FintechUpdated

A fintech brand is a promise
about other people’s money.

Before anyone moves money through your app, they judge the name, the icon and the first screen, and in Saudi Arabia and the UAE financial regulators also set part of what licensed firms’ ads must show. I work remotely as a fintech brand designer for Saudi Arabia and the UAE on names, logos, brand identities and rebrands in Arabic and English, with room for those disclosures. You start with a free 30-minute call in your time zone, then get a fixed written proposal.

Saudi fintechs
371, Aug 2026
Brand identity
4–10 weeks
Rebrand
6–12 weeks
Languages
Arabic, English
Book a Free CallSee the work

Branding a fintech in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Gulf fintech is crowded and still growing. Saudi Arabia had 371 fintech companies at the end of August 2026, the governor of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) said at Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh, up from the 301 Fintech Saudi reported in May; the National Fintech Strategy targets 525 by 2030. In Dubai, the DIFC Innovation Hub counted 1,933 AI, FinTech and innovation companies at mid-2026, 39% more than a year earlier. Investors are choosier: MAGNiTT counted 50% fewer MENA fintech deals in the first half of 2026 than a year before, yet fintech still took 67% of the money Saudi startups raised in that half-year.

That changes what the brand has to do. A fintech asks people to trust it with their money, and banks, merchants and investors judge it as closely as app users do. By the end of 2025, electronic payments made up 85% of retail payment transactions in Saudi Arabia, so for most customers your brand is an app icon, a card and a payment screen. In finance, regulators also set rules for what licensed firms’ ads and documents must show: your logo, a supervision line, the language.

For both markets I design Arabic and English versions of the name, logo and type so they work as one brand, including right-to-left layouts. Read how that works in building a bilingual Arabic and English brand, or see the pages for Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

  • Supervised by SAMA? Arabic ads and a supervision lineIf SAMA supervises you, its 2023 ad rules make Arabic the language of your ads, except ads for non-Arabic speakers. Each ad must show your name, logo and contact details and state that you are subject to SAMA’s supervision and control. It may not use SAMA’s name or logo, and compliance must approve it in writing first.
  • Licensed by the UAE Central Bank? Arabic and English adsIf the UAE Central Bank licenses you, its Consumer Protection Standards require ads to be available in Arabic and English, unless one targets a single language group, and to show your name, logo and contact details prominently, on websites, apps, ATMs and social media. Text and numbers must be at least font size 10.
  • In DIFC and ADGM, a regulatory-status line on key documentsIf the DFSA authorizes you, GEN 6.4.2 requires “Regulated by the DFSA” or its full name on letterhead, business cards, websites, client agreements and written promotions. FSRA rule GEN 4.4.1 requires “Regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority”. Neither logo may be used without written permission.
  • No “bank” in the name without a bank licenseSaudi Arabia’s Banking Control Law bars anyone not licensed for banking from using the word “bank”, its synonyms or any similar term in any language in its name, papers or ads. Since April 2025 trade names can be registered in English, with an Arabic transliteration, so plan both versions together.
  • Two new currency symbols to design forSAMA announced a riyal symbol in February 2025 and publishes it as SVG with guidelines for font designers. The UAE Central Bank’s dirham symbol, unveiled in March 2025, goes left of the number, is never used together with “AED”, and is no smaller than 12px on screen. Unicode now encodes both, as U+20C1 and U+20C3.
  • Default Arabic digits differ between the two marketsUnicode’s locale data sets the default digits for Arabic in Saudi Arabia to Arabic-Indic (١٢٣) and for Arabic in the UAE to Latin (123). A fintech app is mostly numbers, so the Arabic typeface needs both digit sets, with figures that line up in balances and tables.

Services for fintech brands

All services

What you get

  • A free first call30 minutes in your time zone about your product, your license, your users and the markets you launch in.
  • A fixed written proposalOne price, the timeline and the deliverables in writing, in USD or SAR for Saudi Arabia and USD or AED for the UAE. The price never changes mid-project.
  • Arabic and English as one brandArabic and English versions of the name, logo and type that work together, including right-to-left layouts.
  • Two revision rounds per phaseWith weekly check-ins in your time zone, so your team and your compliance reviewers see the work as it develops.
  • Guidelines and a Figma libraryIdentity projects hand over brand guidelines (PDF) and a Figma library with source files for your designers and developers.
  • Clean files and full ownershipI don’t file trademarks: your lawyer files with SAIP or the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism, with clean master files from me. All final files are yours.

How it works, step by step

  1. 01Discovery

    A free 30-minute call about your product, license, buyers and markets, then a fixed written proposal.

    • Free call
    • Your time zone
    • Written proposal

  2. 02Strategy

    Positioning and messaging for users, banks and investors, with space planned for the disclosures your compliance team requires.

    • Positioning
    • Messaging
    • Audiences

  3. 03Identity

    An Arabic and English logo system, type and color, shown on touchpoints such as an app icon, a card, a payment screen and an ad.

    • Bilingual logo
    • App and card
    • Revisions

  4. 04Handover

    Brand guidelines (PDF), a Figma library with source files and clean master files for your lawyer.

    • Guidelines
    • Figma library
    • Full ownership

Closest work: finance, security, AI and HR tech

More work

What clients say

All reviews
Behance
After completing an exceptionally comprehensive brand identity I can honestly say he delivered above expectations with an excellent finished product & memorable client experience.
Douglas BrunsonBrand identity · Oct 2023

Questions founders ask

What does a fintech brand designer in Saudi Arabia or the UAE do?

I give a fintech the brand people see before they trust it with money: positioning, an Arabic and English logo system, color, type and guidelines, shown on your app icon, card and payment screens, with layouts that leave room for any regulatory lines your ads need. If you also need a name, naming is a separate service. A logo usually takes 2–4 weeks and a full brand identity 4–10 weeks.

Are you a bilingual fintech brand designer (مصمم هوية بصرية لشركات التقنية المالية)?

Yes. For the UAE and Saudi Arabia I design Arabic and English versions of the name, logo and type so they work as one brand, including right-to-left layouts. In fintech that also means an Arabic wordmark that still reads at app-icon size. The language of ads is regulated too: SAMA’s rules make Arabic the language of ads by the institutions it supervises, and the UAE Central Bank requires its licensees’ ads to be available in Arabic and English.

Can fintechs in Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi work with you?

Yes, remotely. Fintech teams in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi or anywhere in the Gulf can work with me as their fintech brand identity designer, and most clients are startups in the US, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. There is no office in any of these cities: the work runs on a free call, a fixed written proposal and weekly check-ins in your time zone. Proposals are in USD or SAR for Saudi Arabia and USD or AED for the UAE.

When does a UAE or Saudi fintech need a rebrand?

Common reasons: you start selling to banks and enterprise buyers, add a license or a market, launch in Arabic, or the brand still looks like the first MVP. A rebrand covers an audit, new positioning, a new logo system and guidelines, and usually takes 6–12 weeks. If users already know your name and app icon and only the look is dated, a brand refresh in 3–6 weeks updates the look and keeps that recognition. If the DFSA or the FSRA regulates you, plan the new letterhead, business cards and website with your regulatory-status line from the start.

Do you brand Sharia-compliant fintechs?

Yes. For an Islamic finance product, proof matters more than decoration: give the Sharia certificate a fixed, easy-to-find place in the app and on the website, in Arabic and English, along with how to reach your Sharia team. In the UAE, the Central Bank requires the Islamic financial institutions it licenses to give customers adequate information about their products, including Sharia certificates, and access to their internal Sharia functions when customers have doubts.

Which name shows as the seller of my app on the App Store?

Your company’s legal name. Apple says banking and financial services apps should be submitted by the legal entity that provides the services, not an individual developer, and it does not accept trade names for organization accounts. So plan the brand name, the legal name and the app icon together, before launch.

How much does fintech branding cost?

It depends on the scope: a logo, a full identity or a rebrand, one language or two, whether you also need a name, and how many fintech touchpoints the brand is shown on, such as the app icon, a card and payment screens. After a free 30-minute call you get a fixed written proposal with one price, the timeline and the deliverables. Typical market ranges are in the brand identity cost guide under Related reading.

Related reading

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