As the end of 2022 draws closer, it is always a good time to look back and reflect for a bit. It’s time to harvest achievements as we pause to look back and ahead. 2022 was exciting and challenging, and we had some fun along the way, too. Now, it’s time to share some insights about 2022 at Fintech Galaxy. Are you ready? Let’s jump in!

Aiming for the stars – the first central bank-regulated Open Finance platform

Our secret sauce for success has always been our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, and it is important to mention that the past year’s results wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of the entire Fintech Galaxy team, our customers, shareholders, and our community. We thank them all for their support. All the combined efforts turned out in this year’s landmark achievement for our company – receiving a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain and becoming the first central bank-regulated Open Finance platform in the MENA region. By getting CBB licensed we became a regulated Third-Party Provider to offer access to financial data and open countless opportunities to create new Open Finance-enabled use cases in Bahrain and beyond.

A cluster of talents - team expansion grew by 75% — no slowing down

As you know, life is not where you go, it's who you travel with. It’s particularly important for business success. We began the year with a team of 20 people. Now, we currently have 50+ talented team members spread around the world! One of the most important achievements during 2022 was the expansion of the Fintech Galaxy Open Banking team by strengthening it with a raft of experienced professionals, who bring global expertise to the MENA region and elevate the Fintech Galaxy product offering.

 

Building the most secure, reliable, and developer-friendly Open Finance platform in the world

The next important milestone, being the logical extension of the previous point, was the launch of FINX - the Open Finance platform aiming to democratize financial services by providing a reliable and secure API infrastructure. Fast, secure, and developer-friendly proprietary platform FINX brings together and connects industry players and provides end-users more control than ever over their financial data, striving to bring financial inclusion to the MENA region and beyond. We have exciting plans for FINX in 2023, so stay tuned, more is yet to come!

 

Rebranding with a bolder attitude

As we’ve grown, we want to showcase our new services, our work, and the people at the heart of our success. That is why we’ve decided that it is time for Fintech Galaxy to be rebranded so that it represents all that we stand for. The logo, the website, and all our communication elements have been revised so that they are fully aligned with what Fintech Galaxy represents.

 

Fintech Galaxy’s website has become more modern and intuitive, making the user experience as simple as possible. The improved functionality and easy access to essential information help visitors easily navigate and surf through the pages. To not simply shoot the breeze, just visit our new website to see for yourself. We’re sure you will like it.

 

Enlighten the auditory

As a trailblazer in Open Finance, we aim to foster the adoption of this phenomenon and to educate the community about the benefits and all the goodies it brings. With that in mind, in 2022 we’ve issued an exclusive report: “MENA Report: From Open Banking to Open Finance”. The report highlights the major developments of Open Banking and Open Finance in MENA, analyzing each country’s status quo. If for some reason you haven’t managed to read it yet, use the days off during the winter holidays to do it, you can download your copy here.

Fintech Galaxy’s experts have shared their valuable insights on Open Banking/Finance to help you to understand the most complex industry terms and educate on financial inclusion, embedded finance, and many other hot topics. Check out our blog to find out more. Definitely, a must-read!

 

Events, events, events!

We love events, because they provide an amazing opportunity to share insights, network, make valuable connections, and be in sync with all the important industry trends. During 2022, Fintech Galaxy has participated in countless exceptional industry events, both local and international. Let’s remember some of the events which were sponsored by Fintech Galaxy and in which our fellow rockstars took part, sharing their expertise and providing professional consultancy:

• Step Conference 2022
• Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM) Annual Conference: Bahrain 2022
• Money 20/20
• Seamless Middle East and DBX
• FinTech Middle East Summit
• MEA Finance Banking Technology Summit & Awards 2022
• MOF INNOVATES 2022
• CBD Talks
• Women in Finance UAE Summit 2022
• The Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM) Annual Conference
• Fintech Week London 2022
• Open Banking World Congress hosted by Open Future World
• MEA Finance Banking Technology Summit & Awards 2022
• Apidays Dubai & Middle East
• DIFC Fintech Week
• Fintech Surge
• The World Fintech Show, and many many others.

Powering the innovation

Responding to the market's essential needs, Fintech Galaxy Open Innovation platform was busy in 2022. Our state-of-the-art open innovation platform helped the most progressive corporations to engage with exciting FinTech companies around the globe and crowdsource top-notch solutions through innovation challenges and virtual hackathons. Fintech Galaxy participated in the launch of the SCA Fintech Megathon under the patronage of His Excellency Minister of Economy and Chairperson of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) Innovation Challenge, and the Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM) Innovation Challenge. Another prominent milestone was the launch of national innovation challenges on FinHub973: CBB Digital Lab to digitize the financial sector, reshape banking systems and drive open banking in Bahrain. Also, the InsurTech Wizard on the PCMA’s innovation platform – EBTAKER framework was introduced in 2022.

Speak to be heard

Over the last year, we’ve focused on sharing our knowledge and expertise by highlighting the most insightful and intriguing topics including FinTech, Open Banking, Open Finance, financial inclusion, and many others. Fintech Galaxy experts participated in and hosted numerous podcasts, interviews, panel discussions, and workshops. Our inspirational Founder and CEO – Mirna Sleiman rocked fintech podcasts and interviews, including The Change Officer Podcast at Step Conference, 11: FS Fintech Insider podcast, Ramadan’s Digital Financial Awareness Exclusive interviews powered by FinTech Egypt, and others. During Apidays Dubai & Middle East our high-profile COO - Dmitrii Barbasura shared valuable insights about the opportunities and challenges of implementing open banking in the region and analyzed the key lessons that can be implemented in the MENA region based on the European and UK experience. Abe Karar – Fintech Galaxy’s spectacular CPO has been featured in great demand on interviews and podcasts, including FireSide 2022 with MAGNITT, an interview from National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada's open banking thought leadership series, The Fintech Times outstanding interview ahead of The World Fintech Show, and others.

Awards, recognitions, and other important achievements

We’re fortunate to have been recognized and cherished by many reputable organizations and media. Mirna Sleiman, Fintech Galaxy Founder & CEO, was featured in the Inside Telecom’s Entrepreneurs – FinTech Women series and we couldn’t be prouder! And the cherry on top was Mirna’s enlistment to The Top 25 Women in Fintech & Blockchain as acknowledgment for the effort and impact of the women working in the Fintech & Blockchain Sector, and the Women who played a significant role during the accelerated digital transformation post-Covid 19 Pandemic. Fantastic, isn’t it?

 

Also, this year we’ve launched FINX Flares – a series of webinars to discuss the hottest industry topics and enjoyed the first edition of the sparkling and insightful fireside chat between our COO – Dmitrii Barbasura, and CPO – Abe Karar. They discussed the basic principles of Open Banking, regulations, and the landscape in MENA. Lots to learn!

 

Over the last year, we’ve focused on experimenting with different formats and types of content, and of course, we couldn’t stay aside from video format which is in high demand and still growing. As a result, we’ve shared with you an exclusive video with our rockstar CPO – Abe Karar “3 big ideas in just 3 minutes with Fintech Galaxy!” - exploring 3 things that will ensure financial inclusion in the MENA region.

 

And that’s a wrap!

As you may notice, Fintech Galaxy experienced a spectacular year, and we have even more exciting plans for 2023 that we know you’re going to love! We have a lofty agenda for next year including the release of new products and solutions, rolling out unique and impactful use cases, expanding to new markets, solidifying existing partnerships and building new ones, participating in more exciting and notable events, creating loads of insightful and useful content and amaze you even more.

 

We’re stepping into another year with confidence and courage to accept new challenges and work further towards our goals and bring to life our mission to build the most secure, reliable, and developer-friendly Open Finance platform in the world and to increase financial inclusion of non-banked, underserved customers in the region and around the world, to open new opportunities in financial services, widen the pool of potential customers for businesses, improve efficiencies in the sector, and pave the way for a new financial future.

 

We just want to say how thankful we are for all the support we received this year from our partners, shareholders, and all like-minders, we’re thrilled to have you along for this breathtaking ride this year.

 

From the entire Fintech Galaxy team, we want to wish you happy, healthy, and prosperous holidays! Cheers to the new year!