Cross-border payments in the GCC are still more complicated than they should be. My next guest is here at Money 20/20 Riyadh with a solution built specifically for this market. Joining me is Sami Uddin, GCC Director of Embedded Platform at SOKIN. Sami, welcome to Wall Street to Mena.
Thank you. It is great to be here.
Tell us what SOKIN does and what problem it is solving in the GCC specifically.
SOKIN is a cross-border payments platform. What we do is make it easier, faster, and more transparent for businesses to send and receive money internationally. In the GCC specifically, you have a very internationally connected economy — businesses are trading with partners across Asia, Europe, Africa, and beyond. The problem is that the infrastructure moving money across those corridors is still fragmented, expensive, and slow. We are here to fix that.
You focus specifically on embedded finance. What does that actually mean for a business?
Embedded finance means that the payment infrastructure is built directly into the tools and platforms that businesses are already using — rather than asking them to adopt something new. So instead of a business having to log into a separate payment system, the payment capability is already there in their existing workflow. It becomes invisible. The business just focuses on what it does — the payment happens in the background, fast and transparent.
Why is Money 20/20 Riyadh the right place to be making this case?
Because this is where the decision makers are. The GCC is one of the highest-volume cross-border payment regions in the world — driven by trade flows, remittances, and an incredibly international workforce. The businesses here understand the problem we are solving because they live it every day. And the regulatory environment is moving in a direction that is very supportive of what we are building. Being here, having these conversations, making these connections — this is exactly where we need to be.
What does the next phase of growth look like for SOKIN in the region?
We are focused on deepening our presence here — building the right partnerships, connecting with the right institutions, and demonstrating what our platform can actually do for GCC businesses. The opportunity is significant and the timing is right. We are excited about what comes next.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you for having me.
