9:46 pm - February 18, 2026
Bahrain’s flagship fintech event, Fintech Forward 2025, brought together nearly 2,000 attendees and more than 40 speakers to explore the maturing landscape of financial technology. The third edition of this annual forum, held on 8 to 9 October at Exhibition World Bahrain, underscored a clear message: the fintech industry has entered an era of integration, where collaboration with regulators and traditional banks takes priority over disruption.
Hosted by Bahrain EDB and Bahrain FinTech Bay with support from the Central Bank of Bahrain, the event drew a record 38 memorandums of understanding and strategic agreements. The UK Department for Business and Trade brought its largest-ever delegation of 70 participants representing 36 fintech firms, reinforcing the event’s theme of practical collaboration and cross-border partnerships.
Fintech Forward 2025 Highlights Regulatory Collaboration
The forum’s agenda reflected a shift from high-growth speculation to sustainable innovation. Topics spanned instant payments infrastructure, supervisory technology, digital assets, open banking, and financial inclusion with measurable outcomes. According to event host Joshua Roberts, capital markets editor at The Economist, the industry’s focus has moved toward durability rather than expansion at any cost.
Simon French, managing director and chief economist at UK investment bank Panmure Liberum, explained that capital deployment is adjusting to a fundamentally different global environment. With the global cost of capital now sitting between four and five percent, funding terms from the near-zero-rate era no longer apply, he noted.
Bahrain’s Strategic Fintech Positioning
H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development and CEO of Bahrain EDB, described how the Kingdom is navigating current market challenges through deliberate collaboration. Financial services now represent the largest portion of Bahrain’s GDP, and the country’s advantage lies in its scale, she explained.
The approach centers on bringing regulators, banks, academic institutions, and global firms to the same table with a focus on skills development and maintaining an open ecosystem. According to Alkhulaif, innovation in Bahrain is fundamentally partnered innovation, designed to address challenges through collective problem-solving rather than isolated ventures.
Digital Assets Move From Speculation to Infrastructure
Discussions around digital assets at Fintech Forward 2025 emphasized practical applications over hype. Representatives from Revolut, Ripple, the UK government, and National Bank of Bahrain focused on custody, settlement, and cross-border payments infrastructure.
Usman Ahmed, group chief executive at National Bank of Bahrain, revealed plans to adopt a blockchain-based solution for programmable liquidity management. Additionally, the bank is developing programmable payments that operate independently of traditional cut-off times, according to Ahmed.
Meanwhile, Reece Merrick, managing director for the Middle East and Africa at Ripple, observed a significant shift in boardroom sentiment over the past two years. Katie Ramsey, head of fintech at the UK Department for Business and Trade, emphasized that clarity rather than promotional messaging will drive institutional trust in digital assets.
Central Bank Advances Supervisory Technology
H.E. Khalid Humaidan, governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, outlined the regulator’s forward-looking approach during the event. He stated that the future of finance will be digital, and regulators must keep pace with technological advancement.
Bahrain is averaging approximately 25 instant payments per person per month in the first half of 2025, positioning the country as a leader in payment infrastructure, according to Humaidan. The central bank is implementing a three-phase supervisory technology overhaul: phase one opens raw data feeds from licensees, phase two automates compliance checks, and phase three uses aggregated data to forecast systemic risks.
Financial Inclusion Measured by Outcomes
A panel on sustainable fintech ecosystems shifted focus from marketing claims to tangible results. Cynthia Wandia, co-founder and CEO of Kwara, emphasized that user retention only matters when customers return for services that demonstrably improve their financial positions, such as higher credit scores or increased access to capital.
Durreen Shahnaz, founder and CEO of Impact Investment Exchange, highlighted how measuring last-mile impact and incorporating it into product design can reduce portfolio risk. Mathias Wikström, CEO of Doconomy, argued that financial inclusion should incorporate climate literacy, enabling users to understand the environmental impact of everyday transactions.
Former Binance Chief Shares Regulatory Lessons
Changpeng Zhao, former chief executive of Binance, delivered practical insights during his keynote interview. His primary lesson from recent regulatory scrutiny was straightforward: always respect government authorities and work closely with regulators, he stated.
On payments infrastructure, Zhao suggested that labels matter less than functionality. Whether discussing stablecoins or central bank digital currencies, the critical factors are ease of use, transaction fees, convenience, and freedom, according to Zhao. He expects both stablecoins and CBDCs to coexist and anticipates that artificial intelligence will dramatically increase blockchain transaction volume as AI agents adopt on-chain payment methods.
UK-Bahrain Partnership Delivers Concrete Results
The closing session showcased tangible outcomes from UK-Bahrain collaboration. The 36 UK fintech firms represented at Fintech Forward 2025 span identity verification, open banking, anti-money laundering, wealth technology, and data services, including companies such as Raidiam, Velexa, MonetaGo, Umazi, and Sumsub.
Several firms announced market entries and partnerships. Umazi formally launched digital identity and KYC services in Bahrain, while Velexa and Ajyad unveiled a wealth technology partnership. AMAN, powered by Themis, introduced the AMAN AI Investigator as part of a national initiative to combat international crime and money laundering, according to event organizers.
Bahrain also revealed successful pilot testing of Google Cloud’s Universal Ledger, coordinated by Bahrain FinTech Bay with participation from BENEFIT, National Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Islamic Bank, and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait. The controlled test demonstrated instant settlement of high-value payments using tokenised commercial bank money. Ripple announced an expanded partnership with Bahrain FinTech Bay to develop pilot projects in blockchain technology, cross-border payments, and digital asset custody.
As Fintech Forward 2025 concluded, organizers indicated that next year’s edition will expand further, though specific dates and programming details have not yet been announced. The event’s emphasis on measurable integration and regulatory alignment suggests that future editions will continue prioritizing practical implementation over speculative innovation.
