UAE fintech start-up Mamo receives regulatory approval

Mamo, a UAE-based fintech platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has been granted regulatory approval by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

Mamo team

The approval will allow Mamo to operate from the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), a financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.

It will also allow Mamo to provide money services and expand its products and services without user restrictions while “fully complying” with the DFSA rules.

Mamo had received the Innovation Testing Licence from DFSA in June 2021, enabling it to operate in a “controlled” regulatory environment to test its business model, which it has now successfully exited to achieve an “authorised firm” status.

Around the same time, the start-up unveiled its $8 million pre-Series A funding round.

Founded in 2019 with its headquarters in Dubai, Mamo’s flagship solution is Mamo Pay, which enables payments for SMEs and consumers.

The start-up says it built its own systems, including cryptographic security protocols, a fraud detection and prevention engine, and a standardised and automated financial transaction management system, minimising human errors and protecting against fraud.

On the front end, Mamo has implemented a digital know your customer (KYC) solution that allows users to identify themselves “quickly” through a user experience that puts the user in control of their personal and private information.

“We’ve built a financial services platform that enables both SMEs and consumers to move money faster, more efficiently and more securely in the UAE,” says Imad Gharazeddine, CEO and co-founder of Mamo. “Receiving full regulatory approval in DIFC allows us to continue to expand our product stack, offering new features and functionality to our customers.”