News

Fintech Galaxy Gains Approval To Pilot Open Banking In Jordan

The Central Bank has given the go-ahead to test fintech services through JoRegBox — Jordan’s regulatory sandbox for fintech innovation.

Published

2 years ago

January 31, 2025

Nour Nasir

fintech galaxy gains approval to pilot open banking in jordan

Fintech Galaxy has secured approval from the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) to join JoRegBox, the country’s regulatory sandbox for fintech innovation. The green light allows the company to test and implement Open Banking services within a controlled, real-world setting, and makes Fintech Galaxy the first Open Banking provider to gain regulatory backing in Jordan.

This move aligns with CBJ’s long term vision for financial innovation, introduced in August 2023 as part of the Economic Modernization Vision (2023–2025). The program’s purpose is to establish Jordan as a fintech hub, attracting investment in high-tech financial solutions. JoRegBox provides a supervised testing environment for fintech firms, in a bid to foster widespread financial inclusion and build more consumer-centric financial services.

Riyadh Al Zamil, Chairman of Fintech Galaxy’s Board of Directors, expressed his enthusiasm: “We are proud and honored to receive the Central Bank of Jordan’s approval to test and introduce Open Banking services to the country through the JoRegBox regulatory sandbox. This milestone underscores our commitment to fostering financial inclusion, enabling innovation, and empowering Jordan’s economy through Open Banking”.

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Mirna Sleiman, Founder and CEO of Fintech Galaxy, echoed the sentiment: “The Central Bank of Jordan’s approval is a testament to our shared vision of fostering innovation and inclusivity in the financial sector. By leveraging FINX Connect, we aim to empower financial institutions and third-party providers with data aggregation and payment initiation services, ultimately improving the lives of consumers across Jordan”.

Open Banking services allow banks and payment providers to share customer data securely with third-party providers (with their prior consent). Fintech Galaxy’s FINX Connect platform enables real-time bank account data aggregation and payment initiation, enhancing customer access to personalized financial services and simplifying payment processing.

To support its expansion, Fintech Galaxy has raised $9 million for platform development and market growth. The Jordanian arm, led by Zaid Khatib, will integrate with banks and financial institutions country-wide, focusing on Personal Finance Management (PFM) and Business Finance Management (BFM) applications.

News

Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”

Instagram’s first wordmark refresh in a decade arrives with new fonts, a restrained gradient — and a Reddit verdict of sidegrade.

Published

4 days ago

August 14, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Although Instagram’s famous camera icon hasn’t changed, the company has refreshed the handwritten wordmark at the top of its app. This is the first redesign we’ve seen in ten years, and one the internet promptly set about renaming.

“The wordmark at the top of the app hasn’t changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a post on August 13, describing the new version as “cleaner and more modern” while keeping references to the original design.

Instagram says its team explored hundreds of options — all-caps lettering, camera-inspired concepts, even literal handwriting — before returning to script. “Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right,” Instagram director of product design Jasmine Probst said in Meta’s announcement. “The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram”.

The wordmark is part of a broader brand overhaul: an updated Instagram Sans typeface, two new fonts — the hand-drawn Instagram Pen and Instagram Mono — plus refreshed motion and layouts, and more restrained use of the signature gradient. The wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest arriving throughout 2026 and beyond.

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The design mixes cursive and print lettering, some characters connected and others floating free. That hybrid approach, combined with unusually shaped “s” and “r” characters, led some users to conclude the logo actually reads “Instagzam”. On the r/logodesign subreddit, one user said the wordmark looked “fan-made,” like something built in Canva; another called it “an unsettling mix of manuscript and cursive”; a third summarized it as a “sidegrade” — or, inevitably, a “zidegrade”.

Not everyone was hostile to the new look. Some found the half-cursive design stylish and surprisingly readable, while others called it an improvement on its predecessor, and one commenter argued Instagram was simply adopting minimalist branding later than everyone else. Either way, the platform now has a refreshed identity, three updated fonts, and an unofficial new pronunciation.