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The demand for cashless and contactless payment has significantly increased after the outbreak of COVID-19, which led to imposition of restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus. The rising demand for contactless payment in Qatar has created opportunities for growth for the FinTech (a short form for Financial Technology) sector.
“The pandemic has allowed FinTech payment propositions to flourish in the Qatari market, as the government officially promotes cashless transactions under the circumstances,” said a report released by The World Alliance of International Financial Centers. The report was compiled by experts at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and Luxembourg for Finance with the support of the WAIFC.
“FinTech companies in the payments and remittance space were able to capitalize on the opportunity brought about by the pandemic and gain market share from existing competition in the exchange house space,” said QFC in the report .
Qatar has recognised the FinTech industry as a key component of its knowledge-based economy objective. The National FinTech Strategy, set by Qatar Central Bank (QCB), provides a framework for initiatives that enable the local startup sector and create a favourable ecosystem for international FinTech firms to choose Qatar as their launchpad to the global market.
QCB has partnered with Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and QFC to rollout Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH) to stimulate the sector and rise to meet the evolving needs of the country. QFTH is dedicated to offer Qatar’s first ever specialized Incubator and Accelerator Programs, which target entrepreneurs with innovative and cutting-edge FinTech ideas.
The FinTech ecosystem has benefited from a range of initiatives that have been offered virtually to cater to their current needs. Several new startups have started providing innovating solutions to customers.
CWallet Services ‘CWallet’ is Qatar‘s first and only mobile application to facilitate banking via blockchain technology. As the newest FinTech solutions provider in Qatar, it enables access to financial services such as payroll, payments, and remittances, targeting the low-income, high-volume market comprising of Qatar‘s expat community, including migrant and domestic workers, and micro-entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized businesses.
CWallet is now valued at more than $2m and has softly secured $200,000 of Pre-Seed Round from an angel investor, as well as the original founders of CWallet.
It was brought to life under the guidance of the Digital Incubation Center (DIC), an initiative by Qatar‘s Ministry of Transport and Communications, to boost ICT innovation in Qatar, particularly among young people in technology-related businesses.
CWallet officially went live in June 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt the payments and remittance services catering to the population in Qatar.
