UAE’s Fintech Galaxy announces new COO and CFO hires

UAE-based Fintech Galaxy has appointed two new execs as it looks to expand its product offering across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.

Former Salt Edge CEO and co-founder Dmitrii Barbasura joins as chief operating officer (COO) while another Salt Edge alumni, Iaroslav Babenco, joins the firm as chief financial officer (CFO).

Fintech Galaxy, which was founded in the UAE in 2018, is currently developing its platform FINX to deliver open banking and open finance infrastructure. FINX Connect provides account aggregation and payment initiation capabilities and an API sandbox while FINX Comply helps banks and financial institutions achieve compliance with local open banking and finance regulations.

Alongside the executive hires, the company has also brought together a technical team experienced in open banking and open finance compliance and data aggregation.

Barbasura previously spent almost nine years at Salt Edge, building the company from scratch. He also founded a web and mobile money management solution and is a member of the Forbes Finance Council.

Fintech Galaxy says the appointments will support its mission “to move the needle” on financial inclusion and bring open banking and finance to the MENA region.

Fintech Galaxy CEO and founder Mirna Sleiman adds: “It is no secret that open finance has triggered a major transformation in the global banking industry. Providing open finance infrastructure and production capabilities as a technical service provider (TSP) is only a natural development of our product strategy and regional presence.”