Subscribe to join the Money20/20 Middle East community and receive weekly fintech insights, industry updates and expert perspectives direct to your inbox.

Welcome to Xchange by Money20/20 Middle East – where money meets ideas 

Bold thought:

Fintech in the Middle East has mastered speed, scale and slick UX. But the next trillion-riyal opportunity depends more on confidence and less on code.

Snapshot

Scroll through a banking app in Saudi Arabia and the tech is flawless. Tap-to-pay habits are widely adopted, e-payments now make up nearly 80% of retail payments, and investing is just a swipe away. But when a user is about to hit ‘buy’ on a mutual fund or sukuk, many freeze. 

And it’s not because the interface is bad – it’s because the feeling isn’t right. A recent study in Saudi Arabia shows that while most working adults can handle the basics of interest and inflation, only 11.3% understand risk diversification. The OECD’s global survey tells a similar story: just 34% of adults across 40 economies meet a minimum financial literacy benchmark.

In other words, we’re giving people more access to financial products than ever before – but their emotional readiness to use them hasn’t caught up.

It’s a confidence gap. 

Voices

David M. Brear (Group CEO, 11:FS): “This comes up a lot when you actually sit with people, not PowerPoint. I think it’s cultural – but I also think it’s fear.

“On paper, many professionals in Saudi are doing brilliantly. Strong salaries, low or no income tax, housing often subsidised, benefits stacked. So cash builds up and savings accounts swell – balances look healthy.

“And yet…investing does lag. Here’s why: 

• “One, saving is culturally reinforced, and investing is not. Saving is seen as responsibility, stability, respectability. Investing still feels like speculation, and risk. “So people do the sensible thing, but that safety becomes inertia.
  
• “Two, the system trained people to earn, not to compound. Most professionals came through linear career paths, but no one taught them how money should work once it arrives. So people understand effort and time, but they don’t really understand returns on capital. That gap matters.
  
• “Three, investment access feels fragmented and opaque. Globally, investing is sold as a choice. In reality, it feels like friction. “Multiple platforms, different rules, complex products, language that feels exclusionary – for a busy professional, this doesn’t feel empowering. It feels like homework. Like a big leap! So the default action is no action.
  
• “Four, Real estate dominates the mental model. If you invest, it’s property. Because it’s tangible and socially validated. Markets feel abstract by comparison. And when one asset class becomes the only trusted one, diversification dies quietly.
  
• “Five, Behaviour beats income every time. This is the uncomfortable truth – high earners assume income solves everything, but it doesn’t. Without habits, frameworks, and confidence, more money just means bigger balances doing nothing. “Saving is passive. Investing is a decision. Most people never cross that psychological line.

“To change this, Saudi Arabia’s professionals need clarity. They need help! They need someone to trust, to help them understand what role money should play in their life, what cash is actually for, and when intentional risk is worth it. 

“Until investing feels purposeful, cash will keep piling up neatly in savings accounts. And until investing feels meaningful, not meaningless, then property will be where most of it goes.” 

What to watch and do

• Watch: Embedded education becoming the norm – risk explainers inside the transaction flow, scenario simulations before purchase, and nudges that speak human (not legalese).
• Watch: Regulators push harder on transparency and behavioural design.
• Do: If you’re building in the region, ask yourself if your product helps users understand what they’re about to do – or just make it easier to do it? 

Further reading…

• International survey of adult financial literacy – OECD/INFE, 2023
• Financial literacy among working adults: The case of Saudi Arabia – Quantitative Finance and Economics, 2024
• Financial literacy levels among Saudi citizens – JRFM, 2022

Share your perspective 

What emotional barriers are your customers running into? Join us at Money20/20 Middle East 2026 to meet the people driving the region’s next financial confidence revolution.

Catch you next week,

The Money20/20 Middle East Team