Discover the 2026 Agenda | Money20/20 Middle East

12:30 PM

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 12:30 PM—12:40 PM (10 min)

Opening Remarks : MC Welcome

Speaker

Taghrid Alhowish

Master of Ceremonies

12:40 PM

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 12:40 PM—02:00 PM (1 h 20 min)

Opening Ceremony : Money20/20 Middle East

1:00 PM

The Bridge

Monday 14 September, 01:00 PM—01:10 PM (10 min)

Opening Remarks : MC Welcome

Speaker

Yousef Gamal El-Din

Managing Partner | Stagespring LLC

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 01:00 PM—01:10 PM (10 min)

Opening Remarks : MC Welcome

Speaker

Natalie Lindo

Founder | NLM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 01:00 PM—01:05 PM (5 min)

Opening Remarks : MC Welcome

The New Consumer

Speaker

Eliott Gotkine

Master of Ceremonies

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 01:00 PM—01:10 PM (10 min)

Opening Remarks : Virtual MC Welcome

1:05 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 01:05 PM—01:25 PM (20 min)

Live Demo : Meet the Other Joseph: A Digital Twin Takes the Stage

Joseph Bradley opens Next-Gen Money Stage alongside his own AI twin, live and unscripted, and the audience questions both. When the room can no longer tell the difference, the question stops being philosophical and becomes a governance problem. Joseph then opens the twin up, shows what actually keeps an agent accountable, names the one decision no institution should ever delegate, and hands the audience the harder question of where their own line sits.

Speakers

Joseph Bradley

Chairman & CEO | JMB X

Beverly Rider

Co-Founder & COO | JMB X

Hamza Aqeel

CTO | JBM X

1:10 PM

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 01:10 PM—01:50 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : The Threat Has Scaled. Have We?

We assume security spend equals security. It doesn’t. Cybercrime is now automated, organised and AI-powered and it targets fintech first, faster than anyone wants to admit. This session combats the comfortable belief that the threat is “handled", and asks what the industry is still treating as covered when it plainly isn’t.

Speakers

Christophe Makni

Head of Data, Automation and AI | Migros Bank

Vittorio Furlan

Independent Non-Executive Director | Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank)

Sumnesh Joshi

Deputy Director General | Government of India

Ronit Ghose

Industry Fellow | University of Cambridge Business School Centre for Finance and Technology

Steve Suarez

CEO | HorizonX

Ray Harishankar

IBM Fellow & Vice President | IBM

The Capital

Capital Journey

Monday 14 September, 01:10 PM—01:25 PM (15 min)

Fireside Chat : Capital Markets Outlook

Global investment is entering a new era, driven by structural shifts rather than short-term market cycles. As geopolitics, technology, and economic transformation reshape the global economy, investors are rethinking where capital flows and where long-term value will be created. This session explores the macroeconomic trends, investment strategies, and cross-border capital flows shaping the future of global finance and what they mean for investors, institutions, and markets worldwide.

Speaker

George Theocharides

Chairman | Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission

The Bridge

Cyber & Trust Journey

Monday 14 September, 01:10 PM—01:40 PM (30 min)

Fireside Chat : Designing Financial Systems That Scale Safely

Balancing innovation, competition, and systemic stability

1:25 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 01:25 PM—02:05 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Influence Is the New Distribution: Who Owns the Financial Customer?

For a growing share of consumers, financial decisions begin before they ever reach a bank or fintech app. Creators, communities and social platforms increasingly shape what people save, invest in, trust and how they understand risk. This panel explores who owns the customer relationship when financial influence moves outside the institution. How should fintechs engage with creators without outsourcing trust, and when influence turns into product adoption or financial loss, where does responsibility sit?

Speakers

Raji Kaippallil Raji

Financial Advisor & Content Creator | FinancewithRaji

Aydan Al-Saad

Founder & Creator | Creator Leaders

Panagiotis Kriaris

Advisor / Fintech, Payments, Banking

Hatem Jarad

Head of SMB - Saudi | Snapchat

Arthur Bedel

Founder, CEO | Monyz

Fawzan AlThobaity

Producer & Presenter | Asharq Bloomberg

The Capital

Capital Journey

Monday 14 September, 01:25 PM—01:55 PM (30 min)

Panel Discussion : Part. 1 Capital Flow Equation: Entry, Retention & Exit

Attracting investment is only the first step. The real measure of a competitive investment ecosystem lies in its ability to deploy capital efficiently, retain investor confidence, and deliver successful exits. From market access and regulatory certainty to liquidity, IPO readiness, and secondary markets, this session explores the conditions that enable capital to flow, grow, and recycle - creating sustainable investment ecosystems that attract long-term global capital.

Speakers

Lukas Bonko

CEO | Bratislava Stock Exchange

Josh Bell

General Partner | Dawn Capital

Cindy Ai

Co-CEO | Dream VC

1:40 PM

The Bridge

Payments and commerce Journey

Monday 14 September, 01:40 PM—02:00 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : Trust Corridors: Where Policy Alignment and Fintech Infrastructure Meet

A strategic conversation on how diplomacy, policy alignment, and fintech infrastructure can unlock resilient Cross-Border investment and payments corridors across high-growth emerging markets.

Speakers

Nilixa Devlukia

CEO | Payments Solved

Petra Janež

Financial Controller | Ministry of Finance, Republic of Slovenia

Nizar A. Alangari

Director, Payments Risk Management | Saudi Central Bank

1:55 PM

The Capital

Capital Journey

Monday 14 September, 01:55 PM—02:15 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : Part 2. The MENA Exit Gap: Where Liquidity Breaks Down

As investment into the MENA region continues to accelerate, the next challenge is ensuring capital can exit as effectively as it enters. Without deeper public markets, more active secondary transactions, and stronger cross-border M&A activity, venture ecosystems risk stalling before reaching full maturity. This conversation explores the reforms, market infrastructure, and capital market evolution required to close the region's liquidity gap and enable a more self-sustaining investment cycle.

Speakers

Yazeed Alturki

Associate Partner | STV

Alex Hageman

Managing Director, Head of EMEA ECM | Moelis & Company

Nada Helmy

Value Creation Manager | HALA Capital

Nameer Khan

Chairman and Founding Board Member | MENA Fintech Association

2:00 PM

Boardroom

Monday 14 September, 02:00 PM—03:30 PM (1 h 30 min)

Roundtable : MFTA (Saudi Chapter): Shaping the Next Phase of FinTech Growth

Saudi Arabia’s fintech ecosystem has grown rapidly, surpassing its initial targets and now entering its next phase of development. With the ambition of reaching 525 fintech companies and 18,000 jobs by 2030, the focus is shifting from building the foundations to scaling a more diverse and globally competitive ecosystem. This executive roundtable will bring together key fintech stakeholders to explore where the next wave of growth will come from across insurtech, regtech, wealthtech, Islamic fintech, embedded finance, SME and trade finance and where the ecosystem still needs support. The discussion will also explore MFTA Saudi’s proposed role, drawing on its experience in other markets, and how it can create impactful, ongoing engagement between fintechs, regulators, investors and ecosystem players.

Speaker

Zain Umer

CEO | CFC MENA / MFTA

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 02:00 PM—02:30 PM (30 min)

Deep Dive : Young, Digital, Credit-Shy: Why BNPL is Quietly Winning in KSA & GCC

The accepted wisdom says a young, credit-wary, cash-first population won’t take on credit. The data says the opposite, nearly 85% of payments are already digital, smartphones are universal, and BNPL fits the behaviour like a glove. So why are we still designing for a consumer who no longer exists?

Speakers

Omar Abdelhady

Chief Product & Growth Officer | ValU

Jamie Lane

Founder | FWDstart

The Bridge

Monday 14 September, 02:00 PM—02:30 PM (30 min)

Panel Discussion : Designing Sovereign Money: Inside the CBDC Architecture

Every CBDC reflects a series of architectural decisions that shape how sovereign money functions. From ledger design and identity to interoperability, privacy, settlement and the role of commercial banks, this session explores the choices central banks are making, and why different countries are arriving at different answers. Drawing on real-world CBDC programmes from both emerging and developed markets, it examines the building blocks that will define the next generation of E-money.

Speakers

David Birch

Global Ambassador | Consult Hyperion

Maha Al-Saadi

Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Expert | Independent

Dr. Saeeda Jaffar

Managing Director, International | Circle

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 02:00 PM—02:20 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : From Experimentation to Enterprise: Leading Transformation as Scale-up

Technology is transforming financial services at pace. This conversation explores the innovations delivering tangible impact today, the barriers to enterprise-scale adoption, and where the greatest opportunities lie to drive growth and competitive advantage.

Speakers

Mostapha Tahiri

Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer | State Street Corporation

Hanna Raftell

Founding Partner | Stratum 3

2:05 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 02:05 PM—02:40 PM (35 min)

Panel Discussion : Engineered Money: Who Is Programming Financial Behaviour?

Every nudge has an economic consequence. Credit limits, savings defaults, repayment reminders, rewards, streaks and AI prompts are no longer just UX features — they influence conversion, retention, borrowing, savings behaviour and credit performance. As fintechs race to make money more personalised and frictionless, the same mechanics that improve engagement can also encourage overspending, dependency and debt. This panel asks what financial products should optimise for when engagement and customer outcomes start to diverge, where behavioural design becomes manipulation, and who is accountable when a product is deliberately built to change how people use money.

Speakers

Dr. Efi Pylarinou

Global Fintech & Tech Thought leader & Advisor | GrowFin

Julie Barbier

CEO & Co-Founder | Merit Incentives

Ibtissam Ouassif

Head of Product | Sanabil Venture Studio

Ahmed AlMadan

CEO | Sarj.AI

Yousef Alzamea

Founder & CEO | Kafaa Capital

2:15 PM

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 02:15 PM—02:40 PM (25 min)

Fireside Chat : The Next Capital Market: Programmable Money, Tokenised Assets and 24/7 Liquidity

Capital markets are entering their biggest structural transformation since electronic trading. Programmable money, tokenised assets and instant settlement are reshaping liquidity, collateral mobility, market access and capital formation, creating new opportunities for investors and fundamentally changing how markets operate.As regulated stablecoins, tokenised deposits and central bank digital currencies mature, money itself is becoming part of capital market infrastructure.

2:20 PM

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 02:20 PM—02:40 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : Trade and Investment: Corridors of Financial Growth

Global trade patterns, investment corridors and economic alliances are reshaping the movement of capital and creating new corridors of growth. This conversation explores what these shifts mean for investment strategy, market access and long-term competitiveness, and how financial leaders can unlock opportunities in a more interconnected global economy.

Speakers

William Mason

Director General | Guernsey Financial Services Commission

Stephanie Hauser

Senior Partner and Leader of the Global Banking Practice | McKinsey & Company

2:30 PM

The Bridge

Monday 14 September, 02:30 PM—03:00 PM (30 min)

Fireside Chat : Innovation Sandboxes: What We Learned from Real-World Experiments

Speakers

Alaa AlRousan

Regional Director, MENA | SWIFT

Aljohara Almandil

SVP - Head of Innovation Lab & Studio | Jeel Digital Innovation Center by Riyad Bank

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 02:30 PM—02:50 PM (20 min)

Deep Dive : Innovation or Imitation? Beyond the Copy-Paste Playbook

Fintech sold itself on disruption, yet most startups are reskinning the same five business models. Payments, lending, neobanks, embedded finance: proven, scalable, fundable… and identical. Has the industry mistaken a copy-paste playbook for innovation?

Speakers

Brad Maasdorp

FinTech Growth Partner | TMC (The Member Company)

Sam Boboev

Founder & CEO | Fintech wrap up

Cordel Robbin Coker

Co-founder & CEO | Carry1st

Rodrigoh Henriques

Director of Innovation and Strategy | FENASBAC

2:40 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 02:40 PM—03:00 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : Building the Next Digital Economy: What the New MENA Consumer Expects

MENA is moving from digital adoption to digital advantage. Consumers are shopping more frequently, managing money through digital wallets and increasingly expecting payments to disappear into the experience: fast, secure and effortless. But convenience is changing more than checkout. It is reshaping where consumers shop, which brands they trust, how quickly they abandon a poor experience and how much control they expect to retain as payments become increasingly automated. The session explores what these changing behaviours reveal about the next MENA consumer, and how merchants and financial institutions can translate better performance, local relevance and trust into sustainable growth.

Speakers

Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo

General Manager, MENA | Checkout.com

Mina Vucic

Director of Production & Multimedia | Entrepreneur Middle East

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 02:40 PM—03:20 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Capital Meets Africa’s Growth Opportunity

As global investors diversify beyond traditional regional allocations, Africa is emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing investment corridors. Sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, family offices and strategic partners are increasingly deploying capital across infrastructure, energy, digital economies, manufacturing and financial services.

Executive Summit

Cyber & Trust Journey

Monday 14 September, 02:40 PM—03:20 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Regulation as a Catalyst: Building Tomorrow's Financial Innovation Infrastructure

Financial regulation is shifting from a compliance‑only role to a strategic driver of innovation. This session will examine how regulators can create agile, resilient, future‑ready frameworks that foster innovation while preserving financial stability, consumer trust, and market integrity.

Speakers

George Theocharides

Chairman | Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission

Mario Nobile

Director General | Agency of Digital Italy, Government of Italy

Alan Ainsworth

Executive Director, Policy, Innovation and Marketing and Communications | Jersey Financial Services Commission

Claire Harrop

Partner | Freshfields LLP

Dr Mansour A. Alsaleh

General Director, Innovation Hub | Saudi Central Bank

2:50 PM

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 02:50 PM—03:20 PM (30 min)

Networking : Networking Break

3:00 PM

The Bridge

Banking Journey

Monday 14 September, 03:00 PM—03:20 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : Quiet Layer: Why is Insurance the Framework Nobody Talks About?

Every mortgage, trade finance deal and infrastructure project depends on someone agreeing to carry the risk. This session treats insurance as core financial infrastructure rather than an add-on, and asks what changes when protection is designed into the system alongside payments and credit rather than layered on afterwards.

Speakers

Basil Mimi

CEO | Mantas

Dr. Tamer Asaad

Founder | Ananas Insurance

Next-Gen Money

Financial Inclusion Journey

Monday 14 September, 03:00 PM—03:35 PM (35 min)

Panel Discussion : The Business of One: Financial Services for Independent Work

Income has fragmented. Banking has not. Millions now earn across platforms, projects and several sources at once, while credit models, account structures and financial planning still assume one employer, one salary and a predictable month. Creators, freelancers, drivers, merchants, consultants and AI-enabled entrepreneurs run financial lives that sit half in the personal column and half in the commercial one, and are routinely served well by neither. The question on the table is what financial services owe the business of one, and how much of the existing stack has to be rebuilt rather than adapted to deliver it.

Speakers

Susana Ponce Froment

Board Advisor | Gifftid

Panagiotis Kriaris

Advisor / Fintech, Payments, Banking

Omair Ansari

Co-Founder & CEO | Abhi FinTech Ltd

Clara Shi

CEO of WorldFirst | Ant International

Mohammed Aldubaykil

Co-founder Managing Director | Jisr HR

3:20 PM

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 03:20 PM—03:50 PM (30 min)

Panel Discussion : Governments as Financial System Builders

The world's most competitive investment destinations are being shaped not only by markets, but by governments building the institutions and infrastructure that enable capital to thrive. From sovereign wealth funds acting as ecosystem builders to state-led capital market development and forward-looking regulation, governments are redefining their role as architects of financial systems designed to attract investment, accelerate growth, and strengthen long-term economic competitiveness.

Speakers

Senator Osita Izunaso

Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Markets | Federal Republic of Nigeria Government

William Mason

Director General | Guernsey Financial Services Commission

Akshata Namjoshi

Equity Partner | KARM Legal

Karim Samakie

General Manager - Fintech Sector | Ministry of Investment

The Bridge

Payments and commerce Journey

Monday 14 September, 03:20 PM—03:40 PM (20 min)

Keynote : Trust, Experience and Partnership: Building the Future of Payments

The future of payments is not only about making transactions faster or more connected. It is about creating trusted experiences, supported by strong partnerships, that deliver meaningful value for customers and businesses.

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 03:20 PM—04:20 PM (1 h)

Workshop : CLOSED DOOR WORKSHOP

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 03:20 PM—03:40 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : The Infinite Reinvention - Leading Through Change

The technology leaders who thrive in financial services will not be those who successfully deliver one transformation. They will be those who build organizations capable of continuously evolving, innovating and adapting as the industry changes. A candid conversation about navigating disruption, balancing innovation with resilience, harnessing emerging technologies, and developing the mindset required to lead when the rules never stop changing.

Speakers

Scarlett Sieber

Chief Strategy & Growth Officer | Money20/20 Global

Mansour Alzahrani

CTO | STC Bank

Mohammed AlThbiti

Chief Information Officer | Gulf International Bank, KSA

3:35 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 03:35 PM—04:10 PM (35 min)

Panel Discussion : The Borderless Customer: Building One Financial Life Across Many Markets

Consumers increasingly earn, spend, save and support family across multiple countries, currencies and platforms, while financial services remain fragmented by market. This panel explores how fintechs can build a more connected financial life for borderless customers, bringing payments, FX, savings, credit and investing together across markets, and competing to become the primary financial relationship wherever the customer goes.

Speakers

Sandra Mianda

Founder & CEO | Paypr.work

Ravi Jakhodia

CEO | MonieWorld (from Moniepoint)

Davis Parakal

CEO UAE & GM GCC | Remitly

Arthur Brunschwig

Head of Innovation Economy Payments, Middle East & Africa | J.P. Morgan

Muhammad Nana

Senior Vice President, Digital Partnerships, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa | Mastercard

3:40 PM

The Bridge

Financial Inclusion Journey

Monday 14 September, 03:40 PM—04:20 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Closing the Wealth Gap by Design

Learn how intentional inclusion by design can create better financial infrastructure that expands access, builds real economic participation, and drives long-term wealth creation for all.

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 03:40 PM—04:20 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Capital Meets Infrastructure and Innovation: Financing the Future of Financial Services

Financial innovation depends on more than breakthrough technology. It requires long-term capital, resilient infrastructure and strategic collaboration between investors, financial institutions and technology leaders. This discussion explores how capital is enabling the next generation of financial infrastructure, from AI and digital identity to payments, tokenisation and embedded finance, and why the strongest financial ecosystems are being built through coordinated investment, innovation and public-private collaboration.

Speakers

Hani Kablawi

Executive Vice Chair, Head of Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific | BNY

Alex Hageman

Managing Director, Head of EMEA ECM | Moelis & Company

Amnah Ajmal

CEO & Founder | SheKnows

Mohammed AlShammasi

Chief Executive Officer | Derayah Financial

Saeed Amidi

Founder & CEO | Plug and Play

3:50 PM

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 03:50 PM—04:20 PM (30 min)

Fireside Chat : Building an Investable Nation: Why Global Capital is Choosing Saudi Arabia

Global capital is increasingly favouring markets with long-term vision, institutional credibility and investment-ready ecosystems. Saudi Arabia has emerged as a focal point for this shift, driven by regulatory reform, sovereign investment, expanding capital markets and a rapidly evolving innovation economy. Explore what makes a market truly investable, why investors are increasing their allocation to the Kingdom, and what it will take for Saudi Arabia to become one of the world’s leading long-term capital hubs.

Speakers

Sebastian Frederiks

CEO | ING Securities Capital

Ahmed Al Darwish

Founder and Managing Partner | Noa Capital

Mohamed Aladdin

General Partner | Development Partners International (DPI) VC

4:10 PM

Next-Gen Money

Capital Journey

Monday 14 September, 04:10 PM—04:40 PM (30 min)

Deep Dive : From Saving to Investing: Who Will Own the Next Generation Investor?

Investing is increasingly moving beyond traditional brokers and wealth managers into fintech apps, wallets, banks, super apps and digital wealth platforms, powered by APIs, embedded brokerage, robo-advisory and AI. As access becomes more seamless and investing moves closer to the consumer, this panel explores how the next generation will discover and experience investing, whether easier access leads to better financial outcomes, and what happens to trust as investing becomes increasingly embedded and automated.

Speakers

Roger Rouhana

Co-founder & CEO | Alpheya

Hitoshi Harada

Co-founder & CPO | Alpaca

Ziad Mabsout

CEO & Co-Founder | Vennre

Jessica Rota

Founder & Investor Partner | AEVA & BitAngels

4:20 PM

The Capital

Monday 14 September, 04:20 PM—06:00 PM (1 h 40 min)

Startup Competition : DAY 1: MoneySurge Pitch Competition

Speakers

Efayomi Carr

Investment Partner | Flourish Ventures

Stefan Klestil

General Partner, Fintech | SpeedInvest

The Bridge

Financial Inclusion Journey

Monday 14 September, 04:20 PM—05:00 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Rewiring Capital from the Inside

The incentive structures that quietly decide who finance reaches. How venture capital decisions shape who gets access to financial tools, credit, and wealth creation globally. From bias in funding pipelines to emerging inclusive fintech models, this session unpacks how investors can actively redesign access. Expect insights from operators-turned-investors deploying capital into underserved founders and cross-border financial ecosystem

Speakers

Nivesh Pather

Investment Principal | Norrsken22

Mareme Dieng

Head of M&A, Strategy & Fintech Future | Axian Group

Arth Malani

Founder & CEO | NorthStar Insights

Ihsan Jawad

General Partner | STV

Executive Summit

Banking Journey

Monday 14 September, 04:20 PM—05:00 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : The Platform Winners: Decoding the Future of Financial Distribution

Super-apps, embedded finance, open banking and agentic AI are all competing for the same prize: the customer. This conversation explores the battle for distribution, how platforms and financial institutions are redefining customer ownership, and which business models are emerging as the winners.

Speakers

Sophie Guibaud

Fintech Growth Advisor & Nominee Director | International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Hosam Arab

Co Founder & CEO | Tabby

Karan Chawla

Director, Global Head of Financial Services | Uber Technologies Inc.

Eng. Ali Aldamanhori

CEO | HungerStation

Ezequiel Szafir Holcman

CEO | D360 Bank

4:30 PM

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 04:30 PM—05:00 PM (30 min)

Fireside Chat : Founder Story: “It Started With A $90 Problem”

What do you do when you stumble across a problem that you simply can’t ignore? For Chris Maurice, it started with a $90 fee and a question: why should moving money be this hard? That question took him from spotting a broken system to building Yellow Card, and ultimately serving millions across Africa and beyond. This is the personal, messy and unexpected story of what happens when you decide to solve the problem yourself.

Speakers

Christopher Maurice

Co-founder & CEO | Yellow Card

Afua Hagan

Journalist & Broadcaster | News Central

4:40 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 04:40 PM—05:15 PM (35 min)

Panel Discussion : The Consumer the Credit File Cannot See

Credit models were built to read one kind of life: a single employer, a documented salary, a visible history of borrowing and repaying. Millions of people live outside that pattern. They have income but no payslip, discipline but no credit history, years of digital activity but no established banking relationship. Alternative data, open banking and verified income could bring them inside the system. They could equally create a new form of exclusion, harder to see and harder to contest, because the reasoning sits inside a model rather than a policy. The session turns on three questions: which signals deserve weight in a lending decision, how credit-information providers widen the file without lowering the standard, and what recourse a person has when an automated decision concludes they are not creditworthy.

Speakers

Adeola Adedewe

Founder & CEO | Kredete

Nilixa Devlukia

CEO | Payments Solved

Omar Saleh

Co-founder & Group CEO | Khazna.App

Abdulraheem Alzahrani

Product Management Executive Director | MASDR

Nezar Alhaidar

COO & VP (KSA) | Lean Technologies

5:00 PM

The Bridge

Cyber & Trust Journey

Monday 14 September, 05:00 PM—05:30 PM (30 min)

Deep Dive : Identity as financial infrastructure

Money can't move until identity is established and trusted. This session explores identity not as a compliance requirement, but as the foundation every financial system depends on. It examines how interoperable identity systems are being designed, who governs them, and how that foundation must evolve as AI agents begin acting on behalf of people and businesses.

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 05:00 PM—05:40 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Connectivity as Competitive Advantage

Connectivity is reshaping how financial institutions, businesses and economies interact. As interoperable payment networks and digital infrastructure evolve, leaders must make strategic decisions about investment, partnerships and cross-border growth. This conversation explores how connectivity is influencing global commerce and the opportunities and challenges it presents for the future of finance.

Speakers

Hisham Al-Falih

Co-Founder & CEO | Lean Technologies

Todd Schweitzer

CEO and Founder | Brankas

Ali Bailoun

Senior Vice President, Group Country Manager, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman | VISA

Melike Kara Tanrikulu

CEO | e&Money

5:10 PM

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 05:10 PM—05:40 PM (30 min)

Panel Discussion : The Banking Debate We Usually Have in Private

Digital asset infrastructure is advancing, but internal realities remain complex. In this closed-door discussion, senior leaders speak candidly about operational hurdles, regulatory uncertainty, and adoption challenges inside major institutions. An unfiltered look at what it truly takes to scale digital asset infrastructure beyond pilots and into system-critical environments.

Speakers

Joy Adams

COO, Digital Assets | Deutsche Bank

Akshata Namjoshi

Equity Partner | KARM Legal

Lionel Grosclaude

CEO | Fime

5:15 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 05:15 PM—05:45 PM (30 min)

Deep Dive : Who Do You Trust With Your Money? The Rise of Community Finance

Money has always been social. People save with family, pool money with friends and learn financial habits from those they trust. Technology is now turning those behaviours into products, from digital savings circles to group investing and fractional ownership. This panel explores why consumers increasingly make financial decisions through communities, how social trust shapes behaviour, and whether fintech can turn collective saving into long-term ownership and wealth.

Speakers

Turki AlShlail

Co-Founder & CEO | Jozo

Halima Iqbal

CEO & Founder | Oraan

Piyush Dubey

Partner | Kearney

Dunja Poetschke

CFO | Hakbah

5:30 PM

The Bridge

Monday 14 September, 05:30 PM—06:10 PM (40 min)

Panel Discussion : Both Sides of the Design Table

Financial systems are shaped as much by supervisors as by builders. As innovation accelerates, regulators are increasingly designing the frameworks that determine how new technologies scale safely and responsibly. This fireside explores how supervisors and industry are working together to create regulatory foundations that enable innovation while maintaining trust, resilience and financial stability.

Speakers

Joanne Kubba

SVP, head of Government Affairs CEMEA | VISA

Bruno Loiola

Chief Growth Officer & Co-founder | Pluggy

Sarah Trueman

Director, Global Expansion and Financial Partnerships | Airwallex

Faisal Aftab

Founder & CRO | Zayn Venture Capital

5:40 PM

Executive Summit

Monday 14 September, 05:40 PM—05:45 PM (5 min)

Closing Remarks

Speaker

Taghrid Alhowish

Master of Ceremonies

Off The Record

Monday 14 September, 05:40 PM—05:45 PM (5 min)

Closing Remarks

5:45 PM

Next-Gen Money

Financial Inclusion Journey

Monday 14 September, 05:45 PM—06:15 PM (30 min)

Deep Dive : How Technology Shapes Financial Behaviour: Building Financial Confidence in the Digital Age

Technology is no longer just changing how consumers access financial services, it is reshaping how they think, decide and behave with money. From AI-powered financial guidance and behavioural design to creator-led advice, digital communities and embedded financial experiences, the next generation is developing new habits around spending, saving, investing and long-term financial planning. As trust shifts beyond traditional institutions towards digital experiences and personalised advice, this session explores how technology is redefining financial confidence, consumer behaviour and household wealth, and what banks, fintechs and wealth platforms must do to earn trust in the next era of money.

Speakers

Tolani Abere

Influencer & Investment Professional | Tolani Talks Money

Dr. Jasmin B. Gupta

Global Fintech Academic | University of Wollongong, Australia, GIFT City India

Dr. Preston Cherry

Founder & Wealth Advisor | Concurrent Wealth

Muath Almudayfir

Director of Strategy & PMO | Tamam

6:10 PM

The Bridge

Capital Journey

Monday 14 September, 06:10 PM—06:30 PM (20 min)

Fireside Chat : On-Ramp: How Markets Are Built for the Companies That Don't Exist Yet

Public markets don't grow by accident. Someone has to design the path a company walks from first outside cheque to listed entity, the crowdfunding rules, the private-round frameworks, the parallel market that catches companies too small for the main board. Saudi Arabia has quietly built one of the region's most complete versions. This session steps back from any single listing to look at the architecture: what has to be decided, in what order, and by whom, for capital formation to be reachable rather than exceptional. The focus is the design of the system, not the celebration at the end of it.

Speakers

Mert Dedebas

Director of Middle East & Turkiye & North Africa Regional Offices | Frankfurt School of Finance and Management

Gbite Oduneye

Chair | Indexa Exchange Group

Hamza Al Lawati

Founder and CEO | Wadiaa

6:15 PM

Next-Gen Money

Monday 14 September, 06:15 PM—06:20 PM (5 min)

Closing Remarks

Speaker

Eliott Gotkine

Master of Ceremonies

6:30 PM

The Bridge

Monday 14 September, 06:30 PM—06:40 PM (10 min)

Closing Remarks

Speaker

Yousef Gamal El-Din

Managing Partner | Stagespring LLC

THE 2026 AGENDA

What Matters