The inaugural Money20/20 Middle East opened on September 15, 2025, at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham. The event drew over 45,000 attendees, more than 450 exhibiting brands, and upwards of 600 investors to the Saudi capital, positioning it as a new fixture on the global fintech calendar.
The event’s theme was “Where Money Does Business.” the gathering was about tangible outcomes, strategic deal-making, and the forging of policy. Day one featured announcements from a local fintech company and global payment firms, set against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 national transformation plan.
The choice of Riyadh as the host city is part of an effort to attract global capital, talent, and technology to support the Kingdom’s goal of becoming a digital hub. the event is where “policy meets progress”.
The state of the kingdom: a vision for a digitally-driven economy
The conference began with addresses from the Kingdom’s financial policymakers, who outlined Saudi Arabia’s recent achievements and future ambitions.
H.E. Mohammed A. Aljadaan, the Kingdom’s Minister of Finance and chairman of the Financial Sector Development Programme Committee, delivered an opening keynote. He addressed the importance of integrating digital innovation to build a resilient and sustainable economy and noted that the Saudi financial market has grown to surpass SR2.4 trillion.
Following him, H.E. Ayman M. Al-Sayari, governor of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), provided metrics on the country’s fintech sector. “The extraordinary growth of this sector has been in keeping with our national ambitions and commitment to global excellence,” Al-Sayari stated, revealing that the number of fintech companies operating in the Kingdom expanded from 82 at the end of 2022 to approximately 281 by August 2025.
The governor highlighted that the sector has attracted “market leading cumulative investments of around SR9 billion ($2.39 billion), cementing its status as one of the most attractive sectors for investors”. In the payments sector, Al-Sayari noted that Saudi Arabia has surpassed its Vision 2030 goal for cashless transactions, with “electronic payments, for example, has accounted for 79 percent of total retail payments in 2024” —exceeding the 70% target two years ahead of schedule.
H.E. Dr. Khaled W. Al-Dhaher, SAMA’s vice governor for supervision and technology, also delivered a keynote on “The Role of the Regulator towards a Fintech-Driven Economy,” which covered the central bank’s approach to oversight.
Spotlight on landmark deals
Day one included a significant financing round for a local company and the entry of two global payment platforms into the Saudi market.
| Announcement | Key Players | Stated Value / Scope | Strategic Implication |
| Asset-Backed Financing Facility | Tamara, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Apollo | Up to $2.4 Billion | Cements Tamara’s unicorn status and fuels its expansion into a financial super-app, signaling massive investor confidence in regional fintech. |
| Payment Service Launch | Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), Google | Nationwide Rollout | Integrates Google Pay into the national payment system (mada), significantly enhancing the digital payment ecosystem for consumers. |
| Payment Service Agreement | Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), Ant International | Acceptance by 2026 | Enables acceptance of Alipay+ wallets, opening the Saudi retail market to a vast network of international tourists and business travelers. |
Tamara’s financing facility
Tamara, a Saudi buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform, announced a new asset-backed financing facility of up to $2.4 billion. The Shariah-compliant facility is backed by a consortium including Goldman Sachs, Citi, and funds managed by Apollo. It upsized a previous $500 million arrangement and is intended to fund the company’s next phase of growth.
In a keynote address, co-founder and CEO Abdulmajeed Al-Sukhan stated, “This landmark facility with our global financing partners accelerates our growth trajectory, empowering us to invest further in building the most customer-centric financial super-app on earth.”
The financing is structured as an asset-backed facility, which uses the company’s existing loan book as collateral. This form of financing is often used by companies with predictable revenue streams.
Global payment platforms enter the market
SAMA made two announcements regarding global payment platforms. The central bank confirmed the nationwide rollout of Google Pay, which will be integrated into the Kingdom’s national payment system, mada.
In a parallel move, SAMA signed an agreement with Ant International to enable the acceptance of Alipay+ by 2026, also leveraging the mada network. This will allow international visitors using digital wallets connected to the Alipay+ ecosystem to make transactions across the Kingdom. The announcements align with Vision 2030’s goals of boosting the digital economy and financial inclusion.
The great fintech reroute
A panel titled “The Great Fintech Reroute” discussed the idea that financial systems are being built differently outside of Western markets. The session’s premise was that regions like the Middle East and Africa are building financial systems from a “cleaner slate, digital-first, mobile-native, and increasingly decentralised,” while the Western world contends with “outdated infrastructure, compliance-heavy legacy banks, and slow regulatory innovation”.
The discussion, with speakers from Backbase, Paymentology, and Onafriq, explored how this “leapfrogging” of legacy systems is enabling the adoption of technologies like blockchain, APIs, and open finance. The role of sovereign investment from Gulf sovereign wealth funds was also discussed as a factor in scaling homegrown fintech companies.
The panel also touched on different innovation models. In many emerging markets, identity- and mobile-first financial systems are being built, where the primary financial relationship is often with a mobile wallet or a super-app. M-Pesa, whose CEO Sitoyo Lopokoiyit was present in a later roundtable, was mentioned as a pioneer of this model. Other sessions discussed innovation models focused on embedded finance and the use of alternative data for credit scoring, as seen in a session with inDrive.
The role of artificial intelligence
Artificial Intelligence was a recurring topic on the day’s agenda, discussed as both a defensive tool and an engine for growth.
The panel “Fraud Has Evolved. Can The AI Defense Line Hold?” framed the current environment as one where an intelligent AI defense is necessary to combat increasingly sophisticated fraudulent attacks.
The offensive capabilities of AI were also a focus. Dr. Mohammed Rahim, group Chief Data Officer at Standard Chartered Bank, delivered a keynote titled “Inside the AI Supercycle,” which broke down the architecture required to power AI in trading, compliance, and customer experience. Other sessions explored how “Agentic AI” is being used to drive business results and enhance strategic decision-making.
Simon Taylor, founder of Fintech Brainfood, gave a keynote on “The Age of Agentic Commerce”. He described a future where AI agents act as autonomous personal shoppers. “What was a search, plus shopping cart plus checkout is now a single conversation,” Taylor explained. “This changes everything about how we secure payments online, who wins and who loses”. A separate panel titled “Sync or Spy” asked whether the combination of AI and open banking data is “empowering customers or hijacking consent”.
Tokenization and financial infrastructure
Day one’s agenda also included discussions on the future of financial market infrastructure, focusing on institutional-grade tokenization.
Speakers on this topic included senior leaders from BlackRock, JPMorgan, Syz Group, and SWIFT A fireside chat on “The Digital Infrastructure of Capital” brought together institutional representatives to discuss the practicalities of rebuilding treasury, FX, and portfolio strategies for a tokenized economy.
The discussions centered on efficiency, security, and interoperability. Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer of SWIFT, spoke on “Scaling Digital Assets,” covering the need for trusted, global infrastructure to ensure regulatory alignment and settlement certainty. A panel on “Finance Without Border” explored how tokenization is reshaping cross-border value transfer, referencing global experiments like the BIS’s mBridge project.
Investing in financial inclusion
Financial inclusion was a consistent theme throughout the day’s discussions. Sessions explored the deployment of venture capital in this area.
A panel titled “Financial Inclusion: From Margins to Mainstream- Who’s Investing in the Unbanked?” hosted a “candid exchange” on whether inclusion remains a core investment thesis or has become “just a pitch”. The discussion “From Open Finance to Fair Finance” showed how alternative data sources—such as the ride history and income patterns of gig workers on platforms like inDrive—can be used to create a “fairer credit ecosystem” for populations outside of traditional credit bureaus.
The “From Oil to Ownership” panel discussed financial literacy as a “cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s Fintech Revolution”. With over 70% of the Saudi population under the age of 35, speakers argued that embedding financial education into fintech products is important for sustainable growth. The ceos of companies like MNT-Halan and Flutterwave also participated in discussions on the topic.
Also on the agenda
Other sessions took place across the venue throughout the day. The MoneySurge Pitch Competition kicked off, where 15 founders pitched their startups to a panel of venture capitalists from firms like Antler and Rally Cap VC.
The agenda also included a fireside chat on the creator economy, exploring how fintech tools are being used by independent creators, freelancers, and influencers. The “Off The Record” stage hosted conversations such as “When Unicorn Backers Talk ‘OFF’ The Record, You Listen,” providing attendees with additional industry insights.
The post Money20/20 Middle East 2025: Riyadh’s Roar—Vision, Unicorns, and a New Global Order on Day One appeared first on The Fintech Times.
