Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia rise to 147 in 2022: report

The Fintech Saudi initiative said that the number of Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia rose to 147 in 2022, an increase of 14.7 times compared to 2018, when there were only 10 companies.

The number of Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia increased by 79% compared to 2021, Fintech Saudi added, in its annual report.

Meanwhile, 87% of Fintech companies are headquartered in Saudi Arabia, 6% in the UAE, and 2% in Kuwait. The rest of the headquarters are distributed among the United Kingdom, India, Jordan, the US and Bahrain.

Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia, which are still in the idea stage, constitute 37% of registered companies, while companies in the preliminary commercial stage represent 33%, showed the report.

The report also showed that Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia specialized in payments and currency exchange represent 30%, while companies specialized in lending and financing constitute 19%, as shown in the following table:

The biggest challenges facing Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia is adhering to the laws and regulations of the financial sector, followed by securing financing, hiring talents and competencies, attracting customers, adhering to technical laws and regulations, and developing the product.

80% of Fintech companies take into consideration the objectives of environmental, social and corporate governance in developing their solutions, according to the report.

It also said that the key technologies that Fintech companies have shown interest in using are cloud computing technologies, machine learning technology, distributed records technology and blockchain technology, but they are facing a challenge in using them.