Money20/20 Middle East Debuts RiseUp Program to Empower Women in Fintech

Money20/20 Middle East is launching its RiseUp program in Riyadh for the first time during its 2026 event. For fintech professionals, this signifies a strategic push to integrate senior female leadership into Saudi Arabia’s maturing financial ecosystem, aligning regional innovation with global standards for diversity and professional development in high-growth markets.

What was announced

The inaugural Middle East edition of RiseUp will take place during Money20/20 Middle East, scheduled for 14–16 September 2026 at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Centre (RECC) in Malham. This launch represents the first time the award-winning global program for women in fintech and financial services has been brought to the region. The program is designed to provide senior women leaders with access, visibility, and transformation opportunities within one of the world’s fastest-growing innovation hubs.

The Middle East cohort will consist of 30 senior women leaders invited from prominent organizations, including Verto, Network Global, Visa, Sharaka Capital, Safqah, Samsung Electronics, and TikTok. Over two days, these participants will engage in a curated series of sessions focused on capability building, confidence, and navigating the unique challenges of the regional financial landscape. The curriculum aligns with the broader themes of the 2026 summit, such as AI-driven transformation, digital financial inclusion, and the future of payments.

Since its inception in 2018, the RiseUp program has supported more than 600 women globally. Data from previous cohorts indicates significant professional impact: 85% of participants felt more prepared for promotion, over 70% moved into more senior roles, and 95% reported that the community aided their career progression. The global alumni network includes leaders from Adyen, Revolut, Uber, JPMorgan Chase, EY, Accenture, Booking.com, Standard Bank, and Deutsche Bank.

"Launching RiseUp in Saudi Arabia is more than a program milestone, it's a powerful demonstration of what becomes possible when women are given real access, real visibility, and real support to lead. The Middle East is one of the most exciting innovation markets in the world, with momentum that is reshaping the global fintech landscape. This region is undergoing extraordinary transformation, and we're creating pathways for women who are building, scaling, and redefining the future of finance to accelerate their impact in this dynamic ecosystem. I look forward to meeting these extraordinary women in person in Riyadh."

Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer of Money20/20.

The companies involved

Money20/20 is a premier global stage for the fintech and payments industry, operating under the corporate parentage of Informa. Known for its massive annual summits in the United States, Europe, and Asia, the brand has established itself as a critical meeting point for regulators, innovators, and investors. The organization has a long-standing history of tracking market shifts, with a recent focus on the intersection of infrastructure and emerging technologies like stablecoins and artificial intelligence.

Tahaluf, also an Informa company, is the joint venture responsible for bringing major international event brands to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President Annabelle Mander, Tahaluf has been instrumental in scaling the region’s event infrastructure to match the ambitions of the Saudi digital transformation. Other key regional stakeholders involved in the RiseUp launch include the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), represented by Haifa Al Obaid, a Senior Expert in the Credit Relationship Department, who highlighted the government’s commitment to expanding leadership opportunities for women across the Kingdom.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has extensively covered the expansion of the Money20/20 brand as it pivots toward emerging financial hubs. We recently reported that Money20/20 Middle East Unveils 2026 Riyadh Agenda Featuring Visa, BlackRock, and Tabby, which detailed the event's return to Riyadh with a focus on institutional investment and regional scaling. Our coverage of Money20/20 USA 2025 Closes With a Future-Ready Fintech Ecosystem: AI, Stablecoins, and Infrastructure Take the Lead highlighted how the organization is prioritizing stablecoins and AI as the primary drivers of global money movement. Furthermore, our reporting on how the North America’s Payments Market Set to Hit $13.1 Trillion by 2032 underscores the massive scale of the global ecosystem that regional programs like RiseUp are now connecting into.

What this means

The introduction of RiseUp to Riyadh suggests that the Middle Eastern fintech sector is moving beyond the "infrastructure phase" and into a "talent phase." While the region has successfully established regulatory sandboxes and attracted foreign capital, the long-term sustainability of its fintech hub depends on developing a diverse, senior leadership tier. This move puts pressure on other regional financial centers, such as Dubai and Bahrain, to formalize their own talent development pipelines. The primary question for the sector remains whether organizational culture within regional firms can evolve fast enough to match the government’s top-down mandates for female empowerment and leadership inclusion.