Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
What happened, and what you missed
Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
Written by
Community Pulse
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches — and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches - and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
Day 1 at a glance
38,000 expected attendees across three days at RECC, Malham
350 exhibiting brands - 600 investors - 150 startups
19 agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1
$283M raised across two rounds announced against the event
3 products launched on the floor - all financing or AI
1 keynote that mattered: the Minister of Finance opened the show
Riyadh is now a deal floor, not a conference. Most of what was announced on Day 1 was signed, funded or launched - not discussed.
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
H.E. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Chair of the Financial Sector Development Program, opened the second edition. Five things he said that matter for anyone building in Saudi finance:
Vision 2030 enters phase three - the focus moves from building the financial sector to sustaining its impact.
Q2 targets beaten - Financial Sector Development Program indicators exceeded plan; the sector "proved resilient" to geopolitical shocks.
Sukuk in the indices - Saudi sukuk inclusion in the JPMorgan and Bloomberg emerging-market indices, framed as an international certificate of progress.
Capital markets next - a new phase to raise market efficiency and attract global investors, with financing and investment channels widened for fintech.
The line of the day - "innovative but resilient, open but trusted, fast to adopt technology without conceding financial stability."
That is the frame the Minister set before 1pm. Every announcement that followed sat inside it - and every pitch on Day 2 should too.
Capital showed up before the panels did
$233M - Tabby. Series F at a $6.5B valuation, the largest cheque announced against the event.
$50M - Tarabut. Strategic financing to deepen its open-banking infrastructure focus on Saudi Arabia.
SR 375M - Foodics. Restaurant-funding target behind Capital 2.0, an AI-powered financing product launched on the floor.
SR 300M - Network International. Investment into the Saudi market, disclosed by the GM in a floor interview.
Three of the four cheques went to infrastructure and embedded finance, not to consumer apps. The money is betting on the rails, not the storefront.
Nineteen deals in one day, two names signed nine of them
Agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1, by signing party: D360 Bank (5), Moyasar (4), Al Rajhi (3), SAB (2), Vision Bank, barq, Sukuk Capital, Hotspot and Vast Group (1 each).
D360 signed with Google Cloud, Remitly, Lean, QuickRetro and Shokran.
Moyasar signed with STC Bank, Payrails, Merit and DOO.
Al Rajhi signed with Panda, Almatar and Elm (via Takaful).
SAB signed with Geidea and Blossom.
Vision Bank signed with Publicis Sapient. barq with Floward. Sukuk Capital with Tamam. Hotspot with Elm. Vast with NearPay.
The pattern. Loyalty and payments dominate: points with Panda and Almatar, a gateway with Geidea, Samsung Pay via Moyasar. Two open-banking deals (Lean, Tarabut). One cloud-and-AI deal (Google Cloud). A digital-native bank and a payment gateway out-signed every incumbent combined - deal velocity on the floor was a fintech story, not a banking one.
What was new on the floor
Foodics Capital 2.0 - AI-powered, automated financing for restaurants with a SR 375M funding target, the only product launch with a number attached.
RiseUp comes to the Middle East - Money20/20's award-winning women-in-fintech programme launched in the region for the first time.
Masdar: Mufeed - a financing product and a digital compliance platform for the medical-insurance journey, shown side by side.
Vision Bank x Publicis Sapient - a strategic partnership to accelerate AI-powered banking, positioning Vision as the Kingdom's first AI-native Islamic bank.
Thunes - payouts to six new Middle East markets, faster access to bank accounts, wallets and cash pickup across the region.
A passport stamp for a conference - the Interior Ministry issued a commemorative Money20/20 stamp at Riyadh's airports. The state marketed the event like a brand.
Three launches, three themes: embedded financing, AI-native banking, cross-border rails. None of them came from an incumbent bank.
Five threads ran through everything
Loyalty is the new battleground - Al Rajhi's Mokafaa points into Panda and Almatar; Moyasar's loyalty layer with Merit.
Payments keep consolidating - Samsung Pay via STC Bank, a new gateway from SAB and Geidea, Payrails into Moyasar, NearPay with Vast.
Open banking moves from pilot to product - Lean x D360, Tarabut's $50M, Derayah promising six more fintech deals.
AI is claimed, rarely shown - Vision Bank, D360 x Google Cloud, Foodics Capital 2.0, all at partnership level, no customer-facing product yet.
Insurance found the fintech floor - Elm's Muqeem platform signed Takaful Al Rajhi and Hotspot; insurtech is a Money20/20 category by default now.
The through-line is distribution. Whoever owns the loyalty points, the checkout and the data pipe owns the customer. The bank licence is table stakes.
Three stands worth the walk
American Express Saudi Arabia - Bridge Stage, 3:20pm. CEO Fahad Al-Guthami on "Trust, Experience and Partnership: Building the Future of Payments." In a market racing to add rails, the thing customers actually choose is trust - built through experience and partners, not features.
Geidea - gold sponsor, one gateway. Signed an MoU with SAB to explore a new payment gateway aligned with the National Payment Gateway framework.
Bank Albilad - Dufaa - silver sponsor, financing on show. Albilad's stand ran through Dufaa, its digital financing arm: an end-to-end lending journey pitched as easier, clearer and faster.
Gold sponsors: D360 Bank, Geidea, Tameed, Saudi Investment Bank. Silver: Bank Albilad, ClearGrid, Dell Technologies, Ektis.
What did not make the headlines
Samsung Pay arrived through a side door - a line inside a Moyasar MoU, not a bank press release.
D360 signed five in one day - the quietest stand on the floor was the busiest.
Derayah pledged more than six deals - the largest outstanding promise of the week.
A super commercial bank blueprint - EAC Fund and EssentaTor, stablecoins and AI in one stack, and nobody covered it.
The CMA Chairman on a startup stand - regulators walking the floor is the tell that licensing, not launches, is the real test.
The floor announces what it planned. The corridors decide what matters. The gap between the two is what a good Day 2 fixes.
Key takeaways
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
Nineteen deals signed, two names accounted for nine of them
$283M raised across two headline rounds
Loyalty, payments and open banking were the through-line
The quietest stand on the floor signed the most deals
More articles
Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
What happened, and what you missed
Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
Written by
Community Pulse
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches — and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches - and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
Day 1 at a glance
38,000 expected attendees across three days at RECC, Malham
350 exhibiting brands - 600 investors - 150 startups
19 agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1
$283M raised across two rounds announced against the event
3 products launched on the floor - all financing or AI
1 keynote that mattered: the Minister of Finance opened the show
Riyadh is now a deal floor, not a conference. Most of what was announced on Day 1 was signed, funded or launched - not discussed.
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
H.E. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Chair of the Financial Sector Development Program, opened the second edition. Five things he said that matter for anyone building in Saudi finance:
Vision 2030 enters phase three - the focus moves from building the financial sector to sustaining its impact.
Q2 targets beaten - Financial Sector Development Program indicators exceeded plan; the sector "proved resilient" to geopolitical shocks.
Sukuk in the indices - Saudi sukuk inclusion in the JPMorgan and Bloomberg emerging-market indices, framed as an international certificate of progress.
Capital markets next - a new phase to raise market efficiency and attract global investors, with financing and investment channels widened for fintech.
The line of the day - "innovative but resilient, open but trusted, fast to adopt technology without conceding financial stability."
That is the frame the Minister set before 1pm. Every announcement that followed sat inside it - and every pitch on Day 2 should too.
Capital showed up before the panels did
$233M - Tabby. Series F at a $6.5B valuation, the largest cheque announced against the event.
$50M - Tarabut. Strategic financing to deepen its open-banking infrastructure focus on Saudi Arabia.
SR 375M - Foodics. Restaurant-funding target behind Capital 2.0, an AI-powered financing product launched on the floor.
SR 300M - Network International. Investment into the Saudi market, disclosed by the GM in a floor interview.
Three of the four cheques went to infrastructure and embedded finance, not to consumer apps. The money is betting on the rails, not the storefront.
Nineteen deals in one day, two names signed nine of them
Agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1, by signing party: D360 Bank (5), Moyasar (4), Al Rajhi (3), SAB (2), Vision Bank, barq, Sukuk Capital, Hotspot and Vast Group (1 each).
D360 signed with Google Cloud, Remitly, Lean, QuickRetro and Shokran.
Moyasar signed with STC Bank, Payrails, Merit and DOO.
Al Rajhi signed with Panda, Almatar and Elm (via Takaful).
SAB signed with Geidea and Blossom.
Vision Bank signed with Publicis Sapient. barq with Floward. Sukuk Capital with Tamam. Hotspot with Elm. Vast with NearPay.
The pattern. Loyalty and payments dominate: points with Panda and Almatar, a gateway with Geidea, Samsung Pay via Moyasar. Two open-banking deals (Lean, Tarabut). One cloud-and-AI deal (Google Cloud). A digital-native bank and a payment gateway out-signed every incumbent combined - deal velocity on the floor was a fintech story, not a banking one.
What was new on the floor
Foodics Capital 2.0 - AI-powered, automated financing for restaurants with a SR 375M funding target, the only product launch with a number attached.
RiseUp comes to the Middle East - Money20/20's award-winning women-in-fintech programme launched in the region for the first time.
Masdar: Mufeed - a financing product and a digital compliance platform for the medical-insurance journey, shown side by side.
Vision Bank x Publicis Sapient - a strategic partnership to accelerate AI-powered banking, positioning Vision as the Kingdom's first AI-native Islamic bank.
Thunes - payouts to six new Middle East markets, faster access to bank accounts, wallets and cash pickup across the region.
A passport stamp for a conference - the Interior Ministry issued a commemorative Money20/20 stamp at Riyadh's airports. The state marketed the event like a brand.
Three launches, three themes: embedded financing, AI-native banking, cross-border rails. None of them came from an incumbent bank.
Five threads ran through everything
Loyalty is the new battleground - Al Rajhi's Mokafaa points into Panda and Almatar; Moyasar's loyalty layer with Merit.
Payments keep consolidating - Samsung Pay via STC Bank, a new gateway from SAB and Geidea, Payrails into Moyasar, NearPay with Vast.
Open banking moves from pilot to product - Lean x D360, Tarabut's $50M, Derayah promising six more fintech deals.
AI is claimed, rarely shown - Vision Bank, D360 x Google Cloud, Foodics Capital 2.0, all at partnership level, no customer-facing product yet.
Insurance found the fintech floor - Elm's Muqeem platform signed Takaful Al Rajhi and Hotspot; insurtech is a Money20/20 category by default now.
The through-line is distribution. Whoever owns the loyalty points, the checkout and the data pipe owns the customer. The bank licence is table stakes.
Three stands worth the walk
American Express Saudi Arabia - Bridge Stage, 3:20pm. CEO Fahad Al-Guthami on "Trust, Experience and Partnership: Building the Future of Payments." In a market racing to add rails, the thing customers actually choose is trust - built through experience and partners, not features.
Geidea - gold sponsor, one gateway. Signed an MoU with SAB to explore a new payment gateway aligned with the National Payment Gateway framework.
Bank Albilad - Dufaa - silver sponsor, financing on show. Albilad's stand ran through Dufaa, its digital financing arm: an end-to-end lending journey pitched as easier, clearer and faster.
Gold sponsors: D360 Bank, Geidea, Tameed, Saudi Investment Bank. Silver: Bank Albilad, ClearGrid, Dell Technologies, Ektis.
What did not make the headlines
Samsung Pay arrived through a side door - a line inside a Moyasar MoU, not a bank press release.
D360 signed five in one day - the quietest stand on the floor was the busiest.
Derayah pledged more than six deals - the largest outstanding promise of the week.
A super commercial bank blueprint - EAC Fund and EssentaTor, stablecoins and AI in one stack, and nobody covered it.
The CMA Chairman on a startup stand - regulators walking the floor is the tell that licensing, not launches, is the real test.
The floor announces what it planned. The corridors decide what matters. The gap between the two is what a good Day 2 fixes.
Key takeaways
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
Nineteen deals signed, two names accounted for nine of them
$283M raised across two headline rounds
Loyalty, payments and open banking were the through-line
The quietest stand on the floor signed the most deals
More articles
Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
What happened, and what you missed
Money20/20 Middle East: Day 1 Review
Written by
Community Pulse
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches — and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
One keynote that set the agenda, nineteen agreements, two nine-figure raises, three product launches - and a handful of things that slipped past most of the floor.
Day 1 at a glance
38,000 expected attendees across three days at RECC, Malham
350 exhibiting brands - 600 investors - 150 startups
19 agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1
$283M raised across two rounds announced against the event
3 products launched on the floor - all financing or AI
1 keynote that mattered: the Minister of Finance opened the show
Riyadh is now a deal floor, not a conference. Most of what was announced on Day 1 was signed, funded or launched - not discussed.
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
H.E. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Chair of the Financial Sector Development Program, opened the second edition. Five things he said that matter for anyone building in Saudi finance:
Vision 2030 enters phase three - the focus moves from building the financial sector to sustaining its impact.
Q2 targets beaten - Financial Sector Development Program indicators exceeded plan; the sector "proved resilient" to geopolitical shocks.
Sukuk in the indices - Saudi sukuk inclusion in the JPMorgan and Bloomberg emerging-market indices, framed as an international certificate of progress.
Capital markets next - a new phase to raise market efficiency and attract global investors, with financing and investment channels widened for fintech.
The line of the day - "innovative but resilient, open but trusted, fast to adopt technology without conceding financial stability."
That is the frame the Minister set before 1pm. Every announcement that followed sat inside it - and every pitch on Day 2 should too.
Capital showed up before the panels did
$233M - Tabby. Series F at a $6.5B valuation, the largest cheque announced against the event.
$50M - Tarabut. Strategic financing to deepen its open-banking infrastructure focus on Saudi Arabia.
SR 375M - Foodics. Restaurant-funding target behind Capital 2.0, an AI-powered financing product launched on the floor.
SR 300M - Network International. Investment into the Saudi market, disclosed by the GM in a floor interview.
Three of the four cheques went to infrastructure and embedded finance, not to consumer apps. The money is betting on the rails, not the storefront.
Nineteen deals in one day, two names signed nine of them
Agreements and MoUs announced on Day 1, by signing party: D360 Bank (5), Moyasar (4), Al Rajhi (3), SAB (2), Vision Bank, barq, Sukuk Capital, Hotspot and Vast Group (1 each).
D360 signed with Google Cloud, Remitly, Lean, QuickRetro and Shokran.
Moyasar signed with STC Bank, Payrails, Merit and DOO.
Al Rajhi signed with Panda, Almatar and Elm (via Takaful).
SAB signed with Geidea and Blossom.
Vision Bank signed with Publicis Sapient. barq with Floward. Sukuk Capital with Tamam. Hotspot with Elm. Vast with NearPay.
The pattern. Loyalty and payments dominate: points with Panda and Almatar, a gateway with Geidea, Samsung Pay via Moyasar. Two open-banking deals (Lean, Tarabut). One cloud-and-AI deal (Google Cloud). A digital-native bank and a payment gateway out-signed every incumbent combined - deal velocity on the floor was a fintech story, not a banking one.
What was new on the floor
Foodics Capital 2.0 - AI-powered, automated financing for restaurants with a SR 375M funding target, the only product launch with a number attached.
RiseUp comes to the Middle East - Money20/20's award-winning women-in-fintech programme launched in the region for the first time.
Masdar: Mufeed - a financing product and a digital compliance platform for the medical-insurance journey, shown side by side.
Vision Bank x Publicis Sapient - a strategic partnership to accelerate AI-powered banking, positioning Vision as the Kingdom's first AI-native Islamic bank.
Thunes - payouts to six new Middle East markets, faster access to bank accounts, wallets and cash pickup across the region.
A passport stamp for a conference - the Interior Ministry issued a commemorative Money20/20 stamp at Riyadh's airports. The state marketed the event like a brand.
Three launches, three themes: embedded financing, AI-native banking, cross-border rails. None of them came from an incumbent bank.
Five threads ran through everything
Loyalty is the new battleground - Al Rajhi's Mokafaa points into Panda and Almatar; Moyasar's loyalty layer with Merit.
Payments keep consolidating - Samsung Pay via STC Bank, a new gateway from SAB and Geidea, Payrails into Moyasar, NearPay with Vast.
Open banking moves from pilot to product - Lean x D360, Tarabut's $50M, Derayah promising six more fintech deals.
AI is claimed, rarely shown - Vision Bank, D360 x Google Cloud, Foodics Capital 2.0, all at partnership level, no customer-facing product yet.
Insurance found the fintech floor - Elm's Muqeem platform signed Takaful Al Rajhi and Hotspot; insurtech is a Money20/20 category by default now.
The through-line is distribution. Whoever owns the loyalty points, the checkout and the data pipe owns the customer. The bank licence is table stakes.
Three stands worth the walk
American Express Saudi Arabia - Bridge Stage, 3:20pm. CEO Fahad Al-Guthami on "Trust, Experience and Partnership: Building the Future of Payments." In a market racing to add rails, the thing customers actually choose is trust - built through experience and partners, not features.
Geidea - gold sponsor, one gateway. Signed an MoU with SAB to explore a new payment gateway aligned with the National Payment Gateway framework.
Bank Albilad - Dufaa - silver sponsor, financing on show. Albilad's stand ran through Dufaa, its digital financing arm: an end-to-end lending journey pitched as easier, clearer and faster.
Gold sponsors: D360 Bank, Geidea, Tameed, Saudi Investment Bank. Silver: Bank Albilad, ClearGrid, Dell Technologies, Ektis.
What did not make the headlines
Samsung Pay arrived through a side door - a line inside a Moyasar MoU, not a bank press release.
D360 signed five in one day - the quietest stand on the floor was the busiest.
Derayah pledged more than six deals - the largest outstanding promise of the week.
A super commercial bank blueprint - EAC Fund and EssentaTor, stablecoins and AI in one stack, and nobody covered it.
The CMA Chairman on a startup stand - regulators walking the floor is the tell that licensing, not launches, is the real test.
The floor announces what it planned. The corridors decide what matters. The gap between the two is what a good Day 2 fixes.
Key takeaways
Financial stability first, technology second, capital markets next
Nineteen deals signed, two names accounted for nine of them
$283M raised across two headline rounds
Loyalty, payments and open banking were the through-line
The quietest stand on the floor signed the most deals
More articles
We transform brands.
Your success is next.
Meet the partners who are part of our success story
Start your project now by booking a one-on-one consultation with our expert.
We transform brands.
Your success is next.
Meet the partners who are part of our success story
Start your project now by booking a one-on-one consultation with our expert.
We transform brands.
Your success is next.
Meet the partners who are part of our success story
Start your project now by booking a one-on-one consultation with our expert.