The GCC is undergoing a remarkable transformation in the financial services sector. According to Mihail Baranovski, Banking & Payments Lead, MENA, Endava, “Banks are digitizing at speed, fintechs are emerging with bold propositions, and regulators are creating frameworks that encourage innovation while safeguarding trust.”
In his words, at the same time, valuable lessons can be drawn from other parts of the world where payment modernization has already reached an impressive scale. Asia‑Pacific (APAC) often stands out as a frontrunner. From the ubiquity of QR payments in China, to India’s record monthly UPI throughput, to Singapore’s proxy‑based real‑time transfers, the region sets influential benchmarks that others study and adapt.
Many of the conditions that made APAC fertile ground for payments innovation – digitally savvy consumers, high smartphone penetration, and widespread access to high‑speed internet – are present to a great degree in the GCC. “Yet what ultimately shapes success isn’t only infrastructure. It’s how solutions evolve in response to local realities and consumer expectations,” Mihail explains.
Localized offerings that meet people where they are
One of the defining features of APAC’s success has been designing for local realities rather than retrofitting global solutions. In India, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a well‑known example. Launched in 2016, it didn’t mimic card networks, but rather, it created a mobile‑first, low‑cost rail tailored for a cash‑heavy market. In June 2025 alone, UPI handled around 18.4 billion transactions, illustrating how public digital rails can scale nationally.
In Indonesia, Gojek thrived by embedding itself in services already part of daily life, such as ride‑hailing, food delivery, and logistics. By solving everyday frictions, it became indispensable, illustrating that payments follow behaviour when value is clear at the point of need.
The power of interoperable ecosystems
If localization made APAC’s payment solutions relevant, interoperability made them truly scalable. Singapore’s PayNow is a perfect example. It allows consumers to transfer money instantly using just a mobile number, NRIC/FIN, or virtual payment address, no account details needed. Behind the scenes, it’s powered by the FAST network, enabling seamless transactions across banks and digital wallets.
The region is now taking this interoperability a step further with cross-border integrations, such as that of Singapore’s PayNow with India’s UPI, building real-time payment corridors that enable direct, instant person-to-person transfers between countries.
“Then we have Thailand’s PromptPay, which illustrates the power of proxy-based design. By allowing users to transfer funds using a citizen ID or mobile number, and by making QR code acceptance ubiquitous, this system has driven widespread adoption across both formal and informal sectors,” Baranovski shared.
As per him, the bottom line is that when ecosystems can talk to one another, adoption doesn’t just grow, it accelerates. Interoperability transforms fragmented markets into connected economies, multiplying the value of innovation at every link in the chain.
Products rooted in consumer behaviour
The most important lesson from APAC is that successful payment products aren’t really about payments; they’re about people. In China, WeChat Pay began as a feature in a messaging app and became the binding force of social interaction, commerce, and financial services.
When products are designed with the consumer at the centre, adoption follows.
What does this mean for the GCC?
It’s unlikely that the GCC’s payments story will mirror APAC’s, nor should it. The region’s uniquely international character matters: large expatriate populations make cross‑border payments and remittances central to everyday life, underscoring why low‑cost, instant cross‑border UX is mission‑critical.
Another nuance is the importance of Sharia alignment. Financial services here must be convenient and secure but also aligned with cultural and faith‑based values, which can inspire products that balance modern digital experiences with principles of ethical finance.
Structural changes are underway. Interoperability is moving from ambition to implementation: domestically via instant rails like UAE Aani, Saudi Sarie, Bahrain Fawri+, and Qatar Fawran, and regionally via platforms like AFAQ (GCC‑RTGS) and Buna that stitch together cross‑border payments. Coverage is still expanding, but the direction of travel is clear.
CEO Playbook: 6 moves for the next 12 months
1. Design for expat use‑cases: salary accounts, micro‑remittances, bill‑split, and cross‑border P2P by default, enable proxy IDs (mobile/ID/UEN) across products.
2. Lean into interoperability: prioritise AFAQ/Buna connectivity and treat banks/fintechs as distribution partners via open APIs and shared alias directories.
3. Embed finance where people already are: super‑apps, chat, mobility, and commerce touchpoints — measure friction minutes removed, not just transaction volumes.
4. Engineer for trust: instant confirmations, name/alias checks, transparent FX, and clear refund SLAs.
5. Offer faith‑aligned options by default (pricing, wallets, savings jars, fee structures), with clear labelling in‑app.
6. Publish reliability metrics: monthly uptime, median settlement time, success rate, and refund SLA. These trust signals drive adoption.
“The GCC already has the ingredients to shape a payments landscape every bit as dynamic as other leading regions. What will define the next chapter is how financial institutions, regulators, and innovators work together to create experiences centred on people, enabled by technology and informed by local life. If APAC’s story teaches us anything, it’s that payments can be more than a utility and when recognised as such, innovation accelerates,” he concluded.
