Saudi Arabian fintech Hala has appointed former Revolut India executive Saleem Arshad as its new chief technology officer (CTO).
With over two decades spent in the finance and technology sectors, the company hopes Arshad’s experience and knowledge will help drive its expansion plans as it looks towards the UK and European markets.
Arshad joins the fintech from Revolut, where he served as CTO of its India operations from May 2022 to July 2023, focusing on the challenger’s entry into the country. Prior to that, he served as CTO and later member of the board of directors at W1TTY, a personal finance app operating in Europe.
His earlier experience also includes stints at Barclays, BP, Accenture and HSBC, where he spent over six years in technology leadership roles.
Commenting on his appointment, Arshad says he aims to work with Hala’s senior management team “to strengthen the business’ technology capabilities further”.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Riyadh, Hala is one of the first fintech start-ups from Saudi Arabia to receive a full licence from the country’s central bank. It provides financial services to SMEs in the region, claiming to serve over 50,000 businesses and processing more than $3 billion in annualised transactions.
In February this year, it acquired UAE-based payments start-up Paymennt.com for an undisclosed sum.
