Money 20/20 Middle East returns to Riyadh this September, expected to draw over 38,000 attendees, 600 investors, and 150 startups — making it one of the largest fintech gatherings anywhere in the world. Joining me is Steve Durning, Associate Vice President at Tahaluf. Steve, welcome to Wall Street to Mena.
Thank you for having me today.
Saudi Arabia has rapidly emerged as a key destination for the global fintech industry. What factors are positioning Riyadh at the centre of this momentum?
For me, the interesting thing about Saudi is really that ambition is meeting reality. I have had the pleasure of working in Riyadh now for three years, and you can physically see that transformation happening around you. Last year alone, digital transactions in Saudi jumped to 85% and around 15 billion transactions. And it is not just a government ambition — we are seeing consumers and businesses really buying into fintech technology and changing the way they behave. Riyadh has the regulators, banks, investors, and fintechs alongside a very large domestic audience. And Saudi Arabia has stopped talking about being a financial centre. It is actively behaving like one now.
How important is collaboration in driving this transformation?
Financial services has become very complex for any single organisation to innovate alone. You could have the best technology in the world, but without access to great regulation, customers, and capital, it is difficult to scale and go somewhere fast. Saudi has been really effective at putting the public and private sector around the same table. The regulators understand where technology is going. Banks understand the legacy problems they need to solve. And fintechs are bringing innovation to the table. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of licensed fintechs in the kingdom doubled. The magic is really happening because we are shortening the distance between the idea and the end customer.
How does a platform like Money 20/20 turn conversations into real business opportunities?
The simplest way to describe Money 20/20 is that it allows you to compress six months of meetings into just three days. As a fintech founder, in the morning you could be meeting a regulator, a bank over lunch, and an investor in the afternoon. In the evening you might meet your next customer or tech partner. Those conversations can normally take six months or more to cultivate. The real question for us is not how many people walk through the doors — it is what happens afterwards. Did somebody invest? Did someone set up a Saudi HQ or find their next customer?
What are international fintech leaders actually looking for when engaging with Saudi Arabia?
There are three prevailing questions we get: how do I get regulated, how do I find customers, and how do I scale? Saudi is becoming an increasingly attractive option because there are credible answers to all three. Saudi has a large, digitally sophisticated population, strong financial institutions, significant access to capital, and regulators who want to engage in innovation. And there has been a distinct shift in mindset. A few years ago, companies were looking at Saudi Arabia as a market to serve from abroad. Increasingly, they are telling us they have to be here — building teams, finding partners, and thinking about the kingdom as a regional base.
How is AI moving from experimentation into practical deployment in banking and financial services?
At Money 20/20 last year, people wanted to talk about AI as something they would be doing. This year, the conversation is about the problems they are already solving with AI. Banks are deploying AI in fraud detection, financial crime monitoring, and customer service. The commercial test is out there now: does AI make something faster, cheaper, safer, and more accurate? And we are starting to see this come through — both in the programming and on the show floor.
What trends will shape the next phase of fintech growth and what role will Saudi play?
Three major themes are emerging this year. First, AI — but as infrastructure now, not something in an innovation lab. Second, finance becoming almost invisible through embedded finance. And third, cross-border payment infrastructure, which is very relevant to the Gulf given the trade and remittance volumes flowing through the region. Saudi Arabia is well positioned across all three.
Thank you so much, Steve.
Thank you.
