Wise Joins MENA Fintech Association to Revolutionize Cross-Border Payments Across the Middle East

The MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) has added Wise as a corporate member, signaling a strategic push to modernize cross-border payment infrastructure across the Middle East and North Africa. For fintech professionals, this partnership highlights the increasing regional demand for transparent, low-cost international money movement as trade and workforce mobility within the digital economy accelerate.

What was announced

The MENA Fintech Association (MFTA), a leading not-for-profit industry body, has formally welcomed Wise as a new corporate member. This partnership is designed to integrate Wise’s global payments infrastructure with MFTA’s regional network, specifically targeting the evolution of cross-border payments and financial connectivity throughout the MENA region. The move comes as international money movement becomes a pillar of the regional digital economy, driven by growing trade, digital commerce, and workforce mobility.

Wise brings significant scale to the association, having processed more than $240 billion in cross-border transactions during the last financial year for its approximately 19 million global customers. The company claims these operations helped users save more than $3 billion in fees compared to traditional methods. Beyond its direct-to-consumer and business offerings, the partnership highlights the Wise Platform, which allows banks and financial institutions to embed international payment capabilities directly into their own products and services. This enables traditional players to provide faster, more transparent cross-border experiences by leveraging established global infrastructure.

As a member of the MFTA network, Wise will engage in dialogue with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including regional regulators, policymakers, and technology providers. The collaboration will support initiatives related to payment infrastructure, cross-border commerce, and digital financial inclusion. This engagement is intended to support the modernization of infrastructure that connects MENA to global financial markets, ensuring that money movement remains efficient as the region’s economic competitiveness grows.

"Joining the MENA Fintech Association marks a key step in Wise’s continued engagement in the UAE and across the wider region. As more people and businesses live, work and trade across borders, the need for international payments that are fast, transparent and low-cost has never been clearer. We look forward to working with MFTA, regulators, policymakers and industry partners to support an open, connected and more transparent ecosystem, and to help make moving money internationally more convenient for customers across the region."

Mohamed Mansour, CEO of Wise UAE.

The companies involved

Wise is a global technology company focused on building infrastructure for moving and managing money internationally. Operating without a corporate parent, the firm has established itself as a major player in the global payments space by connecting directly to domestic payment systems across multiple markets to reduce the complexity and cost of transfers. Its business model centers on providing real exchange rates and transparent fee structures, a departure from traditional banking practices.

The MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) serves as the primary not-for-profit industry body for the fintech sector in the Middle East and North Africa. It acts as a bridge between fintech firms, traditional financial institutions, and regulatory bodies to foster a more connected ecosystem. The association is led by Chairman Nameer Khan, who is also an Honorary Professor and the founder of Fils, a company operating within the regional fintech landscape. The MFTA’s membership includes a diverse range of participants, from early-stage startups to established global technology providers, all focused on the digital transformation of financial services in the region. By providing a platform for collaboration, the MFTA aims to address regional challenges in payments, digital inclusion, and financial infrastructure.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked the global expansion of Wise’s infrastructure and its increasing adoption by traditional and neobank partners. We recently reported on how Wise Launches in Chile: Revolutionizing International Money Transfers with Real Exchange Rates, marking a significant entry into the South American market. Additionally, the company’s B2B capabilities were highlighted when Monzo Launches Naira Remittances to Nigeria via Wise Platform Integration, demonstrating the utility of the Wise Platform for established banks looking to enhance their remittance services. Our coverage has also touched on the broader economic pressures facing the sector, such as when a High FX Fees Curbing Growth for Two-Thirds of UK IT Firms, Currenxie Report Reveals, underscoring the demand for the transparent pricing models championed by firms like Wise.

What this means

This partnership signals that the MENA region is no longer just a destination for remittance outflows but a critical hub for sophisticated cross-border business payments. By bringing a global heavyweight like Wise into its fold, the MFTA is putting pressure on regional legacy banks to accelerate their digital transformation or risk losing market share to embedded finance solutions. The move raises questions about how quickly regional regulators can harmonize cross-border standards to match the speed of private sector innovation. For the industry, the focus is shifting from simple money transfer to the creation of a seamless, transparent financial corridor that can support the region’s ambitious trade and talent acquisition goals.