News

Instagram Reels Has Arrived To The Middle East

Published

4 years ago

March 16, 2021

instagram reels has arrived to the middle east

Instagram’s long awaited short-form video-sharing feature, Instagram Reels, has finally started rolling out in the Middle East. During Instagram’s previous “House of Instagram” event, the company announced that Reels would be a brand-new way for content creators and businesses in the MENA region to create and discover short and entertaining videos. The announcement of Reels comes just days after Instagram released Instagram Music in the Middle East.

Reels allows users to take and edit multi-clip videos up to 30 seconds long, with the ability to add effects and other new tools dedicated to this feature. Once taken, users can share Reels with their followers (for private accounts) and potentially with the entire Instagram community (your account will need to be set to public).

Instagram

If you have the latest version of Instagram installed on your smartphone, you should see the Reels icon in the bottom center of the app’s homepage.

“Self-expression and versatility are part of the creative DNA of the region’s Gen Z and millennial population. As one of the primary platforms for this group of creators, we have always sought to adapt our features to what they need. With Reels, they now have more leverage when it comes to creating and sharing short-form content. Reels provides our community with greater freedom and flexibility to innovate, experiment and elevate their content, and we cannot wait to discover a new generation of talent via the feature.” said Samer Jamal, strategic partner manager at Instagram MENA.

Also Read: How To Find & Cancel Pending Instagram Requests

Instagram isn’t the only company to explore this type of short-form content. Last September, YouTube announced a similar feature called “Shorts” which gives creators the ability to capture short and catchy videos straight from their smartphone.

News

Checkout.com Brings Visa Direct Push-To-Card To The UAE

The payment company is the first acquirer in the UAE to launch Visa Direct’s solution, enabling safe, instant money transfers.

Published

12 hours ago

February 17, 2025

Nour Nasir

checkout.com brings visa direct push-to-card to the uae

Checkout.com has taken the UAE a step closer to its goal of a fully digital economy by becoming the first acquirer in the country to offer Visa Direct’s Push-to-Card solution. The new service will streamline money transfers for both businesses and consumers, enabling near-instant transactions across local and international markets.

Visa Direct connects over 190 markets and supports over 8.5 billion endpoints, including cards, bank accounts, and digital wallets. Push-to-Card transactions enhance efficiency for business users and consumers by allowing money to be sent quickly and easily to eligible Visa cards while leveraging the company’s secure network for reliability.

checkout and visa uae partnership

“Visa Direct is transforming the way money moves globally, and we are excited to see Checkout.com leverage this technology to meet the evolving demands of businesses and individuals alike by offering them a faster, more convenient, and secure way to send and receive funds,” said Shahebaz Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions, CEMEA.

The UAE has been at the forefront of digital payment adoption, driven by a national push toward a cashless economy. Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, emphasized this shift: “By providing seamless, secure, and real-time payout capabilities, we’re empowering merchants with the agility to thrive in this fast-evolving landscape, while effectively meeting the growing consumer demand for speed and convenience. The Push-to-Card solution not only reinforces our commitment to powering payment performance but also showcases our agility in bringing yet another innovation to the UAE market.”

Also Read: Qareeb Partners With Pantheon For GCC Bitcoin Mining Expansion

Checkout.com’s latest MENA eCommerce data highlights the region’s increasing engagement with financial technologies, with around 80% of consumers participating in activities beyond basic online payments, such as money transfers and personal wealth management. The growing demand for real-time financial transactions has made fast, seamless payment solutions a priority.

To meet this demand, Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) have gained traction in the UAE. By integrating AFTs with Visa’s Push-to-Card services, Checkout.com is helping merchants offer secure, real-time account top-ups. Currently processing over one million AFTs per month with Visa, Checkout.com is now playing a leading role in modernizing financial transactions in the region.