Egyptian Fintech Yalla Expands into Saudi Arabia

Highlights

• Egyptian fintech startup Yalla has signed several agreements with major financial companies and institutions, including Alinma Bank and Digital Pay, which will see it expand operations into Saudi Arabia.
• Yalla is a financial super app for all daily financial and non-financial needs, which allows users to send and receive money, pay merchants online and offline, and place orders.
• The startup has so far garnered approximately two million users, with over seven million transactions processed through the app.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Digital banks—across several verticals—have enormous potential in Egypt, a country where 2 of every 3 individuals are partly or totally excluded from formal financial services and about 94% of transactions are still cash-based but 50% of its 100 million people actively use smartphones. In addition to high mobile and internet penetration, the North African country boasts a young and tech-savvy population with 61% below 30. Startups like Yalla have thus moved to capture this opportunity with neo-banking platforms, contributing to the general booming fintech sector in Egypt.