and features as in other regions, including a fully integrated anti-fraud solution, and its revenue optimisation toolkit. Covering the entire payment flow via its single platform for online, in-store and in-app transactions, Adyen’s local acquiring…

Despite strong mobile phone penetration and high mobile broadband connectivity, fintech development in Algeria is still underwhelming compared to other nations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, experts say. According to World Bank experts, only 16% of adults and 11% of women use digital payments in Algeria, making the country a laggard in the broader MENA region where 23% of adults and 18% of women use digital payments. Data from the World Bank show that financial inclusion is still a major challenge in Algeria where just 43% of the adult population had a bank account in 2017.…

Bahrain has topped the globally recognised AIRINC Global 150 Cities Index financial attractiveness ranking for the third straight year, which saw impressive rankings for MENA capitals, with seven leading MENA cities in the top 16 places. Aside from the capital of Bahrain in first place, others cities ranked included Riyadh, Kuwait City, Amman and Abu Dhabi. The rankings evaluate the salary levels, cost of living, and taxes in a particular market in order to create an overall score for financial attractiveness. The news of Bahrain’s win follows its recent success in the InterNations Expat Insider 2021 survey, where the country…