i2c Names GM In Middle East, Africa Expansion

Payment and open banking tech firm i2c plans to expand its presence in the Middle East and Africa, according to a press release.

The plans came from the “high demand” in the region for i2c services, the release states.

i2c is known for partnering with a number of financial institutions (FIs), FinTech firms and governments using what it calls its “agile” processing technologies and API techniques.

To support the expansion in the Middle East and Africa, i2c added a new general manager job to its team, appointing Dubai-based payments industry veteran Aurangzaib Khan to that position. Prior to working with i2c, Khan was working with Mastercard as the vice president for government business development, where he focused on government relations and engagement in areas like policy and regulation. He fostered community relations and helped grow revenue.

“I’ve been aware of i2c’s growing presence in the region and of their well-deserved reputation for client responsiveness and delivering innovation to market incredibly fast,” Khan said in the release. “I’ve also experienced firsthand what it’s like to drive financial and socio-economic development in the region. I believe i2c is unique among payments processors and has what it takes to lead the market.”

i2c recently said it would support Apple Pay for Najm prepaid card holders. The implementation was one of the earliest of its kind in the region, and it took 90 days to bring to market.

Finance growth in the Middle East, as in the rest of the world, has not been a slouch, with the region’s FinTech growth surging 11 percent year over year in 2017. Other reports point to similarly robust increases, even despite potential issues with growth rates at some of the region’s banks. Islamic banking also mandates sharia compliance, another consideration.

Open banking is on the rise worldwide, though, and the Bank of Israel has announced plans to gradually transition into the form in stages.