Tagged: mena

August 25, 2022 @ 9:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

valU, MENA’s Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) lifestyle-enabling fintech platform, announced that it “acquired 100% of Paynas, a full-fledged employee management and benefits company that provides financial services to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in a signing ceremony attended by Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of… Read More

August 21, 2022 @ 9:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) launched a public consultation about the “National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar,” which was collaboratively “developed by CRA, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and Qatar University, with the aim of receiving the views and comments of stakeholders and concerned parties in Qatar on… Read More

August 20, 2022 @ 7:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered Bank (LON: STAN) recently announced the appointment of Ayesha Abbas as Head of Consumer, Private and Business Banking, UAE. In this role, Ayesha will “report to Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, UAE and Bongiwe Gangeni, Regional Head, CPBB, MENA and… Read More

August 18, 2022 @ 9:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Emirates NBD, a banking group in the MENA region an Turkey, has launched a global accelerator program for metaverse start-ups “to enhance customer experience for the new virtual economy, in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Fintech Hive, the largest financial technology hub… Read More

August 18, 2022 @ 11:52 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  We recently connected Mohammad Raafi Hossain, CEO & Co-Founder at Fasset, an international digital asset gateway. Fasset Technologies Limited recently partnered with Mastercard to expand financial services in Indonesia and create opportunities for underserved consumers The announcement follows Fasset’s $22 million Series A from… Read More

August 17, 2022 @ 9:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SmartCrowd Holdings, a firm focused on fractional real estate investments, has been issued a Fintech experimental license by the Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA). SmartCrowd is now focused on following through with business requirements for the launch of its Real Estate Funds Distribution Platform, making… Read More

August 15, 2022 @ 11:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Virtual payments have reportedly exceeded the use of cash for the very first time in Saudi Arabia in 2021, with these digital transactions accounting for around 94% of payments completed when measured in terms of value. This, according to a recent study carried out by… Read More

August 14, 2022 @ 11:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Avelacom, the low latency connectivity, IT infrastructure and data solutions provider for financial markets, recently announced new optimized routes on its network to Istanbul (Bursa Istanbul), Riyadh (Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul) and Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, TASE). These routes should help with encouraging… Read More

August 12, 2022 @ 9:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thunes, a cross-border payments company, recently announced that it is accelerating the expansion of its services in the MENA region, “setting up an office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and appointing a new country head – Ahmad Yaacoub.” Thunes is also “in advanced stages… Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SC Ventures recently revealed that it has introduced Appro, which is a Fintech that digitizes and enhances the retail banking customer experience. Supported by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s Fintech investment and ventures unit, the “bank-agnostic” platform intends to signifiantly reduce the time taken to finalize… Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 9:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

JP Morgan Payments has introduced a cross-border liquidity solution in Saudi Arabia, enabling customers to connect to liquidity pools in London and other cities across the globe. The service will aim to offer clients with a pipeline to link their balances to liquidity structures globally…. Read More

August 4, 2022 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tabby, which is MENA’s payments and shopping app, has acquired $150 million in debt financing from Atalaya Capital Management and existing investor Partners for Growth (PFG). Based in New York, this facility “marks Atalaya Capital Management’s first deal in the MENA region.” In addition, San… Read More

August 1, 2022 @ 7:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Komainu, a regulated digital asset custody provider built by institutions for institutions, today announced provisional regulatory approval from the Government of Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] to “commence operational readiness even as the application goes through the warranted due diligence in accordance with VARA… Read More

July 31, 2022 @ 8:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FTX Exchange FZE announced that it has received approval “to enter Dubai’s ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) program for Virtual Assets under the world’s only specialist regime for this sector operated by the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).” As a subsidiary of FTX Europe, FTX Exchange… Read More

July 29, 2022 @ 8:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Paysend, the UK-headquartered Fintech with more than 7 million customers, announced a partnership with Damane Cash, a payments institution and subsidiary of Bank of Africa, to “enable money transfers to Morocco.” With features like low fixed fees, upfront exchange rates, faster transfer speeds and the… Read More

July 24, 2022 @ 8:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Huobi Group, which claims to be one of the world’s leading financial services providers specializing in cryptocurrencies and related products, recently announced that it has been granted MVP provisional approval by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) on July 15, 2022, while it “undertakes… Read More

July 21, 2022 @ 6:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global analytics software provider FICO (NYSE: FICO) announced a partnership agreement with Israel’s Open-Finance.ai, a risk, finance and compliance software enabler of open banking and finance services and consulting firm headquartered in Tel Aviv. Through this agreement, Open-Finance.ai will “integrate the FICO® Blaze Advisor® decision… Read More

July 18, 2022 @ 3:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OKX, which claims to be one of the leading crypto trading apps, recently announced that it has been granted a provisional virtual assets (VA) license “to provide services to qualified investors in the UAE.” Granted by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), OKX’s provisional… Read More

July 17, 2022 @ 11:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

New research from Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) reveals pandemic restrictions had “little impact” on real estate investment from Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries into the UK. Based on in-depth interviews with experts from real estate services companies holding more than £60… Read More

July 11, 2022 @ 9:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tarabut Gateway, which claims to be the largest Open Banking platform in the MENA region with a market presence in Bahrain, the UAE and KSA, announced (earlier this week) two new appointments to its senior executive team, Nino Ocampo and Adnan Erriade. Nino joins as… Read More