Tagged: middle east

February 21, 2022 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia-headquartered Fintech firm EdfaPay has secured $1.6 million (appr. SAR 6 million) in capital via its latest investment round. The pre-seed investment has reportedly been led by Nuwa capital, InspireUs VC, Wallan Investment group, and angel investors. The proceeds will be a core driver… Read More

February 17, 2022 @ 1:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is now an investor in a new virtual bank being launched in the Middle Eastern nation with a capital of SAR 1.65 billion (appr. $440 million). The Saudi cabinet has reportedly approved a license for D360 bank (on Tuesday), the… Read More

February 14, 2022 @ 11:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

i2c Inc., a provider of digital payment and banking tech, announced its partnership with KARTY, a Qatar-based Fintech offering tailored digital financial solutions to the MEA region, in order to introduce a digital-first prepaid mobile wallet to the country. Leveraging i2c’s international payments platform, Karty’s… Read More

January 31, 2022 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Spendwisor Inc. has entered into an agreement with Gem Global Yield LLC SCS (GEM) in order to boost the existing facility size from QAR 190 million (appr. $50 million) to QAR 310 million (appr. $85 million). As mentioned in the update, this serves as a… Read More

January 29, 2022 @ 4:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The ICICB Group claims that it has an established track record of launching innovative businesses and propositions with consistency. The Group is known for reviewing the scope of possibilities, from initial strategy to technical development. As mentioned in an update shared by the ICICB Group,… Read More

January 26, 2022 @ 2:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Around 500,000 new merchants across the MENA region will soon be able to take advantage of seamless and convenient virtual payment acceptance via Network International’s Tap on Phone tech, which enables smartphones to serve as payment terminals. The project represents a key milestone between Mastercard… Read More

January 25, 2022 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia (ARBM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of one of the world’s largest Islamic banks in terms of assets, Al Rajhi Bank of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has chosen Thought Machine, the Cloud native core banking tech company, in order to power… Read More

January 24, 2022 @ 9:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sequoia Capital has reportedly made its first investment in the Gulf / MENA region by leading an investment round for Lean Technologies, a Saudi Arabia-based Fintech company whose founders include the son of the kingdom’s former oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih. Lean Technologies, which allows firms… Read More

January 23, 2022 @ 10:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bahrain-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Rain Financial has secured $110 million in capital via a Series B round. Rain Financial reports that its investment round has been co-led by Paradigm and Kleiner Perkins along with contributions from Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital, MEVP, Cadenza Ventures, and CMT… Read More

January 23, 2022 @ 9:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wa’ed, the entrepreneurship division of Saudi Aramco, has been working with Fintech Saudi as a key partner, along with local seed and early-stage VC company Flat6Labs, in order to introduce a 12-week Fintech Accelerator program. The new Fintech Accelerator will focus on supporting the ongoing… Read More

January 13, 2022 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Capital Banking Solutions is pleased to confirm the successful go-live of IMEIB on its digital banking platform, CapitalDigital. This implementation for IMEIB will provide their customers with a unique virtual banking and mobile banking experience. As mentioned in the update, the bank will enable its… Read More

January 11, 2022 @ 4:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial services have become a lot more accessible, seamless, and user-friendly in the past decade due largely to the rise of innovative Fintech platforms throughout the world. Traditional banking service providers have launched their own digital transformation strategies in order to remain competitive in a… Read More

January 6, 2022 @ 9:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitrefill, a Fintech company that’s supporting digital currency adoption by helping consumers “live on crypto” with gift cards, phone refills, and Lightning Network access, claims that you can now live on crypto in Saudi Arabia. Bitrefill has reportedly added 73 new and popular gift cards… Read More

December 26, 2021 @ 10:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia-headquartered Arab National Bank has reportedly signed on US-based open-source software provider Red Hat, Inc., for the latter’s open hybrid Cloud technologies. As mentioned in the announcement, the Arab National Bank is planning to enhance its capabilities in virtual banking, open finance and customer… Read More

December 14, 2021 @ 9:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Per the terms of this MoU, Mastercard and Buna (the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the AMF), will “seek strategic interoperability between their respective… Read More

December 13, 2021 @ 10:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Virtual payments solution provider Arab Financial Services says that it intends to acquire $98 million in capital in order to support its revenue growth and strategic expansion efforts. Shareholders of the company have reportedly approved plans to increase the firm’s authorized share capital to $150… Read More

December 11, 2021 @ 3:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Edfundo, the transformative smart money management app for kids and teens living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has appointed industry specialists to its advisory board. Joining the board are Saudi-headquartered Fintech & Business Development specialist Saleh AlHammad, UK‘s Finance & Emerging Payments professional David… Read More

December 6, 2021 @ 10:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

i2c Inc., a provider of digital payment and banking tech, has announced its partnership with BEYON Money, the mobile super app introduced by Batelco Financial Services, which is the Fintech unit of Bahrain’s digital solutions and telecommunications provider. Backed by a recently-secured Open Banking license… Read More

November 26, 2021 @ 11:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The National Bank of Kuwait has introduced Weyay, which is reportedly the Middle Eastern country’s first completely digital bank (will focus on serving younger clients). At present, the Fintech and virtual banking app is in beta testing and has been introduced at the pre-registration stage…. Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 8:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

GCC-headquartered early-stage VC company VentureSouq has introduced a $50 million MENA region Fintech Fund I. As mentioned in the announcement, the MENA Fintech Fund I is the first sector-wide Fintech-focused fund to be introduced across the Middle East area and Pakistan. The new Fund is… Read More