Money20/20 Middle East has closed its three-day gathering in Riyadh with fresh signals from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), new capital commitments for the Kingdom’s lending market and the winners of this year’s MoneySurge competition.
The final day brought developments across lending, payments and financial innovation. Lendo, a Shariah-compliant debt crowdfunding marketplace, partnered with Vienna-based asset manager Quantic Financial Solutions, which will back an institutional capital programme worth up to SAR 750m to support SME working capital financing in the Kingdom. European venture firm Speedinvest also entered the Saudi market for the first time, committing SAR 15m to Abwab.ai, an AI-driven credit intelligence and underwriting automation platform.
SAMA also confirmed the enablement of Alipay+ acceptance for international visitors and outlined plans to bring Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone to Saudi merchants, adding to the payments developments announced during the event.
Opening the final day, SAMA deputy governor for financial innovation Nora M. Albakr outlined the regulator’s approach to balancing innovation with monetary stability under Vision 2030. She argued that a resilient financial system is a precondition for innovation to deliver lasting value, rather than an obstacle to technological development. Albakr pointed to SAMA’s sandbox testing of supply chain finance tools, which has generated more than SAR 1.4bn in activity, as evidence of a testing-first approach to licensing new technology.
Panel discussions also examined how always-on markets and AI are reshaping financial services, including the extent to which financial institutions should hand decision-making to automated systems.
The Lendo programme backed by Quantic and Abwab.ai’s underwriting platform highlight different elements of Saudi Arabia’s lending technology push, with one directing institutional capital towards SMEs and the other automating credit intelligence and underwriting processes.
The MoneySurge competition also showcased fintech businesses from different markets. Hong Kong-based Planto develops cash flow and wealth analytics tools for banks, Nigeria-based Nearpays operates a virtual accounts and card platform, while Riyadh-based Tanami runs a Shariah-compliant private markets investment platform.
Planto won the Fintech to Watch prize and USD 100,000, while Nearpays won Fintech for Good with the same prize. Tanami secured Best in Show and USD 200,000 as the competition’s top overall prize.
BlackRock managing director Tony Ashraf said, “When markets genuinely don’t close and everything operates 24/7, that will have a fundamental impact on capital markets. As money and underlying assets move around the clock, it creates demand for 24/7 yield, and that convergence will be one of the key drivers of change across capital markets.”
T57.AI founder and chairman Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb also commented “AI should advise us and provide the right information, but humans should use that information to make wiser decisions. We should not hand over decisions entirely to AI; there must be human involvement in evaluating the information, making the final decision and maintaining accountability.”
Tanami co-founder and CEO Nawaf Al Maskati said, “This is Tanami’s second year participating in Money20/20 Middle East, and once again it has been an incredible experience. Being part of the competition has given us the opportunity to share Tanami’s story and ambitions with a wider audience. Winning this prize will support our growth and expansion across Saudi Arabia and, ultimately, into regional markets. It is also a strong validation of our ambition to transform the investment landscape and broaden access to opportunities across the region.”
Tahaluf executive vice president Annabelle Mander said, “What stands out after three days is how much the conversation around Saudi Arabia has moved on. There is obviously huge interest in the market, but increasingly the conversations are about what companies are going to do here, who they are going to work with and where they see the opportunities to grow.”
“At the same time, through Money Surge we have seen a new generation of founders coming through, with ideas and businesses that could become part of what this industry looks like next. That combination is really exciting. Money20/20 Middle East should keep growing with the market and give both established global players and the next generation of companies a place to build relationships, find opportunities and be part of where finance goes next,” Mander added.
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