Forbes Middle East on Friday released its annual Fintech 50 list for 2025, honouring the top innovators in the digital financial services industry in the area as they manage changing customer demands in a world that is becoming more and more digital.
Fawry, an Egyptian fintech, claimed the second spot, making it the highest-ranked company in Africa. Tabby from Saudi Arabia secured first place, while Rasan, also based in Saudi Arabia, took third.
Collectively, the firms featured on the list have raised over $3.8 billion in investments and processed more than $240 billion in transactions.
Consideration for ranking
The rankings were based on several factors, including app downloads, active users, consumer impact, geographic footprint, external investments, total transaction volume, and achievements in innovation, growth, and expansion over the past 12 months.
Companies affiliated with traditional banks, exchange houses, or government organisations were excluded from consideration.
Notably, buy-now, pay-later services and payment solutions dominate the list of fintechs.
Valuations of the top three
The Saudi-based fintech behemoth Tabby saw its valuation soar to $3.3 billion after raising $160 million in a Series E investment round in February 2025. This made it the highest-valued fintech in the region and the top-ranked company on the 2025 Fintech 50 list.
Fawry, an Egyptian e-payments startup, ranks second thanks to its 53.1 million customers.
Having gone public on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) in 2024, the Saudi Arabian insurtech and banking solutions company Rasan comes in third place with a market valuation of around $1.9 billion as of February 20, 2025.
The 2025 Fintech 50 includes companies from 11 nations, with 12 newcomers—including Sahl (Egypt), Ziina (UAE), and CoinMENA (digital asset platform).
The United Arab Emirates tops the list with 13 fintech companies, followed by Saudi Arabia (10), Egypt (12), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which together account for 70 percent of the list.
Solo entrepreneurs formed 14 of the 50 listees, accounting for 28 percent of the ranking.
According to Wamda, 119 fintech firms raised $700 million in 2024, continuing the upward trajectory of fintech companies in the MENA region over the past year.
Strong investor interest in the booming area was demonstrated by the fact that this sizable investment made up 30 percent of the overall funding for MENA startups during the year.
Read also: Ghana to host 2025 Africa Fintech Summit
Forbes 2025 Fintech 50 (Full list)
1. Tabby (Saudi Arabia)
2. Fawry (Egypt)
3. Rasan (Saudi Arabia)
4. Wio Bank (U.A.E.)
5. MyFatoorah (Kuwait)
6. MadfoatCom (Jordan)
7. MNT-Halan (Egypt)
8. Thndr (Egypt)
9. e& money (U.A.E.)
10. Valu (Egypt)
11. ZainCash Iraq (Iraq)
12. Sarwa (U.A.E.)
13. Optasia (U.A.E.)
14. Tamara (Saudi Arabia)
15. AMAN Holding (Egypt)
16. HyperPay (Saudi Arabia)
17. PayTabs Group ()
18. Tap Payments (Saudi Arabia)
19. MDP (Egypt)
20. Telr (U.A.E.)
21. HPS (Morocco)
22. ONE Cash (Yemen)
23. Lean Technologies (Saudi Arabia)
24. UPayments (Kuwait)
25. Tarabut (U.A.E.)
26. Eazypay.com (Bahrain)
27. Paysky (Egypt)
28. Lendo (Saudi Arabia)
29. CoinMENA (Bahrain, U.A.E.)
30. Paymob (Egypt)
31. Mercury (U.A.E.)
32. Rain (Bahrain, U.A.E.)
33. Beehive (U.A.E.)
34. PayOne (Jordan)
35. Hesabe (Kuwait)
36. Thawani Pay (Oman)
37. Ziina (U.A.E.)
38. Sahl (Egypt)
39. NEO Pay Iraq (Iraq)
40. Zenda (U.A.E.)
41. NASS e-Payment (Iraq)
42. Lamaa for Information Technology (Lamaa Tech) (Saudi Arabia)
43. Contact Financial Holding (Egypt)
44. Pemo (U.A.E.)
45. Khazna (Egypt)
46. Klivvr (Egypt)
47. Zbooni (U.A.E.)
48. Mamo (U.A.E.)
49. Wadaie (Saudi Arabia)
50. Flouci (by Kaoun) (Tunisia, Netherlands)