News
MALY Is Helping To Fuel Saudi Arabia’s Fintech Revolution
The KSA is rapidly becoming a MENA fintech leader, and next-gen digital savings platform and money mentor app MALY is one of its key players.
Despite nearly 100% smartphone penetration and a growing awareness of digital platforms, Saudi Arabian officials are concerned by the lack of financial education and the accessibility of financial wellness advice.
Founded in 2022, fintech startup MALY aims to plug this gap, providing users with a financial wellness platform that helps cultivate better money habits, plugging crucial gaps in Saudi Arabia’s struggling consumer savings sector. Mo Ibrahim, MALY’s co-founder and CEO, described the current climate in the KSA:
“Various estimates cite up to 70% of the Saudi population as having no savings […] despite the reality of immense economic challenges. People need help in building healthier relationships with their finances, and fintechs can provide the necessary tools and platforms to enable individual financial wellness”.
Ibrahim says fintech growth in Saudi Arabia will also be aided by the country’s National Fintech Strategy (SNFS). The initiative aims to drive fintech innovation, increase the number of startups in the Kingdom to 230, and grow digital transactions by 70% by 2025.
Also Read: A Guide To Digital Payment Methods In The Middle East
MALY is uniquely positioned to help the KSA achieve its fintech vision. The company’s cutting-edge platform leverages data science and machine learning. According to CEO Mo Ibrahim, MALY is an essential toolbox that helps to automate and manage personal savings and investments while offering debt management tools and investment techniques.
As well as its current suite of financial tools, MALY is also planning an AI-powered Financial Stress Tracker, which will leverage Open Banking to identify patterns indicating financial stress while providing customers with personalized advice and education programs to help them manage their finances.
News
Dirham-Backed Stablecoin DDSC Enters Live Phase In UAE
Central Bank approval moves the dirham-backed token into deployment, targeting regulated payments and settlement flows.
The UAE has cleared the launch of DDSC, a dirham-backed stablecoin now entering live operation after approval from the Central Bank. The move pushes the project beyond its pilot phase and into the country’s regulated financial system.
The token is backed by a consortium led by IHC, Sirius International Holding and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), framing it as an institutional instrument rather than a consumer crypto product. DDSC was first announced in April 2025, but regulatory clearance now allows deployment and integration across approved channels.
DDSC runs on ADI Chain, a Layer 2 blockchain built by the Abu Dhabi-based ADI Foundation. The infrastructure is designed for governance and performance requirements expected by large institutions, linking blockchain settlement with existing compliance and oversight frameworks.
The focus is practical, targeting treasury settlements, high-value payments, trade and supply-chain transactions, and programmable financial flows for regulated entities. FAB plans to offer access to the token through approved platforms for its clients, keeping the rollout inside controlled banking environments.
“DDSC marks a defining milestone in the UAE’s digital finance journey,” said Syed Basar Shueb, CEO of IHC. “With the Central Bank’s approval and our transition into live operation, we are delivering trusted, institutional-grade infrastructure that strengthens resilience, accelerates innovation, and expands what is possible in regulated digital payments”.
Also Read: Basatne Debuts ORBT Platform For Digital Refunds In UAE
FAB says the project reflects how stablecoins can sit within traditional finance when risk controls are built in from the outset. “This milestone underscores that stablecoins can be integrated responsibly into the financial system when built to meet rigorous regulatory and risk requirements,” said Futoon Hamdan AlMazrouei, Group Head of Personal, Business, Wealth and Privileged Client Banking Group at FAB.
The launch reinforces the UAE’s strategy of pushing digital finance through regulation instead of open-ended crypto experimentation. Stablecoins in this model are positioned less as trading assets and more as programmable extensions of national currency, aimed at institutional scale and government use cases.
