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There is much more to FinTech than companies that provide banking apps. We are living through a technological revolution in the ways in which financial services are delivered across the economy, from personal banking to business-to-business insurance. There is much growth still to take place, with penetration of digital methods and AI that is high in some applications, and low in others.A recent report by the Qatar Development Bank (QDB) chronicles this development and makes recommendations for further progress.Current and anticipated growth in the FinTech sector in the Gulf Co-operation Council economies is high: With revenues in the sector set to grow from QR5.6bn revenues in 2023, to QR31.7bn by 2030, the Qatar Development Bank reports. This is a compound annual growth rate of 25%.Evolution of FinTech is relatively recent in the nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council, but development is accelerating after a slow beginning. A Deloitte study in 2020 showed a FinTech adoption rate of 22% among Middle Eastern consumers. Peer-to-peer transfers was the most widely used application.The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated development, causing an increase in online retailing. Globally, there was a surge in venture capital investment in FinTech firms in 2021, when it reached QR441bn, before dipping to QR323bn in 2022.In terms of the number of FinTech firms, the leader in the Gulf region is the United Arab Emirates, with 686. Qatar comes fourth, with 102 firms established. There is scope for further technological innovation, as well as the spread of existing digital payment systems.Generative AI is increasingly being used for a range of applications. It can help with fraud detection, by identifying suspicious patterns of activities, and with checking credit-worthiness. Customer service can be improved with instant advice from smart chatbots. Large language models can, within certain safeguards, help provide personalised financial advice. And AI can help with regulatory compliance.Insurance is a sector that is being transformed by technology. Increasingly known by the shorthand term InsurTech, new technology can make it easier for customers to manage policies and settle claims quickly. There is also the scope for under-served, low-income citizens to have greater access to insurance. Increased operational efficiency can help providers reduce premiums.Globally, the InsurTech market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of around 38%, reaching QR678bn by 2030. However, InsurTech accounts for just 0.3% of the total insurance market globally, which amounts to $6.9tn.Another significant FinTech application is the development of blockchain and smart contracts. A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology, which speeds processes, reducing the need for intermediaries. A smart contract enables automatic payments once key contractual requirements are met.Islamic FinTech is an established sector. AI can help ensure that investments are compliant with Shariah law, as well as being socially and environmentally responsible. Qatar is host to specialist Islamic finance industry.The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) established a National FinTech Strategy in 2023. The four pillars of the strategy are infrastructure, growth, skills and financial inclusion. Some 29 initiatives have been planned for the first five years, with many already underway. The country’s Third Financial Sector Strategic Plan was launched in the same year, and covers banking, digital finance, insurance and capital markets.FinTech has been the leading sector for venture capital in Qatar, attracting QR46mn of funding, three times more than any other industry. Key to the development has been the establishment of the Qatar FinTech Hub. Established in 2022, it creates ‘waves’ of programmes, in which start-ups receive mentoring, business advice and market access support. The Hub contributed more than QR54mn by 2024, and has set up five waves.In Qatar, the total digital payments market rose from QR107bn in 2022 to an estimated QR130bn in 2024, and is projected to reach QR181bn by 2028. The transaction value of e-commerce payments has come down, indicating that digital payments are used more for everyday transactions.The report categorises five categories according to market maturity and potential. They are: Peer-to-peer lending, buy-now-pay-later, InsurTech, digital wallets and digital payments. All five score at least medium on growth potential, while InsurTech and peer-to-peer lending are low on maturity.Recommendations are grouped into three categories: Leveraging existing support, such as the Qatar FinTech Hub; exploring opportunities across the value chain, such as collaboration between software firms and existing players; and prioritising the identification of market needs, including under-served sectors.The author is a Qatari banker, with many years of experience in the banking sector in senior positions. 

Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH), supported by Qatar Development Bank (QDB), has concluded the seventh wave of ‘Demo Day’ of fintech companies graduating from its pre-acceleration and acceleration programmes.The event was attended by representatives from regulators, business ecosystem partners, and a select group of investors, financial sector leaders, and entrepreneurs. QDB, represented by QFTH, made a strategic announcement regarding the ‘Fintech Development Grant’ provided by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), and the launch of the new model of the ‘Pre-seed Investment Programme’.The event, held under the title ‘Fintech Transformed: From Vision to Impact’, reaffirmed the continued progress of Qatar’s financial ecosystem. This year’s edition, the largest in terms of participating companies, featured presentations from 20 startups enrolled in the ‘pre-acceleration and acceleration programmes.These startups had undergone weeks of thorough hands-on training and specialised mentorship, covering technical and organisational product development, navigating legal and regulatory procedures, preparing for investment, and entering and competing in the market.The seventh wave of companies demonstrated significant maturity and diverse expertise, spanning strategic areas that contribute to the future development of Qatar’s financial sector. These areas include Open Banking, Crowdfunding, InsurTech, and Emerging Tech, in alignment with the objectives of Qatar’s National FinTech Strategy and the Third Financial Sector Strategic Plan.The ‘Fintech Development Grant’, provided by the QCB through QFTH, will offer co-funding of up to QR1.5mn per company, linked to key milestones in each company’s growth journey. The grant aims to enhance technical and regulatory readiness, support product development, and facilitate market entry.QDB also presented the updated model of the ‘Pre-seed Investment Programme’ to finance early-stage companies and graduates of QFTH programmes, announcing an increase in direct investment funding to QR730,000 ($200,000) per company. This comes in addition to other high-quality support services and packages provided by the hub, most notably the opportunity to apply to the ‘Talent Community Programme’, which is designed to attract specialised talent to work in Qatar by offering premium residential spaces.The event also witnessed the announcement of the redesign of the QFTH’s operating methodology through the introduction of an applied model known as the ‘Lab Model’. This model provides a practical pathway for product development and regulatory readiness, enabling companies to transition to the testing environment (sandbox) and initiate the licensing process quickly and effectively. The hub will also hold discussion sessions with companies to better understand their needs and work to address them through an integrated support ecosystem.The success of the latest wave marks a continuation of QDB’s journey in supporting innovation in the fintech sector. Through QFTH, QDB has successfully graduated seven waves of fintech companies so far, in addition to the support it has provided through investments and financing exceeding QR73mn within the sector, whether through the QFTH or QDB’s investment arm.This reflects QDB’s pivotal role in strengthening Qatar’s position as a regional centre for fintech, based on strategic partnerships with regulators and financial and technical institutions. The momentum was further reinforced by recent achievements during QDB’s participation in the Singapore FinTech Festival, which resulted in the signing of a strategic agreement with the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) to establish a fintech centre of excellence and support in Qatar, the first-of-its-kind in the region, as well as to host an international fintech forum in Qatar in the future. It represents a significant addition to the supportive ecosystem and advanced infrastructure provided by Qatar. 

This year has proved to be a pivotal year for digital finance, with stablecoins edging into mainstream use, regulations approved that govern stablecoin, and customers increasingly expecting instant settlement for payments. Mobile digital payments are now routine for millions of people.The total value of all digital payments is projected to reach more than $20tn in 2025, according to Fintech Magazine. Mobile payments comprise 79% of digital transactions.There have been many discussions, and feasibility studies, into the establishment of central bank digital currencies, but with few initiatives. The pattern emerging is that governments are preferring to regulate private providers of stablecoins.The increasing use of stablecoins was a major talking point at October’s annual IMF summit in October. Stablecoins are tokens on a blockchain used as digital cash. They differ from a cryptocurrency in that they are pegged one-to-one with a hard currency, usually the dollar. Examples include Ethereum and Tether. Their use has surged in the past two-three years. Stablecoin usage accounts for around $30bn transactions daily. This is under 1% of all transactions, but it is double the amount of 18 months ago. At current rates, stablecoin use could overtake legacy systems within a decade.Some of the wariness about a digital currency – that it is intangible and only has value if both parties trust it – has also been true of the major fiat currencies since they came off the gold standard in the early 1970s. People in advanced economies with hard currencies and a mature, well-capitalised banking system, may place more faith in established institutions, but in emerging markets many people are unbanked, and have had experience of the local currency collapsing in value due to high inflation.A major potential obstacle was that each stablecoin was proprietary to the firm that set it up, limiting their range and potential. But this limitation has been overcome through technical ‘bridges’, which enable tokens to be transferred across different blockchains.For many uses, a blockchain-based currency has advantages over the conventional banking system. Transactions, including cross-border transactions, are in real time, 24/7, typically settled in a second or two. Conversion to local currency has been made easier. There have been technical advances by fintechs, for example making digital wallets and payments by mobile phone user-friendly.For commercial transactions, the stablecoin can be embedded in a smart contract, such that settlement is instant as soon as a delivery is made. This ease of settlement can reduce costs and delays in supply chains.Stablecoin transfers are cheaper than conventional international transfers, with the fintech charging a few cents, rather than a few dollars. International money transfers through banks still go through a clearing system, which may take some days.A report by the consultancy McKinsey identified that the three main uses of stablecoins are settling cryptocurrency trading, cross-border payments especially by migrant workers and small businesses, and emerging market governments as a hedge against inflation and for peer-to-peer payments. PricewaterhouseCoopers also noted significant use by institutional investors and high net-worth individuals. The number of active wallets using stablecoins increased by 53% between February 2024 and February 2025, numbering over 30mn.Regulations governing the use of stablecoins have encouraged their adoption. The GENIUS Act, passed by the US in June this year, sets out provisions for oversight, reserves and stability of stablecoins.Regulation will help but there are risks. Stablecoins are not legal tender, and holders of stablecoins do not have a legal entitlement to the underlying asset. Stablecoins require an off-ramp – conversion to local currency – although in the future more people may choose to hold funds in stablecoins. No national government will compensate deposit holders in the case of losses due to a run on a stablecoin, as is the case with many mainstream banks where regulations safeguard citizens’ deposits, though they may be capped in some instances.There is a run risk with stablecoins: while they are primarily for transactional, not speculative, purposes, it is possible that a large number of investors could redeem their holdings simultaneously. This is not a theoretical risk: The stablecoin Terra collapsed in May 2022 following a sudden collapse in confidence by holders. Although a stablecoin is set up with a peg to an established currency, there have been instances of de-pegging, linked to concerns over reserves.Security is a risk with all financial holdings and transactions. Established stablecoin operators do have checks to prevent fraud, such as ‘know your customer’ (KYC), and anti-money laundering (AML) measures.In other ways, the digital revolution is changing payments systems. Even within the banking industry – for example, banks now partner with fintechs to send money internationally more quickly than through the clearing system of banks.Established financial firms may purchase or partner with fintechs to expand their coverage in digital finance. US giant JP Morgan has set up a JPM Coin, a stablecoin. From the opposite direction, some Web 3.0 fintechs may seek a banking licence.The broader picture is one of global money becoming digital, mobile, international, with instant settlements and lower fees.The author is a Qatari banker, with many years of experience in the banking sector in senior positions. 

Legal PerspectiveDue to increasing need to utilise new technologies in business, many new solutions are offered to help in this arena. We mention, in this connection, that RegTech, as a sub-industry of Fintech, is reaching high funding and it will continue to grow as businesses work hard to stay compliant with the new and existing regulations.The growth of this new industry is due to many factors and reasons including, among other things, noticeable volume of regulatory requirements, big fines in cases of non-compliance, clear activity in the use of technology especially after Covid-19, increased funding for RegTech companies, etc.This new technology, no doubt, offers safer, faster and more efficient workflows and therefore institutions are expected to increase spending on RegTech solutions to streamline their role and future business.It goes without saying that, the increased digitalisation, particularly in banking, has given rise to a number of challenges, both to regulators and likewise to executors. There has been a remarkable increase in the services provided. However, at the same time, there is also remarkable increase in new crimes, cyber-crimes, including data breaches, cyber hacks, risk of money laundering, and fraud.By using technology, the RegTech companies have started proving that they can do a better job than normal legacy systems particularly with reference to the detection of illegal activities. As we see, at present, RegTech companies operate in various areas of the financial and regulatory space.In the financial sector, as example, the regulators across the globe have come up with a number of mandates to increase transparency and reduce risk. The sheer volume of new norms for compliance added, increased or complicated the troubles facing the financial institutions. It has been noticed that, highly regulated industries such as the banking industry is facing ever-increasing regulatory compliance obligations.Herein, modern new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics and machine learning, can be utilised by the banking and financial industries to address challenges for regulatory compliance. RegTech companies are using these technologies in their solutions to make regulatory compliance processes more efficient and effective.RegTech solutions have various applications such as financial crime detection and prevention, cybercrime supervision, tracking and recording compliance activities, centralisation and timely submission of regulatory filings and streamlining market review workflows.Needless to say that, they can help compliance departments achieve a greater return on investment by increasing operational efficiencies, reducing operational costs and mitigating the risk of breach of regulatory norms. It’s good to follow and adopt this new activity, however, the need for human professionals is irreplaceable and the professional minds along with the new machine’s abilities shall work in collaboration to benefit our society for a prosperous future.Dr AbdelGadir Warsama Ghalib is a corporate legal counsel. Email: [email protected]

QNB KSA has announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Sanad Pay, a leading Saudi fintech and licensed point-of-sale (POS) service provider, to introduce smart, cloud-based POS terminals that bring merchants seamless connectivity, modern design, and real-time analytics to enhance their business performance.The agreement marks the start of a collaboration aimed at providing merchants across Saudi Arabia with secure, reliable, and innovative POS solutions that meet the highest standards of quality and compliance, in line with Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of advancing a cashless economy.The signing was attended by Hashim Alawi al-Hussain, VP Transaction Banking at QNB KSA and Maher Mahdi al-Shahin, CEO, Sanad Pay, in the presence of several senior representatives from both sides.Through this service, merchants can accept multiple payment methods including debit and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Mada), contactless payments (Apple Pay, STC Pay), and QR code transactions — all through a single device.The solution also provides advanced digital invoicing, inventory management, and accounting system integration, allowing businesses to track and manage their operations efficiently.With built-in monitoring and backup systems, merchants are assured of uninterrupted business operations, while a centralised platform enables them to access consolidated reports and monitor sales performance with ease.This initiative allows QNB KSA to expand its value-added services offering to clients while maintaining its core banking and relationship focus.