What is FinTech?

In the fast-paced and meticulous world of finance, where every second is just as crucial as every decimal in every transaction, there were several areas of the industry that could only be improved through applying the fundamentals of technology on traditional practices. Critical aspects such as speed, reliability and security are the backbone of financial institutions which customers and businesses depend on in their daily lives, and the 21st century demanded a faster, more reliable and more secure way of doing things.

Enter Fintech: the perfect piece that filled the gap and completed the puzzle.

Financial technology - abbreviated to and commonly known as FinTech - refers to any technology that supports, improves or automates the use and execution of financial processes & services. At its core, Fintech is described as specialized software & algorithms that work towards facilitating financial operations and processes for organizations, business owners and consumers alike.

The term’s origin can be traced back to the early 1990s, where it used to refer to a project initiated by Citigroup called “Financial Services Technology Consortium”, which aimed to assist technological cooperation efforts at the time. It wasn’t until 2014 that this sector bloomed by attracting the attention of industry regulators, participants and consumers. Fintech as a term was first applied to the technology used in the back-end systems of established financial institutions such as banks or trading firms, however it quickly found its way to more consumer-oriented ideas which subsequently resulted in a more commercial-oriented definition, eventually paving the path that led to consumers having Fintech applications on their smartphones.

Innovation in the financial sector has skyrocketed through Fintech in the last few years, originally as a result of the Internet revolution and further complemented by the mobile internet/smartphone revolution, and today Fintech pertains to almost any digital activity in the financial sector. From retail banking, personal and commercial transactions, payments, applying for credit without visiting banks, digital wallet management and fundraising for startups to progressive financial literacy and wealth management, Fintech not only brought together consumers and financial institutions closer than ever before, but it has also disrupted the finance industry by eliminating several traditional methods that had more disadvantages than advantages, when compared to Fintech applications.

Examples of popular or emerging Fintech companies in Egypt:

• Fawry is an e-payment network that offers a convenient & reliable way for consumers and businesses to pay bills and execute other financial services via multiple channels including online, ATMs and retail points.


• 7aweshly is a mobile app aimed at enabling youth to buy products they want via a micro-saving solution. Their target audience is mainly Egyptians that are beyond the reach of banks due to limitations such as age.


• PayMe specializes in providing a variety of payment solutions for consumers and business alike. The innovative portal partnered up with the National Bank of Egypt to deliver a variety of services such as PayMe Store and PayMe Gate, claiming more than 300 merchants and 15,000 customers in their portfolio.


• PaySky is a multi-channel digital payment solution that enables consumers and businesses to execute transactions in an easy and convenient way. The company proposes a one-stop shop for face-to-face and e-commerce payment acceptance solutions such as card-on-delivery, POS/mPOS for in-store collection, QR Code and many more.

Examples of Fintech companies in the Middle East that made the KPMG’s Top 100 Fintech list:

• Aqeed, the region’s first digital insurance platform from the UAE.


• Liwwa, the MENA region’s first peer-to-peer lending platform connecting small and medium enterprises with investors.


• PayTabs, a Bahrain-based global business-to-business online payments provider established in 2014.

When Ernst & Young launched their first global EY FinTech Adoption Index in 2015, the report mentioned that one in seven digitally active consumers were already users of Fintech and that when Fintech was still relatively in its early stages. In EY’s 2017 FinTech Adoption Index, this number remarkably rose to one in three consumers, highlighting the exponential rise of Fintech in recent years.