Middle East FinTech Funding Shifts Toward Local Infrastructure

The Middle East has, in recent years, stood out among the more productive settings for payments innovation, where digital adoption and infrastructure development have advanced in tandem and given rise to a new generation of FinTech platforms.

That foundation remains intact, but what’s changing in the midst if the war raging across the region is the operating climate.

Tilt Toward Infrastructure

Investment flows into the broader region had already been showing a degree of discipline even before the current conflict. According to KPMG data available here, FinTech investment across the EMEA region reached $29.2 billion in 2025, even as deal counts declined to multiyear lows.

Within the Middle East, funding has gravitated toward payments infrastructure and embedded finance rather than consumer-facing applications. PYMNTS reported in February, as tensions in the Middle East simmered but had not yet tipped into full-fledged armed conflict, that capital has increasingly been directed toward firms supporting payments, lending and financial infrastructure.

More recently, Wamda data underscores how fragile that momentum can be in the face of geopolitical disruption. Startup funding in MENA fell to $48.3 million in March 2026, representing an 85% month-over-month decline and a 62% drop year over year, one of the weakest periods on record.

Region Built for Digital Commerce

The underlying case for FinTech in the Middle East has been tied to rapid digital adoption, particularly in Gulf economies.

PYMNTS Intelligence data shows that Saudi Arabia and the UAE rank among the most intensive users of digitally assisted commerce globally, with more than half of shoppers in some markets combining online tools with physical retail experiences.

That behavior extends into payments, where mobile wallets, cross-border transfers and embedded financial services are becoming standard features of commerce.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, 14% of consumers have already made cross-border payments, and digital wallets are widely used for both domestic and international transactions.

But from an investor perspective, in the current environment, as rockets and bullets fly, and the world waits to see what happens with deadlines looming and reset toward Iran by the Trump administration, the issue is not simply volatility. It is the reclassification of risk.

Jeff Barrington, managing director at Windsor Drake, told PYMNTS, “The Middle East FinTech investment thesis has not collapsed. It has bifurcated.”

That bifurcation is most visible in cross-border payments. Corridors tied to affected markets are experiencing stress, particularly where correspondent banking relationships intersect with geopolitical exposure. Barrington noted that investors with positions in those verticals “have had to mark down assumptions, not just on near-term revenue but on regulatory continuity.”

If payment flows are deemed sanctions-adjacent, cost structures rise quickly and deal activity can stall. Barrington described regulatory fragmentation as the principal risk to monitor, rather than any breakdown in the technology layer itself.

Capital Is Moving Differently

The behavior of capital is changing in ways that align with historical patterns during periods of uncertainty.

Separately Sid Powell, CEO and co-founder of Maple Finance, observed to PYMNTS that “Capital is not broadly chasing risk. It is becoming more selective and leaning toward areas that offer resilience, liquidity and stronger fundamentals.”

That shift favors infrastructure that supports the continuous movement of funds, including dollar-backed systems, stablecoin rails and platforms that can operate across jurisdictions with fewer frictions.

Powell added that the current environment is less about capital flight and more about mobility. Investors are seeking flexibility, trusted counterparties and access to deep liquidity pools. In practice, that means shorter duration bets and a preference for assets that can be repositioned quickly.

This is consistent with what PYMNTS Intelligence has observed in the region’s payments ecosystem. Capital is flowing toward platforms that embed financial services into commerce and facilitate cross-border activity, rather than those that rely on scale alone.

Sovereigns and Domestic Ecosystems May Gain

Not all segments are under pressure.

Barrington pointed out that sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf operate on long-term mandates and are unlikely to alter their FinTech allocation strategies in response to near-term conflict. What may change is where that capital is deployed.

Domestic ecosystems could benefit if international expansion becomes more complex. At the same time, sovereign-backed initiatives around digital currencies and payments sovereignty are gaining urgency.

“War is an argument for monetary independence, not against it,” Barrington said, noting that investment in central bank digital currency infrastructure has not slowed. For the FinTech landscape overall, he said, it’s “too early to declare winners,” he said, but “not too early to identify who is structurally exposed.”