YAP

The Middle Eastern dawn of digital banking  - YAP 

How YAP successfully launched one of the first digital banking platforms in the UAE, aiming to make financial services seamless and accessible to everyone.

In our third episode of Fintech Insights; Ata Malik, Partner in PwC’s Financial Services Consulting practice, speaks with Marwan Hachem CEO of YAP on their mission to become the first financial super app for consumers and businesses in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region with a suite of versatile features including analytics,  budget tools, card controls, easy money transfers & real-time purchase notifications 

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Summary

The Fintech Insights are part of our Ventures Perspectives series and here we speak to entrepreneurs and senior leadership from the flourishing Middle East tech ecosystem as well as industry experts about startup valuations, growth strategy and global expansion plans.

This episode’s guest, Marwah Hachem, has worked in the payment industry for more than 20 years. Following the successful exit of a previous fintech company in the region, Marwan went on to co-found YAP with Anas Zaidan; a new leading digital banking solution. 

Since YAP’s launch in March 2021, they have onboarded more than 150,000 customers; have successfully raised multi million dollars in capital and recently won the Fintech of the Year at Abu Dhabi Finance week in November 2022.

Inclusive access to frictionless personal and business banking is key to acquiring assets and building financial security and one of the complex challenges PwC Middle East is working alongside our clients to address. 

Ata Malik, Partner in PwC’s Financial Services Consulting practice, talks to Marwan about YAP’s mission to provide seamless banking experiences to an everyday consumer in the Middle East region. 

Marwan shares his view that cash will be significantly reduced in the next ten years both in the UAE and globally. A phenomenon he calls a ‘revolution repayment’.

Marwan describes YAP as an agile tech company which is unrestricted by legacy infrastructure. That agility allows YAP to provide a personalised experience. For the typical YAP customer Marwan explains that it’s critical to make it a seamless experience, continually adding new products and features, to meet the demand in the market.

Ata and Marwan debate customer acquisition versus customer engagement. Marwan explains that whilst acquisition is important to YAP and something they focus on, equally customers retention and their successful use of the app, is an important evolving experience. The app continuously needs to be user friendly and have a whole ecosystem of products and services. Some of those features include the data analytics and giving visibility to consumers of where and what they are spending, creating virtual cards with bill & payment gateways.

Partnerships are a key part of YAP’s business model and they have IBAN partnerships with a number of banks in the UAE. These partnerships are growing in Saudi Arabia and YAP are planning to launch in the Kingdom in early 2023. Marwan sees YAP’s offering as complementary to the traditional banks; sharing revenues on many bank products that YAP use with their partners and creating a’ win win situation’

Ata and Marwan also discuss the localisation requirements, where Marwan summarises country specific KYC processes in the Falcon economies of UAE and Saudi Arabia, which requires close alignment between the YAP team, central banks and the partner banks to integrate these processes. 

The conversation then turns to the importance of a cohesive team and culture. Marwan explains that for him; team is the most important thing to create value and for a company to fulfil the needs of their customers. Commenting on recent senior hires and what has attracted talent to YAP, Marwan points to the agile culture of YAP and how that allows them ‘to be able to go far fast’ and a truly aligned vision for the team who knows where they are going at the same time. 

Marwan concludes the conversation with his focus on the product; ‘It's not just about acquiring users, but having a product which is easy to use and reduces the pain points of our users. We're here for the customer. When you're serving your customer well, at the end, you're creating value.

PwC wants to discover the next generation of world-class tech scaleups tackling the most complex business challenges being faced by our clients today. If you are a fast growing startup addressing the financial services sector in the region, reach out to us. 

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