An article by Ghady Rayess, the co-founder and managing director of FOO.

Across the Middle East, digital transformation is shaping the way that we bank, buy, and borrow on a daily basis. This is a result, in part, of the region’s continued investment in the next generation of fintech innovators, who are helping to streamline, speed up, and simplify day-to-day financial operations.

One key area of growth within fintech is the rise of B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, which allow financial institutions and businesses to leverage specialised software solutions without the need for extensive in-house IT infrastructure. 

And, from payment processing to customer relationship management (CRM), SaaS innovation within the B2B fintech sector is helping financial companies across the Middle East to save time, reduce costs, and focus on their core business while relying on secure, cutting-edge SaaS technology to handle their complex financial operations.

But where do key growth areas within B2B SaaS lie? And how will this innovation continue to power the future of finance across the region? 

AI adoption

AI has undoubtedly been one of the biggest technology disruptors of the past five years. Today, 82% of SaaS companies have invested in AI to drive product efficiency and accuracy. And, with its growth and adoption expected to grow even further and faster than ever, it has an even bigger role to play in the future of B2B SaaS solutions, particularly for fintech. 

AI and machine learning are increasingly integrated into financial services to enhance processes such as fraud detection and the personalisation of financial services. For example, there is a significant shift towards utilising AI to better structure and understand user data, to assess credit risk and worthiness via alternative credit scoring, and to predict which customers might churn. By harnessing AI, SaaS products are not only able to process data faster than ever but also personalise services more effectively and make more efficient use of automation systems. This smarter use of data not only drives efficiency but also significantly enhances the user experience and service delivery.

Digitalization of services

As consumer behaviors shift increasingly towards digital payment methods, there is a growing demand for robust digital services, such as Card as a Service (CaaS), which allows businesses to seamlessly issue and manage virtual and physical cards through a cloud-based platform. These cards are a fast, safe and effective way to disperse payments, manage expenses, and carry out a range of payment services without the need for a bank account in many use cases. 

By integrating SaaS platforms, businesses that provide CaaS are able to leverage the necessary software infrastructure and maintenance with minimal setup time. These platforms also offer high scalability and reliability, which is critical for handling large volumes of transactions and sensitive financial data. By using SaaS to support CaaS, companies can rapidly deploy card services, manage cardholder data securely, and ensure compliance with financial regulations.

Open banking

Open Banking, facilitated by SaaS platforms, enables secure, authorised third-party providers to access banking data. This allows for the development and integration of innovative financial services directly into existing banking architectures to foster a more competitive and dynamic environment.

As the SaaS sector continues to evolve, so do the opportunities for technologies such as Open Banking. For example, it could enable the creation of new tools for personal finance management and support the development of alternative credit scoring models that can make microlending and consumer lending more accessible and fairer. 

From a financial inclusion perspective, this could be truly transformative. Traditionally, one of the major barriers to improving access to financial services for underserved communities has been high cost and risk to financial institutions. However, thanks to Open Banking, financial institutions can analyse shared data to better serve their customers and offer a wider range of financial products tailored to their individual needs. This means that more consumers stand to benefit from easier access to financial services, while financial institutions benefit from rapid deployment, reduced overheads, and advanced security.

Low-to-no-code platforms 

We predict that the drive for products with a fast time-to-market will accelerate the adoption of zero-code and low-code technological innovation in the coming years. These solutions simplify the coding process to not only speed up product deployment and help businesses stay one step ahead of their competitors, but also simplify application development, enabling non-technical users to build solutions that meet their business needs quickly and efficiently.

SaaS plays a crucial role in this evolution by providing these platforms via the cloud, making them accessible to a wider audience without the need for complex infrastructure. For example, at FOO, we work with a range of regional financial institutions and service providers to deliver innovative B2B SaaS products and solutions with flexibility and agility. Our suite of micro-services enables us to build personalised products in just eight to twelve weeks.

Better checkout experiences

For retailers, today’s hyper-competitive retail landscape means that curating a seamless, secure checkout experience can be the difference between business success and failure. In this respect, SaaS is arguably the future of commerce. By integrating advanced payment systems directly into retailers' service offerings, these platforms facilitate smoother, faster, and more reliable checkout processes, accommodating a variety of payment methods and currencies across different channels. 

By leveraging SaaS, businesses can ensure a consistent experience for users, reducing cart abandonment and increasing customer satisfaction. SaaS systems also help retailers gain better insights into their consumers’ behavior, allowing them to continuously optimise and enhance their checkout process.