African payments company Flutterwave announced that it has secured US$170 million during its Series C round, attaining unicorn status with a valuation of more than USD $1 billion. The round was led by growth-equity firms Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC. Other investors include DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft, Insight Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, WorldpayFIS, and 9yards Capital. Founded by entrepreneur Olugbenga Agboola in 2016, the fundraise brings the total investment in Flutterwave to US$225 million. Flutterwave will invest the new capital to accelerate customer acquisition in existing and international markets, as well…

Citi has announced the launch of a new service for its institutional clients that speeds up the processing of their cross-border payments through the digitisation of supporting documents. With Citi’s new service, documents can be completed, processed and tracked digitally via Citi’s CitiDirect BE® electronic banking platform. The platform also provides users with upfront details about the documentation and data requirements for different payment types. This single-window service reportedly creates clear linkages between payments and related documents and cuts document fulfillment and processing times by more than half. In addition, users can also track the status of their documents on…

Emirates NBD announced that it has integrated its website with UAE PASS, enabling individual customers to seamlessly open a bank account using their UAE PASS credentials. The UAE PASS app is the first national digital identity and signature solution that enables users to identify themselves to government service providers through smartphone-based authentication. It also enables users to sign documents digitally with a high level of security. By downloading the UAE PASS app and completing registration at one of over 300 UAE PASS kiosks in the UAE, the user will have a single digital identity across various government entities, as well…

baraka, a UAE-based fintech startup, introduced its proprietary commission-free mobile trading platform following a pre-seed capital raise of USD 1 million. The secure and user-friendly app is aims to officially launch in the second quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval. Once available for download, the app will provide access to over 4,000 US listed securities, including stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and fractional shares. Users will gain free access to the mobile trading app, as well as the option of a paid tier offering stock analysis, with no minimum investment requirements. The funding round was led by Class 5…

Sarwa, a Dubai-based investment advisory platform, is launching a zero-commission trade service in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The new feature will allow clients to buy and sell stocks as well as funds through the Sarwa app within a few clicks. They will have access to $0 commission trades of global stocks and ETFs. Sarwa said that the service is suitable for “investors who are curious about investing in stocks they strongly believe in or ones looking to consolidate their different investments into one platform while using an affordable option”. In addition to letting users execute trades, the app will…

Egyptian fintech startup NowPay signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE) for a credit facility to fund NowPay’s current salary advances product and future development of new products. NowPay allows corporate employees to get their salaries in advance any time in the month through its mobile app, which means access to emergency funding anytime, hence better management of their budget. Launched in 2019, NowPay aims at lowering employees’ financial stress by improving the financial wellness for employees. The company most recently raised $2.1 million in seed investment in May 2020 in a round that…

PayPal announced that it has agreed to acquire Curv to accelerate and expand its initiatives to support cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Curv is a provider of cloud-based infrastructure for digital asset security based in Tel Aviv, was founded in 2018 by CEO Itay Malinger and CTO Dan Yadlin. In October 2020, PayPal announced its commitment to help shape the role that digital currencies will play in the future of financial services and commerce. To drive sustained growth and innovation in this area, the company recently created a business unit focused on blockchain, crypto and digital currencies. Curv will join the…

Dubai-based neobank YAP has launched as the first independent digital banking platform in the UAE according to Reuters. YAP said that more than 20,000 customers have pre-registered and the accounts will gradually go live in coming weeks. YAP has not independently secured its own banking license but has instead partnered with RAKBANK which will provide international bank account numbers for the neobank users and secure their funds under its own banking license. As part of its digital banking offerings, YAP will be offering services such as spending and budgeting analytics, peer-to-peer payments and remittances services and bill payments. YAP will…

The Digital Fifth, an Indian fintech consulting and advisory firm for financial institutions, has released a list of the top 30 fintech influencers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region which has witnessed a flourishing fintech landscape in the past few years. These individuals have been instrumental in helping the fintech space grow in the region. Abdulaziz F Aljouf: Founder and CEO at PayTabs LinkedIn PayTabs is backed by the Saudi Aramco through its investment arm, i.e., ‘Waed Entrepreneurs Venture’. Under the leadership of Abdulaziz F Aljouf, PayTabs has become the tool offering a one-stop-shop solution to wire…

Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai’s industry focused accelerator programme has concluded with 11 startups graduating from its third cohort. Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai was launched in 2018 in partnership with Dubai International Financial Centre’s Fintech Hive (DIFC), Visa, Mashreq bank and HSBC. To date, more than 30 fintech startups in the fields of payments, lending and Islamic digital banking across three cohorts have graduated from the programme. The Demo Day was exclusively live-streamed from the recently launched PwC Experience Center located in Dubai. The Demo Day concludes an annual intensive three-month growth programme to support the business growth of the participating startups and…

Rewire, a Tel Aviv-based neobank for migrants, announced a Series B funding round of $20 million led by global crowdfunding platform OurCrowd and also included a line of credit from an unnamed bank. Rewire said that the current round of funding will enable it to continue enhancing its product portfolio and services, as well as its strategic partnerships in the migrant’s country of origin and the country in which they currently reside. New key investors Renegade Partners, Glilot Capital Partners (through its early growth fund Glilot+), and Jerry Yang, former Yahoo! CEO and director at Alibaba, through AME Cloud Ventures.…

The cryptocurrency market has had a wild year. Market capitalization jumped 750% between January 2020 and February 2021 to reach an all-time high of US$1.7 trillion. In this timeframe, the price of bitcoin surged more than 600% to surpass 57,000 USD/BTC on February 22, 2021. The current market rally has led to renewed interest in cryptocurrencies, a trend that comes on the back of favorable regulatory endorsements and large institutional investments coming in from names like Testa, MicroStrategy and Square. Swiss tech firm SNGLR Group estimates that institutional investors have poured at least US$26 billion into bitcoin over the past…

The Dubai Sustainable Finance Working Group has published two comprehensive guides as part of Dubai’s efforts to accelerate its position and expansion of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and sustainable finance in the UAE and wider region. The Dubai Sustainable Finance Working Group was launched by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The guides inform issuers and investors about best practices in the rapidly expanding ESG sector and the commercial opportunities it offers. The Sustainable Issuance Guide details the steps involved in issuing ESG bonds, Sukuk, equities and other financial products, as well as…

The Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Registration Authority (ADGM RA) and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) represented by UAEU Science and Innovation Park (UAEU SIP) will collaborate to develop the UAE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. ADGM RA and UAEU SIP entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will collaborate to establish an accelerator programme within ADGM that will welcome startups fostered and grown under the umbrella of the latter. Both entities will work alongside one another to develop co-branded initiatives and engage in the exchange of insights to develop growth opportunities for entrepreneurs across the UAE. Additionally, this will enable UAEU SIP’s partners…

Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) has collaborated with Visa to launch their fintech training programme for Egyptian fintech startups and entrepreneurs. The ITIDA-VISA Mentorship Programme aims to enhance cooperation in supporting entrepreneurship, encouraging startups to develop innovative fintech solutions, and promoting digital payments in Egypt. Furthermore, the shortlisted fintech startups will avail Visa’s global partner network to empower their business and enrich their market experience. Upon joining the programme, the participating fintech startups and entrepreneurs will be eligible to access VISA’s development Application Programming Interfaces (API), which facilitates integration with its global network and experimenting with VISA’s sandbox.…

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) announced that it has enacted the Electronic Transactions Regulations 2021. The objective of these regulations is to confirm that electronic signatures, contracts, records and documents are legally enforceable in ADGM as the traditional non-electronic versions. The need for the regulations arises because legal concepts relating to signatures, contracts, records and documents have traditionally been based on the existence of a physical medium. However, these concepts need to be reconsidered in today’s ever-changing digital environment, particularly when taking into consideration the significant growth of the digital economy as well as the impact of COVID-19. The regulations…

The Bank of Ghana launched a regulatory and innovation sandbox pilot in collaboration with fintech firm EMTECH which provides cloud-based software specifically for central banks. The sandbox is a supportive and controlled policy environment that enables firms to test innovative products, services and business models under the supervision of a regulator. It will provide a forum for financial sector innovators to interact with the sector regulator to test digital financial service innovations while evolving enabling regulatory environment. In this regard, the bank and the innovator are able to assess the usefulness, viability and safety of innovations through shared understanding of…

Adyen, the global payments platform based in Netherlands, announced that it will expand its offering to the Middle East by opening a new office in Dubai. Adyen said in a statement that this will enable its existing merchant base to easily move into the region and provide merchants from the region with access to the full strength of the its platform. To enable its merchants in best servicing their shoppers in the Middle East region, Adyen integrated with a host of key local payment methods amongst which Fawry, Mada, Meeza, KNET, NAPS, BENEFIT, and OmanNet. “We’re very excited to open…

Bahrain-based open banking platform Tarabut Gateway has secured $13 million during a seed funding round. The announcement follows Tarabut Gateway’s recent expansion into the UAE in October 2020. Tarabut Gateway, which has offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London and Manama, reported that the funding will support it in scaling its team and expanding regionally. The funding round was led by Target Global, a Berlin-based venture capital firm. Tarabut Gateway has also received the backing of other investors including Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment. With its partnerships already spanning across the…

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…