John Meehan, who serves as the Global Shares Business Development Director said that the Middle East is a region of huge strategic importance to Global Shares as more and more companies recognise the importance of equity-based compensation.

Global Shares, which has 16 offices across the globe, has appointed Abdulhadi Alherz as the new managing director of the Middle East. With regard to his appointment, he told the media, “I am really excited to join Global Shares, a global fintech leader, which has reimagined technology solutions in the employee ownership space. It’s a niche market, where I get to continue working with software and fintech, while delivering digital transformation and a really great customer experience, which is core to business success.”

It is also reported that Saudi Arabia-based fintech Hakbah has raised around $1.2 million in its seed funding round. The fintech received approval from the central bank, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to launch its commercial services in the Kingdom in July last year. Last month, telecommunication company Virgin Mobile entered the fintech space in the Kingdom by acquiring a banking agent license through a strategic agreement with The Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB).

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Through the launch of the new payment services, Amazon seeks to facilitate seamless online financial transactions and enable businesses to accept digital payments using both local and international payment methods.

Its partner banks include Rak Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq, the Saudi British Bank , Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank and National Commercial Bank. Partners also include local card schemes such as MADA, and Meeza, and international card services such as Visa and MasterCard.

Omar Soudodi, managing director of Amazon Payment Services told the media, “Today’s launch marks another key milestone in Amazon’s promise to build the future of digital payments in the region, empowering businesses to provide user-friendly payment experience for their end-users.”

“We listened to businesses across a broad range of industries to continue improving our offering. Amazon Payment Services is a natural next step in our journey, focusing on four fundamental pillars of trust, convenience, selection and pricing, underpinned by a best-in-class experience focused on reliability scale and operational excellence.”

As a result of the countermeasures introduced to fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the MENA region saw an increase in online activities which include digital financial transactions. The launch of Amazon’s new fintech unit comes at a time when there is a growing demand for digital payment solutions in the region.

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Through the programme, Fintech Saudi aims to empower highly innovative entrepreneurs who display massive potential within the local fintech industry. It is reported that around 10 fintech startups will be selected for the programme.

Besides exposure to investors, the programme will also provide them with mentoring and give them a chance to enhance their pitching skills and showcase their solutions at global events.

Nejoud Al Mulaik, director of Fintech Saudi told the media, “The Fintech Accelerator is an important milestone for Fintech Saudi. Over the last year we have seen a threefold increase in the number of fintech companies operating in Saudi Arabia and we want this trend to continue and contribute to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. We are therefore delighted to collaborate with Flat6Labs to launch the Fintech Accelerator program that will provide entrepreneurs with the key skills, support and access they need to grow their fintech business in the Kingdom.”

Startups must have a business model with users and recorded income in the last three months to quality for the programme. They also need to be a private company and must showcase their capabilities in transforming Saudi fintech industry.

Ramez El Serafy, chief executive at Flat6Labs, said that their collaboration with Fintech Saudi will help to foster fintech companies and accelerate their growth.

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The initiative is jointly set up by 15 of the UAE’s leading national banks. Its objective is to limit the use of cash in the economy and at the same time drive digital transformation across the UAE.

In this regard, Mohammed Al Jayyash, Chairman of Emirates Digital Wallet LLC, told the media, “The vision for Emirates Digital Wallet has always been to act as the catalyst in creating a society without any physical cash in circulation. To get there, our mission involves implementing and managing a digital cash platform, inclusive of all banks, businesses and individuals, that seamlessly integrates and replaces physical cash.”

“Introducing a country-wide digital cash platform is a complex operation. Extensive development, refinement and testing – alongside the continued support of the UAE Central Bank and UAE Banks Federation – has led us in delivering the capability of replacing physical cash with a digital equivalent. As we enter this final round of testing, we become one step closer to our society having no dependency on physical cash,” Al Jayyash added.

The klip app allows its users to pay for any goods and services across the UAE. The merchants that the users are dealing with should have a point of sale system issued by partner banks.

To make financial transaction through the app, the user does not need have a bank account. Reportedly, anyone with an Emirates ID can send or receive money to a mobile wallet on their phone, and users can also link credit or debit cards to it.

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As per the reports, the number of financial transactions carried out from smartphones in Saudi Arabia grew by 352 percent year-on-year to April 2020, from 4.4 million to 19.7 million individual transactions.

The number of fundraising deals completed by fintech startups in Saudi Arabia for the year to date has also increased, with the total investment amount already surpassing 2019 levels.

Saudi Arabia’s fintech sector is also expected to reach a transaction value of around 433 billion by 2023.

However, the Covid-19 crisis has also taken its toll on the fintech sector in the kingdom.

The Magnitt report further revealed that around 64 percent of the fintech startups it surveyed had a revenue drop due to the Covid-19 crisis. Around 22 percent of them had to let employees go to deal with the crisis.

“Large banks are tapping into the start-up system to incubate and create alliances on a variety of platforms such as wallets, payments, investment intermediation and online client acquisition,” the report said.

“They are not only developing platforms for such start-ups to thrive, but are also beginning to invest in such platforms.”

Recent developments in the Saudi fintech sector include the launch of Apple Pay, the establishment of Saudi Payments and the continued issuance of regulatory testing licenses and regulations by the Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to support fintech activities.

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The partnership will enable local banks to accept JCB cards through their network of point-of-sale terminals.

The partnership between Saudi Payments and Japan’s JCB will aim to improve the payments in Saudi Arabia by providing modern payment methods and reducing the use of cash.

The partnership will also see the national payments network MADA to accept JCB payments through its platform.

With regard to the partnership with Saudi Payments, Yoshiki Kaneko, president of JCB International told the media, “Saudi Arabia is the most significant market for JCB to expand the issuance of JCB cards in the Islamic region. Saudi Arabia is one of the most important travel destinations for our cardholders. With the Kingdom’s enhanced Vision 2030 strategy and the ever-increasing ties between Saudi Arabia and Japan, I am delighted that we have entered into this partnership with Saudi Payments for the acceptance of JCB cards.”

“Over the coming months we will be announcing partnerships with local banks to expand our acceptance infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, to cater for both the business and touristic needs of our cardholders,” he added.

Earlier this month, Saudi Payments signed a strategic agreement with Discover to increase the global acceptance footprint for both organisations.

Reportedly, the agreement will give Discover, Diners Club International, PULSE and network alliance cardholders the ability to use their card on the MADA network.

The strategic agreement is also in line with the kingdom’s plan to grow the number of options available in the Kingdom’s digital payment environment.

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The Middle East fintech study by Deloitte found that of the 18 percent unwilling to use fintech products, 40 percent cited security and privacy as their biggest concerns.

Rushdi Duqah, Deloitte Middle East Digital Leader told the media, “We hope to provide insights that increase transparency on the evolution of the Middle East fintech ecosystem, and to strengthen the cooperation between banks and fintechs, enabling banks to offer their customers innovative value propositions.”

The Deloitte study took into account the responses of some 1,500 banking customers and more than 50 digital leaders from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. The study finds that there is limited alignment between customer expectations and bank offerings and the fintech ecosystem in the Middle East is characterised by a certain degree of contradiction and dichotomy.

The study further reveals that even though the fintech ecosystem is evolving, however, when it comes to funding and investment, the sector seems to be lagging behind in the region.

According to KPMG’s Pulse of fintech survey, fintech startups in the Middle East were involved in 2,693 deals in 2019 worth $135.7 billion.

The industry in the Middle East and North Africa region is set to attract $2.5 billion by 2022, according to a study by Mena Research Partners.

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The deal is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) and the Competition Authority.

Sahar Salama, founder, and chief executive officer, TPAY Mobile told the media, “TPAY Mobile is on an accelerated growth trajectory, and the acquisition of Payguru fast-tracks our vision to become the leading digital payment platform in the Middle East and Africa, guaranteeing a best in class user experience, and offering innovative services to our partners, and further driving digital and financial inclusion in our region.”

“This transaction extends our footprint in the region, continues our diversification into new business lines, and also significantly strengthens our value-added services proposition in the region. The regional and global fintech sector is at an inflection point for growth, making this the perfect time to welcome Payguru into our fold.”

TPAY Mobile is a digital merchant acquirer and mobile payment enabler in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region that enables payment acceptance from more than 54 mobile payment types and wallets, which are connected to more than 580 million consumers.

The deal comes at a time when demand for digital payment services are on a rise due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the last couple of months, mobile payments have emerged as a popular alternative among 50 percent of the population in MEA, most of which are underbanked.

Payguru, on the other hand, offers several services, including mobile payments, ATM cash payments, and bank transfers to merchants. Established in 2015, Payguru has over 1,300 merchants on its platform and has processed over 13 million transactions in the last year.

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The new fac virtual prepaid Mastercard launched by STC Bahrain will also users access a wider range of merchants.

The launch comes at a time when the use of paper currencies is heavily discouraged as it could help in the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The virtual prepaid Mastercard can be accessed through the STC Pay app.

The new service can be availed by STC wallet holders without incurring any additional charges. The Mastercards come with a validity of 3 years, the media reported.

With regard to the launch of the new virtual prepaid Mastercard, STC Bahrain chief executive officer Nezar Banabeela told the media, “We are delighted to partner with NEC Payments which further elevates our digital business offerings. Given Bahrain’s high responsiveness to digital platforms and the current uncertain times, we continue to step up our digital capabilities with integrated and relevant products, while helping them maintain their financial and personal well-being.”

NEC Payments co-founder and chief executive Andrew Sims revealed that NEC Payments’ plug-and-play banking-as-a-service solution enables digital distributors to quickly launch innovative financial products leveraging NEC’s technology, regulatory licence, and principal membership of Mastercard.

Recently, STC also announced that it has entered into a partnership with Nokia to launch software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) services across the country.

STC AgileWAN is a service that will provide the required agility, flexibility, visibility, control, and security to the way customers connect their network to the central or cloud resources.

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Mubadala has made the stake acquisition in Finablr through MIC Capital Partners, a fund owned by Mubadala’s investment arm- Mubadala Investment Company.

A Mubadala spokesperson told the media, “They have taken a stake over the past several weeks in Finablr, reaching a level of disclosure required by the regulators.”

Reportedly, Finablr’s stock has dropped more than 90 percent before trading was suspended earlier this week. Finablr has also hired an adviser and is working on a rapid contingency plan.

Its chief executive officer Promoth Mangha has recently resigned from his post.

According to the company, it is investigating cheques worth $100 million, dating back to before its IPO last year that may have been used as security for financing arrangements for the benefit of third parties.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said, “The board is looking to put in place a package of urgent measures aimed at restoring confidence and stability across its stakeholders.”

The company has also hired Kroll, a New York-based corporate investigations and risk consulting firm, to look into the matter.

According to reports published earlier this month, Mubadala is also considering investing in NMC Health which was also founded by Dr. B. R. Shetty, founder of Finablr.

Mubadala is considering options such as buying a stake in NMC Health and also acquiring a board seat.

Mudabala’s decision to invest in NMC Health comes at a time when the healthcare company is undergoing an investigation by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority over allegations of fraud.

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