How One Global helps make day-to-day digital service payments more mobile

The Middle East’s tech boom is underway, as government initiatives prioritise digital transformation, and emerging technologies take centre stage in both the public and private sectors, as many countries in the region aim to diversify their economies. Fintech, one of the leading technology trends, is rapidly transforming the financial sector services from digital payments and capital markets to supervision.

Mohammed Al-Rashidi, founder and executive chairman at One Global, says: “There is a lot of development in the fintech industry, particularly in corporate finance. On the other hand, cross-border payments and trade finance businesses have a long way to go. Wallets and digital banks are getting extremely popular, but payment processing stays constant at its core. Aside from banking, the region is seeing the rise of robotics, big data and blockchain.”

Growth of startups
According to the data platform, Magnitt, fintech has been a prominent beneficiary of the return of a risk-on approach by investors globally in 2021. As a result, both funding deployed into the industry and the number of deals closed by fintech startups scaled to a record-high in 2021, growing by 550 per cent and 56 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a significant increase in startups, with the number of new companies worldwide exceeding indicators compared to the last few years. Young professionals in the Middle East are now likely to begin their careers at a startup, and work across multiple functions within those startups.

Al-Rashidi, however, asserts that startups often shut down due to challenges such as lack of funding, despite introducing innovative solutions and services. He says, “Although the region is a leading community for startups, we believe they are still struggling to acquire funds in order to sustain their business model. To address
this challenge, we have created a decentralised financial services marketplace that will help banks and other financial institutions digitally transform and also foster the growth of startups.”

A holistic approach
One Global, according to Al-Rashidi, is a digital transformation and innovation firm that was founded in 2004. It now operates in more than 20 countries around the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and North America. “We provide services in the digital economy, including supply chain financing and distribution, procurement, payment acceptance and collection, and automated settlements to bank accounts, cards, and wallets, among other things.”

Explaining the marketplace, Al-Rashidi adds they provide capabilities and acceleration services to businesses across the spectrum, which includes startups, small- and medium-businesses and large enterprises. With digital offerings such as Og Business, Og Travel, Og Life and other such platforms under one umbrella, Al-Rashidi has positioned One Global as a diversified company at the service of the community.

“We connect customers to technological advances that make day-to-day digital service payments more mobile, secure and convenient. In addition, we offer mobilised lifestyle services through our platforms, all of which are powered by in-house innovation. By linking private and public clouds around the globe, we can build, manage, and maintain mobile apps, software and websites, software interfaces, and wearables,” adds Al-Rashidi. For instance, Og Money, one of their financial services platforms, serves as a one-stop shop for bill payments, top-ups and other financial transactions.

Al-Rashidi also highlights how their business model is divided into two components and serves as an end-to-end solution ecosystem. “Our business strategy is divided into two parts – venture capital and operations. As a result, our ecosystem can meet the end-to-end demands of our customers. Meanwhile, we are also researching the current market trends and developing new solutions and services to address the needs of the customers.”

Disrupting the status quo
One Global’s forward-thinking approach and their business platforms are on the verge of disrupting the status quo for entrepreneurs. Al-Rashidi believes that Og Stack and Og Business have been well received by businesses which have adopted it thus far.

“Og Stack enables entrepreneurs to connect their services to a larger ecosystem. This tool makes it easier for ideas to reach global marketplaces, incubators, investors and other stakeholders. We further provide startups with comprehensive profiling, sandbox, production environment, and testing environment, among other things. We also offer business support services such as legal, financial terms, subscription plans, and pricing strategies, all under one ecosystem.”

In short, startups may use Og Stack’s platform to enrol their services in an online ecosystem that allows them to combine their services into a single integrated software development kit (SDK). In addition, Og Stack will enable enterprises and startups to integrate their whole service menus into a single platform without worrying about contracting and paying developers or software specialists.

“Startups and businesses don’t have to employ or rely on a third-party to get security-as-a-service, encryption-as-a-service, or even business support services like commercial agreements and service-level agreements. Instead, all of them can be accessed using a single SDK. They only need to verify their software using the SDK and then publish it on the marketplace where other businesses may use the service,” he adds.

The company’s Og Business platform meanwhile enables private organisations of all sizes and governments to manage their financial activities more effectively.

Og Business’ payment gateway, which was created to allow for customised payment solutions and a simple checkout procedure, is used by startups, online stores, and e-commerce merchants in various sectors. The platform also makes it easier for businesses to accept payments by creating QR codes that can be used to accept digital payments without using point-of-sale equipment. The platform also intends to process several worldwide currencies.

He mentions another engaging platform, Og Travel. “This platform acts as an umbrella where customers can plan and manage their journeys effectively. They can book flights, hotels and other domestic travel services. We’ve previously launched these services in the Middle East, in Kuwait and Bahrain, and we plan to do the same in the UAE, which we consider a unique market.

“Our mission is to provide customers smart-life-as-a-service by 2030. We aim to release some of our innovation and achievements at every stage of this mission,” concludes Al-Rashidi.

Read: Here’s how the Middle East is set to become a powerhouse of innovation