Latest News from Saudi Arabia and the World - byline

A realization I've been sitting with for a while and it's time to share it. I've spent many years helping companies with fintech strategy, advisory, and content. And for a while, that work felt irreplaceable. Then AI showed up and...

Most FinTech startups, especially in their early stages, focus on developing their products, with a significant portion seeking incubation or acceleration through programs like MISK Accelerator, 500 Global Accelerator, and Code Centre Incubator and...

FinTech startups, especially in the early stages of ideation, prototyping, MVP development, or even product-market fit, often need financial injections, mentoring, guidance, coworking spaces, incubation, and acceleration. Without these initiatives,...

FinTech is a highly regulated industry, especially in countries with multiple financial regulators like Saudi Arabia. For example, SAMA regulates payments, crowdfunding debt for SMEs, P2P lending, and more; the CMA oversees Robo Advisory, Sukuk,...

The financial technology (FinTech) landscape in Saudi Arabia is undergoing a rapid transformation, with banks playing a pivotal role in this evolution. While banks employ various strategies to engage with FinTech, including direct investments and...

Any move by banks toward entering the FinTech space in KSA is considered positive, though each bank has its own strategy. This article focuses solely on banks' direct investments in FinTech startups, excluding any FinTech venture-building...

I received a WhatsApp message from a friend asking if I would recommend attending the 24FinTech event in Riyadh this September from the 3rd to the 5th. I replied, “This event is similar in scale and importance to the Singapore FinTech Festival,...

Saudi Arabia, under its Vision 2030 and Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) — with the FinTech strategy approved in May 2022 as its fourth pillar, aims to become a cashless society with a target of 70% by 2030. It also aims to make the...