Projects I've shipped / MENAP

SimpliFi

Program Consultant, HypeFin

Processor & network integration for a Cards-as-a-Service issuing platform.

3 multi-currency products live across MENAP
SimpliFi

Partners on the programme

Mastercard

What SimpliFi does

SimpliFi is a Cards-as-a-Service platform out of Dubai, founded in 2020 by Ali Sattar, who had previously run Careem Pay. It exists because launching a card in the Middle East means assembling a different stack in every market: a sponsor bank, a network, a processor, identity verification, card fulfilment, each answering to its own regulator.

SimpliFi collapses that into one integration. Customers either embed ready-made commercial cards into a product they already have, or launch a fully branded programme of their own. What they get with it:

  • One integration across multiple markets, with APIs, SDKs and a client portal
  • BIN sponsorship, carrying the scheme and regulatory approvals
  • Issuer processing, programmable card controls and lifecycle management
  • KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and PCI-DSS
  • Virtual, physical and digital cards, with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
  • Card fulfilment, collateral management and daily reporting

What I did

I came in as a program consultant at HypeFin while SimpliFi was moving from its 2021 beta toward commercial launch, and my scope was the layer underneath the product: the processor and the network. I connected SimpliFi to its card processor and to Mastercard, and drove the issuance project that put three multi-currency products live across the Middle East and Pakistan.

Multi-currency is the part that makes regional issuing hard. One card holding dirhams, riyals, dinars and dollars has to satisfy a different regulator in each market while staying inside a single set of network rules, and the processor has to be configured so the right BIN range, currency and controls apply per market. Getting that right, and certified, was the job.

SimpliFi raised $5.1M that December, led by Global Founders Capital with Raed Ventures, 4DX Ventures and Rally Cap. The platform now runs across the six GCC markets, Egypt and Pakistan, issuing on Mastercard and on PayPak domestically, with more than 50 currencies live and over 700 businesses on it.

What people said

Recommendations written on LinkedIn.

“Saad comes with vast knowledge in the card payments industry. He's quick and responsive and brings his A game to any project. Looking forward to working on future projects together!”
Ali Amin SattarFounder and CEO at SimpliFiClient on the SimpliFi programme · April 2022

In the press

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