Standard Chartered's SC Ventures Says It Built More Than 10 Ventures in the UAE in Under Three Years

Mohamed Fairooz said the UAE ventures account for a large share of the more than 33 that SC Ventures has created worldwide. He said the company had not achieved anything comparable in any of its other markets in so short a time. The UAE businesses focus on digital banking, digital assets, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and financial inclusion.

Fairooz said the UAE has become one of the company's most important operating hubs worldwide and a base for expanding into regional markets. He credited specialised talent, clear regulatory frameworks and government strategy. SC Ventures pairs venture building with investment in strategic partners, he said, and the UAE meets all the criteria the company looks at before it enters a new market.

Payments Built on National Rails

Saad Karim, global chief executive of fintech company Payten, said the firm holds four main licences from the Central Bank of the UAE and has operated in the country since 2023. Worldwide, he said, Payten holds five regulatory licences and is in talks with 16 regulators.

Karim said Payten is building an alternative digital payments system in the UAE linked to local infrastructure, including the Aani instant payment platform and the Jaywan domestic card scheme. QR-code payments let merchants and small businesses receive funds immediately instead of waiting several days for settlement. He said this can cut transaction costs and improve cash flow.

He described AI as central to faster payment processing, spotting suspicious transactions, fighting fraud and assessing risk in real time. These tools must be built into financial infrastructure and regulatory controls, he said. He added that as AI agents are increasingly used to carry out payments, responsibility for transactions must stay with financial institutions. That means setting limits on what such systems are allowed to do and putting clear frameworks in place to protect customers.

AI as Support for Wealth Advisers

Akash Anand, managing director for the Middle East, Africa and India at Swiss banking software company Avaloq, said the firm has done well since opening at the Dubai International Financial Centre about two years ago. WAM's Arabic report says Avaloq serves 37 countries. It builds software for banking, private banking, wealth management and asset management, and is adding AI to help relationship managers give more accurate advice.

Anand said AI should support human expertise in wealth management, not replace it. He named cyber threats as one of the biggest challenges for banks worldwide and said AI should be used inside banks' formal policies and controls, not by individual staff on their own. Banks must stay responsible for the advice their clients receive, he said.

Why It Matters

The comments add to a week of signals about the UAE's push in financial technology. The DIFC says 70% of firms in the centre now use AI, and banks in the country are building AI into fraud and payments systems. The executives' focus on accountability for AI agents mirrors a wider debate among regulators and banks over who is liable when software, not a person, starts a financial transaction.