Sync. awarded licence from Qatar Financial Centre Authority
sync., the first digital smart open banking app, has been awarded a license from the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, marking its expansion into the Middle East.
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It is the only European Fintech currently expanding into Qatar.
The new license, following the recent award of its UK e-Money and Open Banking Licenses, will allow sync. to advance on its mission to “Make Qatar Cashless” by offering the sync. app to consumers in Qatar.
Customers will soon be able to open a local Qatar account and also combine their financial accounts from different countries into one place to see all their money, all the time.
It comes after sync. was selected to be part of the highly competitive first-ever Qatar Fintech Accelerator, which started in October 2020 and is being run by the Qatar Development Bank and Qatar Fintech Hub.
sync. plans to open an office in Qatar in the coming months. They will use it as a base to launch their Middle Eastern operations in early 2021, with a focus on the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
Ricky Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of sync., said: “We are incredibly excited to bring the sync. brand and product to Qatar. This license is a huge step towards our goal of making Qatar cashless. We are the only European Fintech currently expanding into the Middle East, which perfectly positions us to capitalise on international travel to Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup.”
“This rapid development has been made possible thanks to the fantastic support of the Qatar Fintech Hub.”
This latest news marks the end of a strong year for sync.. They launched amid the pandemic in August 2020 and announced key partnerships with GPS, Jumio, ComplyAdvantage and TrueLayer throughout the year. They also expanded their Open Banking integrations to include Spain, Ireland and France.