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Saudi Fintech Industry Grows Threefold in 2020

The establishment of Fintech companies expedites in Saudi Arabia (Reuters)
The establishment of Fintech companies expedites in Saudi Arabia (Reuters)
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Saudi Fintech Industry Grows Threefold in 2020

The establishment of Fintech companies expedites in Saudi Arabia (Reuters)
The establishment of Fintech companies expedites in Saudi Arabia (Reuters)

Fintech Saudi has revealed in its annual report 2019/20 that it is seeing the emergence of a growing fintech industry in the Kingdom.

The number of operating fintechs has increased three-fold in a year, from 20 in 2019 to 60 this year, with over 100 fintech startups at the idea or pre-commercial stage, the report noted.

The Fintech Saudi Annual Report 2019/20 provides an overview of the development of the fintech industry in Saudi Arabia over the past year and highlights a number of key developments that have taken place to support the growth of the fintech industry.

There has been an increase in fundraising deals completed in Saudi fintech for the year to date with the total investment amount already surpassing 2019 levels, it added.

“This is building up to a fintech market in Saudi Arabia that, according to Statista, is expected to reach transaction values of over $33 billion by 2023.

On the significance of this report, Director of Fintech saudi Mulaik al-Nejoud said the period extending from 2019 till 2020 has been pivotal for the fintech industry in the Kingdom.

“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, we have seen progress in regulations, infrastructure and an increasing number of investment rounds in fintech companies.”

This has built a solid foundation to support the emergence of a growing fintech industry in Saudi Arabia that will contribute in a meaningful way to its Vision 2030, she stated.

The developments include the launch of Apple Pay, the establishment of Saudi Payments, and the continued issuance of regulatory testing licenses and regulations by the Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to support fintech activities.

There have also been major initiatives, including the National Commercial Bank (NCB) / Monsha’at fintech accelerator program and the launch of Riyad Bank’s fintech fund.

The report consists of a number of sections including an overview of the fintech industry by KPMG, the view from Fintech and MAGNiTT, and interviews with the SAMA Regulatory Sandbox and the CMA FinTech Lab.

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China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing's expense, vowing countermeasures against those who "appease" Washington in the blistering tariff war as its neighbors rush to secure favorable terms from the White House.

While the rest of the world has been hit with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods, AFP reported.

Parallel to Washington's full trade war against top economic rival China, a number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs.
South Korean giants such as Samsung Electronics and auto maker Hyundai stand to take a hefty hit if the White House goes ahead with its threatened levies.

Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that talks between Japan and the United States could be a "model for the world", after Tokyo's tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa visited Washington and met President Donald Trump last week.

"The fact that President Trump came out (to negotiate with Japan's envoy)... shows he sees talks with Japan as important," he told the country's parliament on Monday.

"Japan is their ally and the biggest investor and job creator in the US," Ishiba said.
US Vice President JD Vance also arrived in India on Monday for a four-day official visit as the two countries work to hash out a trade agreement.

But Beijing warned nations on Monday not to seek a deal with the United States that compromised its interests.

"Appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not be respected," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement.

"To seek one's own temporary selfish interests at the expense of others' interests is to seek the skin of a tiger," Beijing said.

That approach, it warned, "will ultimately fail on both ends and harm others".

"China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests," the spokesperson said.

"If such a situation occurs, China will never accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures," they added.

- 'Talking to China' -
Trump's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.

Trump said last week that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end the bitter trade war.

"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I would say they have reached out a number of times."

"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House.

China has vowed to fight the trade war "to the end" and has not confirmed specific talks with Washington, though it has called for dialogue.

Speaking alongside his Indonesian counterpart in Beijing on Monday, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi called for "openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win" and condemned "any form of unilateralism and trade protectionism".

"The abuse of tariffs will seriously damage the normal economic and trade exchanges among countries," he warned.

Beijing's commerce ministry also warned about an international order reverting to the "law of the jungle".

"Where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims," the spokesperson said.

As part of Trump's trade war, the US government has also lowered the threshold at which parcels to individuals require formal entry processing by US Customs -- to $800 from $2,500 as of April 5.

Trump's government has taken particular aim at China, and earlier this month Washington closed a duty-free exemption for small parcels from the country, a move that appeared to be designed to target low-cost online retailers like Temu and Shein.

In a statement in response, global shipping giant DHL said it will "temporarily" suspend the shipping of parcels worth more than $800 from businesses to individuals in the United States as of Monday.