Dubai gains ground as fintech hub

Dubai’s push to become a global player in the fintech space is gaining ground and a lot more activity is expected to take place, a senior official said on Monday.

“In the UAE market, we see a lot of these new age companies which are coming up taking licenses from the local regulator. A lot of FinTech companies are getting into the payment space, and then we are here to offer our services to them,” Sudhesh Giriyan, President – Cross-Border Payments at TerraPay, a leading global money movement company, said on the sidelines of the FinTech Summit in Dubai.

TerraPay provides a single connection to the most expansive cross-border payments network regulated in 31 global markets and enabling payments to 144 receiving countries, more than 210 sending countries, 7.5 billion bank accounts and more than 2.1 billion mobile wallets.

TerraPay has been steadily expanding its business in the region. “Globally today the P2P remittance it’s about $800 billion. The UAE is the second largest remittance market in the world — worth just under $45 billion. Money goes to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Tunisia and most of African markets and other markets. UAE continues to attract talent, and we expect remittances to continue to grow,” Giriyan said.

At the FinTech Summit, TerraPay announced a partnership with Multipass, a bank challenger in the financial technology sector, to redefine cross-border payment solutions for corporate customers. This collaboration aims to offer reliability, efficiency, and cost optimisation to businesses operating in the UK, Europe, and beyond.

Through this partnership, Multipass gains access to TerraPay’s extensive global payments network, expanding its reach to new jurisdictions and local payouts in multiple currencies, ensuring efficient cross-border payment solutions to its clients. Both organizations offer 24/7 customer support and dedicated personal account managers, emphasising the importance of human interaction alongside technological advancement.

“TerraPay is thrilled to collaborate with Multipass to revolutionize cross-border payments for their corporate customers. This partnership underscores our dedication to providing innovative solutions that drive efficiency, reliability, and cost optimisation,” Giriyan said.

Rami Chedid, CEO of Multipass for the UAE and the Middle East, commented, “Our partnership with TerraPay represents a significant step forward in our commitment to deliver secure and fast payment solutions to medium-sized entrepreneurs trading internationally. All while prioritizing security and efficiency in speed and costs. As we continue to work on our expansion plans in the UAE, this trusted partnership gives a new level of importance, offering our clients practically a global payment reach.”

Giriyan sees fintech adoption widening in the UAE. “With the kind of initiative that we see in the UAE, and government being so futuristic in terms of its initiatives, and also the regulator’s initiatives, I’m sure it will happen. It’s only a matter of time,” he said.

• Business