DUBAI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Financial technology startups and investment bodies have become a major phenomenon in the Gulf Arab countries, attracting regional and global attention.
Earlier last month, the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), called on financial technology startups to apply for its 2018 program, in order to attract top financial and insurance technological innovators in the region. The application process will end on June 24.
"As financial technology continues to be a game-changer for the financial services industry, nurturing innovative talents is a fundamental priority because of the immense benefits it brings to the economy and society," said Raja Al Mazrouei, executive vice president of FinTech Hive at DIFC.
Earlier in the week, DIFC announced it entered into a partnership with Startupbootcamp, whose headquarters is in Britain, to support the development of a financial technology and venture capital ecosystem in the center and promote entrepreneurship in the region.
Startupbootcamp is one of the world's biggest networks running supportive schemes for firms in the nascent stage.
Founded in 2004, the DIFC is partnering with 622 regulated entities, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Germany's Deutsche Bank, and has become the biggest financial free zone in the region.
Earlier in November last year, DIFC Governor Essa Kazim launched a 100-million-U.S.-dollar financial technology fund in order to accelerate the development of the sector by investing in start-ups from incubation to growth stage.
"There is huge potential in the region we serve, and through the DIFC, we look to support global and regional development of emerging markets and encourage greater trade," said Kazim.
But the DIFC's rival in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), is also banking on global financial technology boom which is set to disrupt most of the traditional ways of banking nowadays, according to consultancy EY, formerly known as Ernst and Young.
Earlier in June, ADGM launched a renewed challenge in partnership with consultancy and auditing firm KPMG.
"I think the current financial technology hype in the region is a real revolution that is going on," said Dado Van Peteghem, founding partner and co-CEO of Belgium's Duval Union Consulting.
"Banks are in the middleman position and we see financial technology startups disrupting traditional money management, eating several pieces of the value chain away from the banks through digital innovation," said Peteghem, who just expanded his consultancy to Dubai to help entrepreneurs set up their businesses.
The deficits are still huge, not only in the Gulf region, but globally. EY examined 45 global banks and found out that only 25 percent are extensively engaged in financial technology.
Meanwhile, Gulf state Bahrain has likewise set up an ecosystem, the Bahrain FinTech Bay.
Saudi Arabia also started to develop plans for an ecosystem to promote financial technology startups and attract global talents, according to Ziad Al-Yousef, director general of Payment Systems at Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the Saudi central bank.
