Tagged: mena

November 12, 2022 @ 3:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Globally, rising inflation, a higher cost of living, and slower wage growth are impacting the lives of people right around the world. A recent report suggested that many consumers are turning to physical cash to help manage their finances amid the cost-of-living crisis. But Muhannad… Read More

November 11, 2022 @ 7:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blnk, a fintech startup that enables instant consumer credit in Egypt, has “raised $23.7 million in equity and debt funding, and $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance to accelerate financial inclusion within underserved communities across the country.” The funds will support “further development of Blnk’s… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 9:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PayTabs — MENA and South Asia’s payments Fintech — in a new move announced that it plans “to acquire a 100% stake in Digital Pay, Saudi Arabia.” Under the terms of the acquisition, Digital Pay will “serve as PayTabs’ flagship point of sale (POS) terminal… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 4:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform enables Wio Bank “to achieve a faster time to market as it helps establish the UAE as a hub for the growing digital economy.” Wio Bank provides access “to banking and business support services in a fast, convenient and fully digital… Read More

November 8, 2022 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The strategic collaboration between Odoo and Aramco outlines the long-term goals between the two companies “in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.” Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are “among the most significant drivers of economic growth and an important area of focus of the Saudi… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 11:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SAMA announced the issuance of the Open Banking Framework as one of the key outputs of the Open Banking Program, which “includes a comprehensive set of legislation, regulatory guidelines and technical standards based on international best practices to enable banks and fintechs to provide open… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 10:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Enjaz Payment Services Company, a Fintech company licensed by the Saudi Central Bank announced a partnership with Thunes, a global player focused on cross-border payments. This agreement will help customers in Saudi Arabia “to make instant international transfers globally to bank accounts and digital wallets… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Galaxy, which claims to be the “industry-leading” financial innovation company, has become the first central bank regulated Open Finance platform in the MENA region “after receiving a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), allowing the firm to operate as a regulated Third-Party… Read More

November 3, 2022 @ 8:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paymob, the omnichannel payments facilitator in MENAP, embarked on the next phase of its regional expansion in the UAE market. This step marks “an important milestone in Paymob’s global growth plans, fueled by recent Series B funding led by PayPal Ventures.” Paymob plans “to make… Read More

November 1, 2022 @ 7:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Money Fellows, which claims to be one of the leading Egyptian fintech platforms, announces the first close of its Series B round “with a $31 million investment led by CommerzVentures, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and Arzan Venture Capital.” Invenfin, National Investment Company (NIC) as… Read More

October 31, 2022 @ 8:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Visa (NYSE: V), which claims to be the world’s leader in digital payments, announced plans to open a state-of-the art Innovation Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia “at the Future Investment Initiative.” The facility, that will be operational by the end of 2023, is “being built… Read More

October 30, 2022 @ 12:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BitOasis, the cryptocurrency platform for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA), have partnered “to launch a series of crypto card programs in the region that will facilitate day to day usage of cryptocurrencies at points of sale and across ecommerce platforms.”… Read More

October 24, 2022 @ 10:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kenzz, the “mass” e-commerce solution bringing reliable online shopping to the mass market in Egypt and MENA, recently announced that it has completed a $3.5 million seed fund raise. The investment round was “led by Outliers Venture Capital – a venture capital fund backing early-stage… Read More

October 18, 2022 @ 7:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wio Bank PJSC, the region’s first platform bank, has announced a partnership with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, which will “enable SMEs in the UAE to access the power of e-commerce faster and more easily and conveniently.” Through this partnership, Wio Business, the… Read More

October 17, 2022 @ 7:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai-based financial services platform Five FS has officially launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia and also secured $3.5 million in seed funding. Five FS’ investment round was reportedly led by Romanian VC firm Zeyshare Ventures “at a $30 million valuation.” As… Read More

October 13, 2022 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FlapKap, a tech-enabled revenue-based financing platform in the Mena region, “revolutionizing” e-commerce growth, announced the close of its $3.6 million Seed round. The investment round “included participation from Bolt by QED, Nclude, Outliers, and A15.” This latest capital injection “comes six months after the company’s… Read More

October 12, 2022 @ 9:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd, a Technology-as-a-Service provider for financial institutions, announced the official launch of its regional operations in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial center of the capital of the UAE. OneConnect’s addition to the ADGM family will “further support the… Read More

October 11, 2022 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LuLu Financial Group – which claims to be one of UAE’s leading financial services company, has joined hands with Wio Bank – the region’s “first” platform bank to allow Wio Business customers “to make account deposits through its network of LuLu Exchange branches.” The partnership… Read More

October 11, 2022 @ 9:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mamo, a UAE-based FinTech and financial services platform for SMEs, has been granted regulatory approval “to operate from Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the global financial center  in the MENA and Asia region.” The license has been “granted by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA),… Read More

October 11, 2022 @ 5:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mercury is using Oracle Banking Payments, running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in order “to help democratize digital payments in the UAE.” With Oracle Banking Payments, Mercury was able “to capitalize on changes in the digital payments landscape in the post-pandemic era to create their… Read More