The UAE leads the markets in the Middle East and Turkey when it comes to fintech sector regulations, according to a report from Mastercard.

The white paper titled ‘The Future of Fintech: Smart, Scalable, Collaborative’ was released during Fintech Surge in GITEX Global 2022, Dubai.

Regulation of the fintech sector includes multiple facets, such as payments, remittances, equity crowdfunding, e-money and P2P lending, it said.  

The UAE has regulations for all five facets, followed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which regulate four out of the five facets.

Egypt and Turkey have regulations for three of these facets, while Qatar has soft-launched its regulatory sandbox and is planning to launch fully in the near future.

The four areas in focus for Qatar are payments, regtech, Islamic finance, and SMEs.

Although regulation is still very localised, the primary concern of regulators is to protect consumers in their own countries, Mastercard said.

Very few country regulators have forged collaborative partnerships with their counterparts in neighboring countries to allow companies from one country to operate seamlessly in the other.

“The fintech landscape is accelerating at an unprecedented speed to transform economies and the exchange of value. Our study shows that new players are continuously emerging, their scaling strategies are maturing, and investments are accelerating,” said Ngozi Megwa, Senior Vice President Digital Partners and Enablers, EEMEA, Mastercard.

The global fintech market, valued at $112.5 billion in 2021, is projected to reach $332.5 billion by 2028, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8%.

The white paper revealed that there are more than 470 fintech unicorns globally, with 40 added in Q1 2022.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region alone is expected to have 45 fintech unicorns by 2030, a tenth of global numbers.  In Turkey, 2021 was a record year for fintech deals and funding.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com )