Amazon Payment Services, a payment processing service in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has launched the Amazon Fintech Lab in the DIFC Innovation Hub.

The initiative is the latest in Amazon Payment Services' efforts to support fintech in the region by providing a forum for discussions on digital payments and the future of the fintech industry.

The Amazon Fintech Lab has been designed with the specific intention of supporting innovation in fintech through networking and collaborating with DIFC's community of SMEs, financial institutions and startups.

It will organise programmes where different stakeholders and teams will be hosted in a variety of forums to discuss the different payment pain-points and come up with collaborative solutions for them.

These efforts will help Amazon Payment Services support its mission to reimagine the digital payments experience for both merchants and customers in the region.

Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services said,

“Through the Amazon Fintech Lab, we work with innovators and visionaries to turn exciting new ideas and concepts into transformational and disruptive forces in fintech.

The Lab also brings likeminded entrepreneurs and start-ups together with new and existing business partners to cultivate innovation in the fintech and digital services arena, supported by Amazon's global expertise on new products and services, and knowledge sessions on topics related to the payments sector.”

Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority said,

“We welcome Amazon Payment Services' first Fintech lab in the world at the Innovation Hub in DIFC.

By choosing DIFC, Amazon has the ideal platform to grow given they are now part of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia's largest and comprehensive financial, technology and innovation ecosystem. We are looking forward to working together to drive the future of finance.”

Featured image: (left) Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority and (right) Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services.