Jeel CEO George Harrak Invites Fintechs With Ambition To Its New Sandbox Program In Saudi Arabia

Jeel, the digital innovation arm of KSA-based Riyad Bank, has launched a sandbox platform that has been developed in partnership with Saudi fintech ecosystem enabler Fintech Saudi and certified by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). 

Jeel Sandbox, which has been billed as one of the Kingdom's first technical-supervised sandbox-as-a-service platforms, has been designed to help fintechs, banks, and startups rapidly test and validate innovations. 

Speaking to Inc. Arabia at this year’s Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh, Jeel CEO George Harrak said that he was looking forward to seeing how this new platform will accelerate the entry of fintechs into the Kingdom, while also offering advice to those entering this market. 

“I think, come with ambition,” Harrak advised. “I think, first and foremost, if you come replicating what others do, I don’t think you’ll get very far... The other thing that I'd suggest is to also have a goal. I think we get a number of people coming in there that don't really quite know what the next steps are with respect to where they want to take their solution. So, my advice is to have an approach, have a plan. And we're very happy to sit down and talk, and help facilitate that as well.” 

More of Harrak’s insights in the full video.  

Pictured in the lead image is Jeel CEO George Harrak. Image courtesy Jeel.