The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a special economic zone in Dubai and a financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, launched a US$100 million Fintech Fund in November 2017 to accelerate the development of fintech and provide promising startups with financial support. Targeted at startups with a product or solution that would “positively and significantly impact the financial services sector in MEASA,” the DIFC Fintech Fund aims to stimulate fintech innovation and investment in the region. The DIFC Fintech Fund targets growth stage startups and entrepreneurs seeking to have a presence in the MEASA…

Emirates NBD customers can now chat bank via WhatsApp as the bank introduces customised services via the WhatsApp Business Solution. Enhancing the bank’s suite of digital capabilities, Emirates NBD Chat Banking via WhatsApp, supported by Infobip, it allows customers to  carry out daily banking functions on the go. These functions include checking account balances, the last five transactions of account or credit cards, last credit card mini statement, temporarily blocking or unblocking cards, new cheque book requests, and foreign exchange rates. All messages on Emirates NBD’s verified WhatsApp Business account are encrypted, ensuring safety and security of customer information. Customers…

du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, EITC, has announced that the Smart Dubai has endorsed the telco’s Blockchain Platform as a Service, BPaaS. Hardly its first endorsement, Smart Dubai has also endorsed a Blockchain Platform as a Service by IBM in late 2018. This latest move to endorse du seems to be in service to Dubai’s blockchain ambition who has previously also vowed to have all government transactions to be done on the blockchain. Dubai also gain international attention when it announced the world’s first court on the blockchain. According to their press release, du’s Blockchain Platform as a service…

Here are a few facts about Egypt. The country is home to 100 million people, making it the most populous nation in the Middle East and North Africa. Among these numbers, 84% of the people were unbanked in 2018. According to an article hosted on the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, commercial banks have largely ignored the masses, preferring to focus on long hanging fruit—fat corporate loans financed by wealthy savings accounts. That’s not all. Clunky and lengthy onboarding processes for individual bank accounts, mistrust in banks’ ability to actually steward their money and the impression that banking is…

Organised by BII World the Financial Innovation Summit launched yesterday at the Hilton Doha. The two-day event covered over 20 fintech experts explore on the latest trends, developments and emerging technologies in the banking sector in the region. The agenda focussed on a wide range of topics from the importance of investing in fintech solutions, the impact of emerging technologies disrupting banking services and, on the challenges, faced by the banking sector. Leading fintech influencers and C-level banking professionals participated in fireside chats, panel discussions, case studies and keynote presentations. The conference opened with a keynote by Lav Kataria, Chief…

Plug and Play, with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have kicked off their second fintech accelerator and innovation program geared towards the Middle East market. For this year’s iteration, nine fintech startups from across the globe have been selected to participate in the three-month accelerator, which grants them the opportunity to work alongside financial institutions for a possibility of executing POC or pilot projects. ADGM does not charge a fee for startups in the platform. The Plug and Play ADGM accelerator program began on March 26th, 2019 with the selected startups residing at ADGM’s coworking space in Abu Dhabi. The…

Israel has long been the Middle East’s most prominent startup hub with the area around Tel Aviv having earned the nickname “Silicon Wadi” for its high concentration of high-tech companies. One industry in particular that has gained much traction in Israel is fintech. In 2018, venture capital (VC) firms participated in US$143 million worth of funding for fintech companies headquartered in Israel, a 145% increase from 2017’s US$58 million, according to PitchBook data. Start-Up Nation Central estimates that there were 475 active Israeli fintech companies in 2017, and as the industry continues to mature, we look today at 12 fintech…

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will establish an EGP 1 billion innovations support fund to finance Egypt’s fintech startups—called the Central Bank’s Financial Technology Unit. The announcement was made by Ayman Hussein, Deputy Governor of the CBE at the Arab African Forum in Aswan, Egypt during a panel discussing the impact of financial technology and innovation on Africa. The fund, which is set up with the Egyptian government, will support fintech startups and fund research into the financial services space with the goal of establishing the country as a fintech hub. The CBE will also be launching an Innovative Financial Technology…

The Central Bank of Bahrain has today issued the Directives on “Digital Financial Advice”, better known as robo-advisors to most. This was issued following an industry consultation process. Mr. Khalid Hamad, Executive Director of Banking Supervision,Central Bank of Bahrain said, “The new rules will enable specialized Fintech firms planning to offer digital financial advice obtain a license to offer such services to investors. In addition, banks and investment firms will now be able to introduce such services with approvals from the CBB. The new rules focus on providing safeguards and controls governing the use of algorithms or AI which are…

On April 10 and 11, 2019, Seamless Middle East 2019 will bring together over 10,000 visitors, 400 speakers and 350+ exhibitors to the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center for one of the Middle East’s largest events dedicated to e-commerce and fintech. Seamless Middle East 2019 will feature five separate conference agendas covering the world of payments, fintech, e-commerce, retail and identity. New for 2019 is the Fintech Pavillion, which will feature an all-star lineup of international and regional fintech companies, transforming transactions across retail banking, institutional and corporate banking, insurance and lending. Some of the world’s brightest minds will…

The Abu Dhabi Executive Office just launched Hub71—a tech ecosystem bringing together the world’s tech investors and companies to achieve the Emirate’s goal of cultivating a vibrant tech startup system. The hub was designed for the government of Abu Dhabi’s Ghadan 21 economic acceleration program announced last September, which aims to improve the competitiveness of Abu Dhabi’s businesses. Microsoft, SoftBank Vision Fund and Mubadala Investment Company are founding partners of this new initiative, working in close collaboration with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to bring what they consider key pillars into Hub71: capital providers, business enablers and strategic partners. Hub71, named…

Experts are optimistic about the outlook for fintech development in Saudi Arabia, which they claim will be driven by the tech-savvy, young population, and favorable government initiatives and support. Islam Al Bayaa, head of advisory at KPMG Al Fozan & Partners, expects growing investor interest in fintech over time which will transform the Kingdom as the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) primary market. Fintech in Saudi Arabia : Regulatory Initiatives Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) Fintech Saudi initiative and the recent decision to set up a sandbox regulatory environment will have a positive impact on fintech investment and enable…

E-commerce is set for strong growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The market was worth US$8.3 billion in 2017 and is expected to more than triple by 2022 to reach US$28.5 billion, according to a new research by Bain & Company and Google. According to the E-commerce in MENA: Opportunity Beyond the Hype report, released in February, e-commerce in the region is rising at an annual growth rate of 25%, ahead of the global average. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Egypt account for 80% of the e-commerce market, and they have been growing at a…

In the Bahrain Fintech Regulations Report 2019 in parts, produced by the Central Bank of Bahrain, we can see that Bahrain’s track record isn’t too shabby when it comes to holistic regulations. Bahrain’s fintech regulations are under the sole purview of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the only regulating authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Noting the growing importance of fintech to a nation’s growth, the CBB launched the Fintech and Innovation Unit in 2017, dedicated to digitising financial services and providing best practices for both individuals and corporations. The department is responsible for approving regulatory sandbox applicants, supervising…

FundedByMe, an equity crowdfunding platform, has recently launched operations at the DIFC after obtaining full equity crowdfunding license from the DFSA. FundedByMe MENA aims at launching its first campaign on the local platform early in Q2 of 2019. “With the comprehensive review and approval process we went through for our DFSA license, we are proud to say that FundedByMe is the only regulated equity crowdfunding platforms in the region. We have developed a 15-step due-diligence process to ensure that quality is maintained throughout the fundraising cycle. This highly selective process creates confidence and credibility with our investors, in the quality…

Emaar group, the developer behind the iconic Burj Khalifa among others is looking at developing their own crypto token. It plans to offer the Emaar community token for customers and partners by end of this year. According to the press release the token will allow Emaar’s customers and stakeholders to reap the value of a full referral and loyalty system across the entire group. Swiss-based Lykke AG is leading the technology build of Emaar’s community token based on the Ethereum blockchain and the ERC20 token framework. The token will be transferable across the entire global Emaar ecosystem, including real estate,…

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a fintech friendly financial hub announced the appointment of Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) and Wamda Capital to manage US$ 10 million of the DIFC FinTech Fund. The DIFC Fintech Fund sized at US$ 100 was initially announced in 2017,  it is targeted at startups from incubation all the way through to growth stage who are seeking to access the Middle East and South Asia Market. The partnership was announced at the Global Financial Forum, where several partnerships were announced to encourage and foster entrepreneurship in the UAE. UAE which home to both DIFC and ADGM…

The Bahrain Fintech Regulations Report 2019, partly produced by the Central Bank of Bahrain, showcases some of the regulations and initatives set up to cultivate the growth of fintech in their regions. Each region with a strong fintech scene has their own way of tackling the burgeoning scene, but based on our own look into the report the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has some catching up to do in holistic regulations—or regulations that can cover all the important global fintech developments Besides the interest of protecting their populace from unmitigated risks, setting clear regulations in stone is important for a nascent fintech scene to…

A combination of changing consumer preferences, competition from fintech startups and changing regulations have been forcing banks around the world to develop their digital capabilities. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, banks are quickly rising to the opportunities presented by fintech and digital banking. UAE’s Digital Banking takes the lead Banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular have taken the lead in adopting digital solutions. In the UAE, a number of banks have undertaken numerous digital banking initiatives, ranging from launching separate digital-only banking platforms, to strengthening existing mobile banking services. Emirates NBD (ENBD)…

As one of the most populous countries in the Middle East topped with a large unbanked population Egypt is fertile for fintech to flourish. Recent report indicates that fintech is one of the fastest growing sector in Egypt. As in stands Egypt’s fintech ecosystem consists of roughly 40 players including 16 startups, 9 financial institutions as well as incubators, hubs, investors and microfinance institution. So who are the top fintech startups in Egypt? As it still a relatively nascent market we feel it would be too pre-mature to say definitely these are the top players but we still feel it…