News

New Kuwaiti-Based Netflix Series Features Women In Lead Roles

Set in Kuwait during the 1980s, The Exchange follows the story of the women who shook up the cutthroat world of the stock market.

Published

4 years ago

January 26, 2023

Nour Nasir

Netflix

After the teaser dropped a couple of weeks ago, Netflix subscribers can now watch the official trailer of the new Kuwaiti series, The Exchange. The show is scheduled to premiere on February 8th and is inspired by the real-life story of Farida and Munira, two women who played a pioneering role in the fast-paced and heavily male-dominated stock market of 1980s Kuwait.

The Exchange stars Rawan Mahdi, Mona Hussain, and Hussain Almahdi. It takes the audience on a journey through the trials and tribulations of navigating a male-centric industry during a time when Kuwait’s stock market was booming.

Written by Nadia Ahmad, Anne Sobel, and Adam Sobel and directed by Jasem AlMuhanna and Karim El Shenawy, the six-part series offers a refreshing take on our current obsession with everything from the 1980s.

Also Read: 5 Best Video Streaming Services In The Middle East

“Having grown up in Kuwait and surrounded by independent women my whole life, this production is close to my heart. Rawan and Mona perfectly depict the struggles women experienced back in the 80s, and I can’t wait for the world to see their characters’ stories unfold on the big screen. Besides the plot, I am excited for the audience to see how we brought this era to life, which brings together local and international expertise in a high-production masterpiece, shot and produced entirely in Kuwait,” says the show’s producer, Abdullah Boushahri.

The Exchange is Netflix’s second original Kuwaiti series. In September 2022, the platform released The Cage, a comedy-drama about the ups and downs of marital life.

News

NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

Also Read: In Kuwait, Your Surgeon Might Be Operating From Another Country

NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.