Fintech Galaxy brings global Open Finance experience to the MENA region

• Eight Open Finance experts join UAE-based fintech company to ramp up product offerings 
• Appointments strengthen mission to become the leading Open Finance compliance and integration platform with a strong focus on the UAE, Saudi and Bahrain markets for Open Banking services

Fintech Galaxy, the industry-leading financial innovation company, has announced the addition of a team of global Open Banking/Finance experts as it looks to ramp up its product offering and presence across the MENA region. 

Appointments include Salt Edge’s former CEO and co-founder Dmitrii Barbasura as Chief Operating Officer; along with Chief Financial Officer Iaroslav Babenco, Sales Director Cristian Gheorghita, and a technical team experienced in Open Banking/Finance compliance and data aggregation formed of Pavel Kipkala, Ana Maria Bahnarel, and Natalia Muhianov. The team is also supported by Diana Hriplivaia and Adriana Arnaut for legal and public relations & content, respectively. The team brings a cumulative of over 25 years of experience across the banking and finance sectors.

The Open Finance experts have joined Fintech Galaxy in support of its mission to move the needle on financial inclusion and bring open banking and finance to the MENA region via its fast, secure and developer-friendly proprietary platform www.thefinx.io. Open Finance is the next step in Open Banking’s evolution. It broadens the array of Open Banking benefits to a wider range of financial products and brings greater visibility and control over the financial state. 

Mirna Sleiman, CEO & founder of Fintech Galaxy, commented: “Our vision is to bring financial inclusion to the 2 billion population around us. This can't be possible without Open Banking and Embedded Finance. We are delighted to strengthen our team with a raft of experienced professionals, who bring global expertise to our region and elevate our product offering to serve next customers.”

These appointments come as Fintech Galaxy, which was founded in the UAE in 2018, develops its platform FINX from open innovation to deliver Open Banking and Open Finance infrastructure. FINX Connect provides account aggregation and payment initiation capabilities and a unique API sandbox, and FINX Comply helps banks and Financial Institutions become compliant with the local Open Banking/Finance regulations with minimum effort on their side. 

Sleiman added: “It is no secret that Open Finance has triggered a major transformation in the global banking industry. Our own innovation platform and API sandbox have powered more than 30 use cases with leading institutions over the past two years, which resulted in FinTechs successfully designing apps and delivering proof of concepts (PoCs). Providing Open Finance infrastructure and production capabilities as a technical service provider (TSP) is only a natural development of our product strategy and regional presence.”

Fintech Galaxy is currently discussing innovative Account Information & Payment Initiation Services use cases with a number of financial institutions across MENA to serve both retail and corporate customers.