Saudi Arabia seeks joint fintech drive with UAE, Bahrain

Saudi Arabia is in talks with the UAE and Bahrain to establish a coordinated approach to regulate and nurture fintech startups, Arab News reported, citing a senior Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) official.

"Discussions with central banks in the UAE and Bahrain would help to coordinate the fintech activities of financial centers around the Gulf region, all of whom are seeking to attract international and domestic entrepreneurs," said Mishari Al-Assailan, the acting head of Fintech Saudi, a division of Saudi central bank.

He urged the Gulf countries to work on setting up a "GCC sandbox" that ties into the rest of the Middle East.

A "sandbox" enables startups to begin operating under a light-touch regulatory model.

Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority approved the Kingdom’s first fintech licenses to Manafa Capital and Scopeer to create equity crowdfunding platforms.

While Al-Assailan admitted that the Kingdom had been slow to develop its fintech infrastructure, he was confident that startups would be attracted by the sheer size of the Saudi market.

“People used to go to the UAE and Bahrain because we didn’t have the infrastructure. But most of those fintechs in the UAE and Bahrain want to sell into Saudi Arabia, because we have the market and the purchasing power and that by itself is an advantage for us.”

Currently, there are about 20 Saudi fintech startups, Al-Assailan added.