Digest 13 | March 2024

What companies are telling us

• The UAE will see the emergence of Ruya, an Islamic digital bank headquartered in Ajman.
• Pakistan's Raqami Islamic Digital Bank, in partnership with Codebase Technologies, plans to offer Shariah-compliant digital services to meet the needs of some 240 million Pakistanis.
• Qatar Central Bank will provide fast payments with the new Fawran service.?
• Visa has partnered and invested in Jordanian fintech company Numa, which provides financial services and products to freelancers and self-employed individuals. The company will help Numa expand its operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
• Mastercard is working with the Central Bank of Jordan to create a more robust digital payments ecosystem in the Kingdom. The company has also partnered with Egyptian bank Alexbank to expand its strategy of developing payment solutions.
• The DIFC has passed the Digital Asset and Security Act, which serves as an amendment to the existing law, to address any uncertainty investors and users may experience when adopting the technology.
• Salla, a Saudi-based fintech company that offers e-commerce marketplaces solutions for building websites and making online payments, is raising $130 million.
• Buildnow, Saudi Arabia's first "Build Now, Pay Later" provider for the construction industry, has raised $9.4 million.

Market Analytics

Fintech in Saudi Arabia: a rapid transition

Findexable shared its latest research on the GCC region and in particular Saudi Arabia's fintech development:

• Venture capital investment in the Kingdom's technology sector has continued to grow over the past five years and in 2023, for the first time, came out on top in the MENA region.
• Saudi Arabia is the fifth largest digital payments market in the world (8 billion transactions).?
• Digital wallet usage has grown 70 times in five years, to 14 million registered customers by the end of 2022.
• From 2020 to 2022, the number of BNPL customers increased 130 times (from 76 thousand to 10 million users).
• The number of fintech startups has passed 200 companies (a 20-fold increase in 5 years, up from 10 in 2018).
• Key drivers: a national agenda for diversification and digitalization, a regulation that promotes innovation by giving fintech entrepreneurs access to an engaged regulator and a sandbox to test and pilot innovations, an emerging local and venture capital ecosystem with international companies, a young and digital-savvy population.

The remittance sector in the Middle East will grow rapidly due to digital innovation

The global digital cross-border remittance market is valued at $148.08 billion and is expected to reach $339.87 billion by 2030, driven by the increasing use of cell phones and online shopping. Meanwhile, UAE and Saudi Arabia are major hubs for cross-border remittances, with $39.6 billion and $39.3 billion sent from the countries in 2022, respectively, accounting for about 7% of their GDP.

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The demand for reliable and affordable remittance services in these countries is fueled by the growing number of expatriates, especially from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, who are sending money back to their home countries. Consequently, consumers are looking for innovative solutions that will provide an integrated approach that allows people to stay connected to their loved ones while gaining greater control and value from their financial transactions.

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