The UAE and the wider Gulf region are changing at a rapid pace. The infrastructure built in the last two decades, coupled with the UAE's ideal location as a gateway between three major economic zones, Europe, Africa, and Asia, has contributed to the UAE's business market, which is one of the fastest growing globally.
Furthermore, Africa's population has increased fivefold in the last 60 years to 1.5 billion and is set to grow to 2.5 billion by 2050. Amidst the challenges the continent is facing, there has been enormous economic growth, and a far better x-border payment solution is required for businesses not just on this continent but also in Europe and Asia, trading across MENA and Africa. Hubpay sits at the intersection of this opportunity and is looking to address the enormous challenge of facilitating x-border trade.
Hubpay was launched in the UAE. Being the first fintech to get licensed for both retail and corporate customers has created an enormous opportunity; however, being first can bring significant challenges. Unlike many of the successful fintechs in the US and Europe, they could not leverage an open banking environment nor take advantage of ready-to-use core banking systems. This made their launch that much harder, but tough environments build tough businesses. Hubpay has built its own proprietary payment platform from scratch, a cloud-agnostic platform that can be deployed in the AWS in the UAE but just as easily into different data centers in countries requiring local data residency, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan.
Having their own platform enables Hubpay to integrate with other global FX providers. From their base in the UAE, they have integrated with large US and UK platforms, giving them global coverage and a number of African fintechs, enabling them to serve the fastest-growing market globally.
Hubpay has the widest payment network of any FX platform in the UAE, combined with rapid automated onboarding and best-in-class pricing. They are in a pivotal position to capture significant market share.
In the last few months, Hubpay reached an inception point, with the highest number of new onboarded accounts and first-time trading accounts. Kevin Kilty, CEO and founder, commented, "The summer has been enormously exciting for us. Since the UAE came off the FATF Grey list, Hubpay was able to rapidly expand the global partners we have been working with, we now have the strongest FX platform in the UAE."
James Sennett, Head of Sales at Hubpay, remarked, "Our platform's UX is popular with customers, but so is our speed. We can build new features and functionality. We recently launched a Receivables capability on the Hubpay platform—payment links and payment intents so UAE businesses can receive money from clients just as easily as sending payments internationally."
Hubpay is the only fintech licensed in both the UAE and Pakistan markets and is now targeting further expansion across the Gulf and Europe. Kilty adds, "From our base in the UAE, we believe there is a strong opportunity to grow internationally. There is a gap in emerging markets for a comprehensive B2B solution. We have not seen the same success in business FX solutions as we have in retail; where is the Revolut of the B2B market?"
The company's recent recognition as Best in Business by Inc. Arabia, its backing by US VC, and an international team have provided a strong foundation for Hubpay to scale internationally. The C-suite team at Hubpay also includes COO Maia Van Paridon, who is highly experienced in launching and scaling complex businesses across emerging markets, and CTO Dan Blackhurst, who built Hubpay's entire platform, leveraging almost 20 years of experience in fintech. They are joined by Head of Sales James Sennett, who specializes in FX, SMEs, and cross-border payments. Together, their combined expertise drives Hubpay's current and future success and innovation.
Hubpay intends to continue to scale their platform in both markets and products. Hubpay has a Product-led approach. Blackhurst commented, "We have seen a lot of tech-enabled financial service businesses, but we have not seen the commitment to building new products and features that fundamentally change business payment processes. We're excited for the next chapter and to have the opportunity to build a new type of FX platform in the emerging markets, for the emerging markets."
Hubpay is advancing its platform to meet better the needs of businesses across MENA, Africa, and beyond. With its adaptable technology and recent expansions, the company aims not only to enhance cross-border payments but also to set a new standard in Fintech.
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