BizBahrain Magazine (May-June 2019)

Highlights | Technology
Wonder News
launch ITS
regional HQ in
Bahrain
Chinese technology group
WonderNews launched
its regional headquarters in
Bahrain which will offer its
services to its GCC clients in
the e-commerce and fintech
solutions. WonderNews will
invest USD50 million and it
will offer 500 employment
opportunities in the Kingdom
over the next three years.
WonderNews was
established in 2015 by Fujian
Wangle Technology Co., Ltd.,
a Chinese company which
is committed to creating
value-added solutions and
applications on content
platforms, e-commerce,
games for its 100 million
users globally. The company
is headquartered in Fuzhou,
China and has offices, UAE,
Morocco, Egypt and Saudi
Arabia among others.
WonderNews CEO, Mr.
Ou Zhenxing, stated that the
company has over 10 years of
experience in the operation of
Middle East Internet products.
“We have a highly-qualified
research and development
team and advanced
technology which has led to
the successful development
and operation of numerous
applications with over 100
million users,” explained Mr.
Zhenxing.
He expressed his gratitude
and appreciation for the
EDB in the establishment
of Wonder News in Bahrain
“Our strategic cooperation
with EDB have assisted us
in seamlessly establishing a
presence in Bahrain and using
the Kingdom as a regional hub
to cover the Middle East,” he
said.
John Kilmartin, the
Executive Director of ICT at
the EDB said: “Wondernews’
decision to establish its
regional HQ in Bahrain is
a testament to Bahrain’s
growing tech ecosystem.
Bahrain’s legal framework, low
cost operating environment
and talent pool offers an
attractive location that
supports and encourages
investors to use Bahrain as
a hub to reach the GCC and
MENA markets.”
SADAD launch
‘Gift Vouchers’
and ‘Save Your
Card’ features
SADAD, the Kingdom’s
most trusted payment
platform, recognized as an
innovator in the FinTech
Industry introduces another
revolutionary features to their
mobile application.
Gift Vouchers
SADAD Bahrain becomes
the first company in the
Middle East region to
launch Gift Vouchers on
Blockchain. A distributed
ledger technology is used to
issue, transact and share Gift
vouchers within SADAD’s
private Blockchain network.
Using this revolutionary
technology, customers can
purchase Gift Vouchers via
both SADAD Mobile app
and SADAD payment kiosk
and then share it with their
family and friends. This
innovation is believed to bring
a dynamic versatility towards
the un-banked or underbanked
consumers of the
Kingdom. This development
has positively impacted
each step of the transaction
pipeline: faster processing
and settlement times, lower
transaction costs, and perhaps
most importantly, less fraud.
Blockchain along
with Distributed Ledger
Technology is recognized
worldwide as a standard for
recording electronic financial
transactions to ensure security
and trust. All recorded data is
securely signed by standard
cryptography algorithms and
distributed over different
servers.
Save Your Bank Cards
The new feature is
accomplished by tokenization,
which is considered the
safest way for storing
fi n a n c i a l c a r d i n f o r m a t i o n .
SADAD has recently attained
the latest version of the
Payment Card Industry Data
Security Standards (PCI-DSS)
certification, and with this
certification, SADAD ensures
that all confidential data is
secure and is only shared
towards payment processors
with the consent of the
customer.
This feature will allow
customers to pay bills and
make various transactions but
only having to save their card
details once. Aligned with the
PCI-DSS compliance, SADAD’s
in-house R&D and RTD team
have created a secure and
advanced payment platform
to ensure ultimate security of
customer’s card details while
allowing them to automate
and control their bills and
maintain complete visibility.
In order to ensure security
measures, customers will have
to enter their PIN number to
make a transaction.
Credit card tokenization
is used as a norm and techsavvy
customers are aware of
it. In addition to that, SADAD
Bahrain for the first time
in the history of payments
introduced the option to save
debit cards.
YKA partner
with Samsung
Y
.K. Almoayyed & Sons
(YKA) parterned with
Samsung Gulf Electronics
to offer Samsung TV and
AV portfolio in all four of its
Electronic & Home Appliances
showrooms - situated in
Manama, Gudaibiya, Sehla
and Sitra in the Kingdom of
Bahrain.
Through the partnership,
YKA will be distributing
Samsung’s QLED TV Series
and Large Size TVs as well
as a comprehensive range of
audio products. With stores
located throughout Bahrain,
customers will be assured
convenient and direct access
to Samsung’s cutting edge
innovations.
“Our strategic alliance
with Samsung will strengthen
and elevate the position of
both brands. As the demand
for larger screen TVs is on
the rise, adding pioneering
brands such as Samsung to
our portfolio of products will
enhance our leadership and
offerings in the electronics
market,” said Alok Gupta, CEO
at Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons.
Pushing the boundaries
to bring the most engaging
viewing experience, Samsung’s
fl a g s h i p Q L E D T V r a n g e
combines legendary picture
quality and awe-inspiring style
to deliver the most spectacular
viewing experience.
58 May-June 2019