Saudi Arabia is fast becoming an innovative fintech hub built on a strong ecosystem. In 2018 the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) launched a regulatory sandbox to support fintech innovation in the Kingdom, receiving over 250 applications, accepting 40 and graduating 14 fintech solutions. The fintech market in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach USD 33 billion in transactional values by 2023.
Contributing to this ecosystem, Mambu, a pure SaaS banking platform, and Ta3meed, a leading Islamic fintech in trade finance in Saudi Arabia, today announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic partnership agreement to deliver innovative digital Islamic financing for SMEs and investors in the region.
Mambu’s agile core banking technology integrates into Ta3meed’s automated Purchase Order (PO) financing platform. The combined solutions support the vision of accelerating the digital transformation of financial institutions combined with Sharia-compliant financing and investment solutions in Saudi Arabia.
The partnership will also focus on the financial inclusion and accessibility of working capital finance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who are an important contributor to Saudi Arabia’s economic development and currently only account for 8.3% of banks and financing companies’ total credit facilities.
“We are excited to be selected by Ta3meed to power their crowdfunding platform for SMEs, fostering fintech growth, innovation and collaboration across the financial services industry and supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 program,” said Miljan Stamenkovic, General Manager of Mambu in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Ta3meed is the first Islamic fintech platform to provide PO financing in Saudi Arabia, offering funding to SMEs based on government-issued and guaranteed POs. The solution provided by Ta3meed aligns with Saudi’s Vision 2030 efforts to support the development of SMEs by providing them with alternative and innovative funding options.
Ta3meed's platform is regulated and permitted in the sandbox by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) managing the entire funding process in accordance with Islamic regulations.
Commenting on the partnership, Mohamed Alomayyer, Co-Founder and CEO of Ta3meed, said “With our partnership, we are combining the latest digitally-delivered funding solutions with innovative Islamic financing allowing, millions of Muslim investors the opportunity to fund and support SMEs in the region.”