
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The fintech activity in cities across Saudi Arabia is expected to grow owing to the robust infrastructure that supports innovation and entrepreneurship, a recent report released by Fintech Saudi revealed.
The report highlighted the reasons accelerating the growth in fintech activity, notably the local ecosystems of service providers, talent, investors, and infrastructure that fintech companies need to bolster their activities.
The lower cost of living in cities outside Riyadh is another reason that will boost the growth in fintech activities; grade A office leases in Riyadh are 58% higher than in Jeddah and 89% higher than in the Dammam Metropolitan Area. Thus, fintech startups choose to remain located in a city where they can keep their costs low while developing their solutions.
Furthermore, the emergence of sector-specific fintech solutions will also back the growth in fintech activities in cities across the Kingdom as it may become increasingly important for fintech companies to locate themselves close to their target customers. For instance, fintech solutions designed for the oil and gas industry find it favorable to be located in the Eastern Province near oil companies.
Moreover, significant investment is going into cities across the Kingdom to support local infrastructure, grow industries, and develop giga projects as part of the ambitious Vision 2030.