The MENA Fintech Awards

Good evening everyone. Uh this is Namir Khan with you. It's always a pleasure to be here in Abu Dhabi finance week every single year. Um I would like to thank you all for being here most importantly to celebrate the innovators, the leaders this year. There's uh I'm going to go through a few important pointers because I we've gone through an amazing journey the Mina Fintech Association which is a great product of the region and uh I wanted to highlight some very important key points.

First thing is that the Mina Fintech Association as you all know was founded in 2018. It's been a great journey right here. You were founded in Abu Dhabi global markets and today look at us where we are today. Back in the days when this used to be fintech Abu Dhabi to where it is now Abu Dhabi finance week, we have some of the best global leaders, innovators, regulators, policy makers from all over the world that come here in this specific part of the world. And all kudos to the editor-inchief Chris Hughes who's done a fantastic job in order to make this possible.

So a big round of applause for Chris. Now with all of this uh the important thing is the Mina Fintech Association which started off as an association concept 2018 today is way more beyond that. Today it is not just a network it's a platform. A platform where you're able to give leaders, new innovators the opportunity to grow, build, connect and most importantly ensure that they're able to build in this region and of course set standards that we build in the region that are followed different parts of the world. Now on top of that I just want to share a very very important part important point over here.

the the region has offered us a lot. Today the region is at the brink of structural uh I would say hyper growth. Why why do I say that? Today we have 35% year-over-year growth in the fintech sector which is double the global average. Still we are at 1 to 2% of the banking revenues when I talk about the fintech sector.

Despite the fact we have around year-over-year growth which is the global double we still have a huge way to go and this is where the opportunity is. Now the last thing is what does this award genuinely mean? The award is the region's only award that is non-commercial merit-based and most importantly it's an award that recognizes leaders from all over the region. So that is what we stand for celebrating the region. But tonight I just also want to highlight another point.

Our ambition for the coming year has been as I mentioned it's 2018 where we are today we're growing significantly I just want to basically highlight the point that we are going to double down our approach towards strengthening policy not just in one part of the c one part of the region but across the region. When we say strengthening policy, we are going to work with different jurisdictions regionally and globally to ensure we are basically enabling crossber thought leadership, crossborder uh leadership in terms of enabling new emerging markets as well. Now the last piece is u the awards. Um, of course, I just want to make sure that I thank our jury members who work across the board in different parts of the industries. They come together.

They lead in a very meritorious way. We high we we go through the the um I would say nominations. But I just want to say one thing. No matter who wins, all of you that have been a part of the nominations, congratulations in advance. Second, there you go.

Second, it's important to understand that we celebrating all of you. This is the success of the fintech industry that we have seen here today and we are just at the beginning. The region is at the brink as I mentioned of structural hyper growth and you're the right place. And with this now we would begin the awards. I would like to call on stage our MFT awards chair PK Gulati as well to join me on the stage for this.

So now we're going to start the awards. PK please come on the stage. Thank you. Brilliant. So we will now kick off the awards.

So the first category for which I would like to call on stage are uh jury member Sophie Gwa to please come on stage to present the award as well. The first category is best AI and fintech.

Presenting best AI in fintech solution honoring the most effective use of artificial intelligence to enhance fintech performance and intelligence. So now the winner for best AI in fintech 2025 is Smart Bricks. Big round of applause. Hey, what's up? Brilliant.

The second category for which I would like to call AIO on the stage is best banking partner. Very critical. The nominations for the best banking partner are

banks that have effectively partnered with FinTech to drive ecosystem innovation.

CBIX, Ruya Bank and Pace Sky. And the winner is Ruya Bank. Hallelujah. All right. So the third one that we have here is

best blockchainbased solution. For this I would like to call our very own Ron goes on the stage.

Best blockchain based solution recognizing practical and scalable blockchain applications shaping the future of finance. The nominations for best blockchainbased solutions are control alt, crypto.com, adi and the winner is crypto.com. Category number four, best corporate solution.

I would like to call on stage Christina. Honoring fintech innovations, optimizing corporate finance, treasury and B2B efficiency. The nominations for best corporate solution are Aquanow, Adgria and Homna. And the winner is Aquinau. Hey, Lord.

Now the fifth category we're going to go for is best cyber security fraud prevention solution.

Presenting best cyber security fraud.

I would like to call Zan Omar on the stage. celebrating exceptional advancements in securing digital finance and protecting user trust.

The nominations are Ukudu, Secure and Black Cell Middle East. And the winner is Black Cell Middle East. All right. So the sixth category is best digital lending platform.

Presenting best digital lending platform. Honoring digital platforms simplifying and expanding access to credit through technology.

I would like to call Aka Chopra on the stage. The nominations for best digital lending platform are Adria, Tamara, and Invoice Mate. And the winner is Tamara. Congratulations. category number seven best embedded finance solution.

I would like to call on stage

finance solution honoring technology that integrates financial services seamlessly into non-financial platforms.

Nominations are Pluto, Tamara and Paymantology and the winner is Payment. Hey. All right. So the eighth one, an important category as well. Best financial education initiative.

Presenting I would like to call best financial education initiative honoring programs empowering individuals and communities through financial literacy and inclusion. The nominations are CFTE, Center for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Second is Saham and third is Camil Pay. And the winner is CFTE. A big round of applause.

All right. So the ninth category that we have here is best fintech marketing. I would like to call Nadia Bes on the stage.

Marketing celebrating creative marketing strategies that elevate brand trust, engagement and awareness in fintech.

The nominations are Pace Sky Sah and Checkout.com. And the winner is Pace Sky. All right. So number 10 best tech on boarding rewarding seamless secure and userfriendly onboarding experiences that redefine customer journeys.

I would like to call Zen on stage again please. The nominations are Uku Azako and Saham. And the winner is Azakov. That's heat. Heat.

Heat. All right. So the next category is best innovative payment technology. I would like to call Ronit on the stage here.

Presenting best innovative payment technology recognizing cuttingedge payment solutions transforming how consumers and businesses transact. And the nominations for this one are checkout.com, Pace Sky, and Jia. And the winner is Gia. So the next one is best KYC solution.

I would like to call on a Chopra on the stage again solution recognizing excellence in digital identity verification and compliance innovation.

The nominations are Samsub Ukuru and Azako and the winner is Samsub. Heat. All right. So now we have best mobile payment solution. I would like to call Altaf on the stage.

Presenting best mobile payment solution. Honoring mobile first innovations, redefining accessibility and convenience in payments.

The nominations for this one are Yala Super App, Teller and Magnati. And the winner is Yala Super App. Now we have best open finance API. I ecosystem solution. For this, I would like to call Goro on stage, please.

Presenting best open finance API ecosystem solution. Celebrating the platforms fostering collaboration, transparency, and interoperability in financial services.

It's a very important uh category as well. And for this, the nominations are Pay 10, Ozone API, and Zach Trader. And the winner is Ozone API. Heat up here. All right.

So now we have the best payment solution and for this I would like to call Gorov again on stage.

Presenting best payment solution recognizing comprehensive payment ecosystems enhancing convenience and financial connectivity.

All right. So the nominations for this one are Veru Jia and Tap Payments and the winner is Tab Payments. Heat. Okay. So the next category is best rect solution and I would like to call Christine on the stage again please.

Presenting best rect solution celebrating solutions streamlining compliance and regulatory reporting through technology. The nominations are Smarble, Ukadoo, and Theis. And the winner is Ukodude. Hallelujah. All right.

So now we are at the last one and for this I would like to call all of our jury members who came on stage please come back on the stage. Alaf Ron Gorov everyone who came before please come on the stage that would be brilliant.

Presenting fintech of the year celebrating the standout fintech making the greatest impact across innovation growth and market influence. Please join us. Zen, Christine, please all of you join us. All right. So, this is an important one, right?

So, this fintech of the year means a lot of responsibility as well and overall performance across different verticals within the fintech industry. And for this, we had different outliers. We have the nominations which are GDIA, checkout.com and Saham. And the winner is with a big round of applause checkout.

com. Heat. Heat. I would quickly like to request all the winners to to please come on stage. All the winners are requested to please come on stage for a good picture as well.

Okay. Yeah. Let me get out another good picture. One second. Wow.

Good morning. Heat. Heat.