Pedro Sousa Cardoso returns to Emirates NBD as new chief digital officer
Cardoso joins from Standard Chartered, where he worked as a senior managing director.
Middle East
BIS finds CBDC-blockchain combo outclasses correspondent banking
Its new project, mBridge, experiments with new CBDC combinations.
Bahrain’s Bank ABC taps Fenergo for client management solution
Bank ABC operates across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Kenbi launches in Israel to help merchants approve payments
New fintech aims to sit atop payment flows and enable easier transactions.
Ejabiah picks Path Solutions to power 0% interest financing
New Saudi Arabian fintech aims to help SMEs with their growth.
UAE challenger Zand prepares for launch in both retail and corporate markets
New bank aims to break into an already crowded sector.
Finnovex Middle East Summit: Digging deeper into resilient and agile transformation strategies
The event highlighted the imperative to endow the digital future of the region.
Exclusive: Oracle FS wins major core banking deal with Gulf Bank
The front-to-back operation is set to be a major undertaking.
Spend management platform PayEm lands $27m in funding
The Israeli fintech says it meets the accounting needs of decentralised and fragmented global enterprise.
Brex acquires Israeli start-up Weav in $50m deal
US fintech will aim to leverage Weav’s API technology.
UAE-based BNPL provider tabby lands $50m Series B funding
The round takes the company’s valuation up to $300 million.
Airtel Africa’s mobile money business receives $200m from QIA
QIA gains a minority stake in African mobile payments firm.
South African fintech Yoco looks to scale following $83m Series C round
The firm is now targeting expansion across Africa and the Middle East.
Nomo launches as UK’s newest Islamic digital bank
The new challenger is a subsidiary of Kuwait-based Boubyan Bank.
Lune launches UAE’s first personal finance management app
The company is aiming to improve financial literacy in the region.
Singapore start-up Bambu acquires investment and trading wealthtech Tradesocio
Bambu plans to tap into Tradesocio’s presence across EMEA and India.
Gulf Bank picks Murex’s MX.3 treasury management platform
Kuwait-based firm is looking to become a “fully integrated digital bank”.
Cities and Villages Development Bank picks ICS Banks
Jordanian bank replacing legacy system with cloud deployment.
Al Baraka waves goodbye to IT boss Albalooshi after 12 years
Ahmed Albalooshi leaves the Bahraini bank after more than a decade leading its IT operations.
Capital Bank picks Codebase to launch new neobank in Jordan and Iraq
The new offering will be powered by Codebase’s Digibanc platform.
Commercial Bank of Kuwait picks TCS treasury solution
The Middle Eastern bank is looking to transform its treasury operations.
Saudi Arabia grants first digital banking licences
STC Pay and ARTAR given green light by central bank.
BaaS start-up Unit raises $51m in Series B round
The company also announced the launch of its new service Unit Go.
Mashreq Bank picks Comarch wealth management platform
UAE bank seeks levelling up for wealth clients.
Mastercard and Visa pick new partnerships to drive biometric payments
Mastercard partners with FinGo following Visa’s deal with ADIB.
BNPL firm Zip extends acquisition spree, buys up Twisto and Spotii
The Australian firm has spent $105 million on its new buyouts.
Forter raises $300m in Series F to invest in fraud prevention tech
New York-based firm has raised $525 million in total since 2013 and is now valued at $3 billion.
Barclays hires Standard Chartered’s Demery to support fintech clients
Demery takes over fintech partnerships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Investbank Jordan seeks leap forwards in card offerings with i2c Inc deal
The bank is focused on improved card offerings for personal and corporate customers.
ThetaRay raises $31m to fuel cross-border payments expansion
Cybersecurity firm has big ambitions for changing the cross-border sector.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank picks FIS Open Payment Framework
UAE-based bank seeks to capitalise on customers paying digitally.
Video: pick of the week – Bahrain to pilot digital currency; Facebook shifts crypto venture to US
A top pick of stories from the world of finance and tech in bitesize video format, twice a week.
Bahrain’s central bank to pilot digital dollar with JP Morgan and Bank ABC
Bank ABC’s deputy group CEO calls this a “landmark pilot”.
Mashreq takes Oracle components around existing Flexcube core
Mashreq Bank is seeking to improve its transaction banking proposition.
Kuwait International Bank announces Mobiquity as digital transformation partner
Mobiquity will provide strategy, design and engineering services for digital banking.
Blockchain compliance firm Securrency raises $30m in Series B round
The new injection will help Securrency’s expansion in the UAE and the US.
Mizrahi-Tehafot Bank picks up Finastra payments solution
Israel-based bank extends partnership with Finastra.
Tamara scores MENA’s largest Series A round with $110m investment
The BNPL provider aims to reach all GCC markets by the end of the year.
Saudi Arabia launches new real-time payments system with IBM and Mastercard
The kingdom enlisted the help of IBM and Mastercard for the roll-out.
Emirati tycoon Mohamed Alabbar to chair UAE challenger Zand
Zand is still waiting on its application for a full UAE banking licence.
