Fintech Is MEA’s Growth Engine, But Trust Sets Its Pace.

Cash Dominance, Rapid Fintech Scale, And Rising Unicorns Show Digital Finance Is The Structural Driver Of Regional Growth.

Cash Creates the Space for Growth

Africa remains the most cash-dependent region in the world, with close to 90 percent of transactions still carried out using physical currency. In the Middle East, reliance on traditional banking systems is also high, but digital adoption is accelerating.

This structural lag has created the opening for fintech to surge. The absence of entrenched digital finance systems has allowed new players to leapfrog outdated infrastructure and present mobile-first solutions directly to consumers. In less than a decade, the number of fintech firms in the Middle East has grown from 30 to nearly 500.

The region’s young and connected demographic has turned cash dependence into a catalyst for innovation, setting the stage for digital finance to become the backbone of future growth.

Unicorns Demonstrate Market Proof

The rise of Careem, valued at more than $3 billion, and Egypt’s Fawry as a publicly listed fintech leader, confirms that the regional model can scale into global relevance. These companies represent proof that MEA fintech can convert consumer adoption into capital and durable value. Between 2015 and 2020, African startups increased their venture funding by a factor of seven, with fintech accounting for half of all tech startups on the continent.

The creation of unicorns and the flow of funding validate that fintech is not a speculative play but a structural growth engine for MEA’s economies.

Banks Rewire Through Partnership

The report highlights how legacy banks are learning to embed fintech capabilities to avoid irrelevance. Standard Bank, with operations in 20 countries, adopted biometric identification to improve security and acquired Firepay, the developer of SnapScan, to extend its mobile payment capabilities.

These moves reflect a recognition that regulatory constraints prevent large banks from innovating at the same speed as startups.

By absorbing fintech solutions, banks protect their role in the financial ecosystem while consumers gain security and convenience. Partnerships, acquisitions, and open collaborations have become essential to keep pace with changing expectations.

Trust Determines Which Players Scale

The scale of fintech growth has been matched by the volatility of consumer expectations. Consumers in MEA are quick adopters, but they punish brands faster than global averages when expectations are not met. Sixty percent say a breach of personal data would permanently erode their trust, and more than half say failures to meet commitments, such as payment outages, would cause them to abandon a brand.

MTN’s experience illustrates the stakes: its rollout of cross-border mobile money took years to secure regulatory approval and required infrastructure built for resilience before consumers would embrace it at scale. Trust becomes the decisive filter. Without reliability, security, and transparent communication, rapid adoption turns into rapid rejection.

Bottom Line

Fintech Drives MEA’s Growth, But Trust Decides Who Scales.

Fintech has become the structural growth engine of MEA, converting a cash-heavy economy into digital momentum. But the speed of that growth is set by trust. 

Unicorns such as Careem and Fawry show that the model works. Banks demonstrate that survival depends on absorbing fintech capabilities. Consumers prove that adoption is conditional on security and reliability. The consequence is clear: in MEA, fintech players that integrate trust into every layer of their operations will capture scale, investment, and loyalty.