Flat6labs Mentorship Award 2019
March, 2019: Abdulaziz Al Jouf honored by Flat6Labs on account of his efforts and contribution as a mentor of Startups in the region during the #UnboundBahrain festival at the Bahrain National theatre on 6 March 2019.
Startups living in uncertain times?
It goes without saying that startups have transformed how we interact with the world around us in the past few years. If you’ve traveled to any of the world’s major cities in, say, 2010, you would have likely checked into a hotel and hailed a taxi cab to take you there. Today, you can expect greater convenience, value for money and, possibly, a chance to meet locals at a click of a button through Airbnb and Uber.
The trend carries on as I type this blog entry. Uber, an established company by now, is being made to tweak its operations to keep newcomers like Bird, which now rent scooters as an affordable, convenient and reliable means of transportation, from eating into their market share. Also consider how corporate giants such as HBO, Amazon and Disney are being compelled to launch their own streaming services to reclaim their market shares from the likes of Netflix and Hulu.
But the truth is that startups can only flourish in healthy economies. Successful startup enterprises, after all, reflect harmonious matchmaking between entrepreneurial creativity and innovation and an optimistic outlook by investors. Perhaps it’s within our nature as humans to be creative and problem-solve, so the entrepreneurial spirit will probably never flag. But access to capital can be a problem. Even the most revolutionary business ideas of our time couldn’t have seen the light of day without funding.
There are many scenarios that can affect access to capital. How business-friendly is the economy? Are investors and lenders bogged down with red tape? Are they optimistic about the prospects of yielding a profit? Might they be concerned about consumer purchasing power if it’s not rising? Or maybe regard the market as saturated in a given sector? Endless possibilities can influence the outlook of investors and lenders.
One scenario that can surely affect startups’ access to capital is a financial crisis. Despite the inspiring success stories I’ve mentioned above, there is evidence that shows that potential for startups to succeed in the US has not yet fully recovered to its former pre-crisis levels in terms of births and deaths of startups, job creation and, perhaps most importantly, commercial lending. Fast-forward to 2018, and you’ll find the business press making noise about an upcoming and potentially deeper recession. Gloomy headlines such as “another economic downturn is just a matter of time” and “monetary policy for the next recession” can be found in the Economist and the Financial Times. JPMorgan Chase has even put a date on when it expects the bad news: 2020.
If the recession of 2008 is any guide, we know that we can’t underestimate how connected the GCC markets are to the fortunes of Wall Street: the US market, as the world’s biggest and most important, had a direct impact on commodity markets globally, which in turn affected GCC financial markets and government revenues. So the question for us becomes: how will we cope if a new crisis befalls us? Can we prepare any contingencies to keep new startups connected to their lifeline? Crisis or not, a lot can be said about the ability of startups to address all sorts of challenges, including the problem of access to capital. Just ask the people behind Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Beyond that, the role of pro-business institutions like Bahrain’s Tamkeen will be key in helping startups to rise and, if the doomsayers are correct, survive the winter of another recession on Wall Street.
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Why Do Refunds Take So Long?
Online transactions have made life quite easy. We transfer funds, buy things and pay for them, receive payments, and all of this with the simple click of a button. Cash is rarely required anywhere. Online or cashless payments have become quite ordinary. The only time that online transactions frustrate us is when our money gets stuck! But like most out of the ordinary things, we must regard it as an exception.
Most online portals have simple refund policies. The process of raising a refund request is quite convenient; however, there are instances when the process is delayed due to some reason. In order to better understand this process, let us look at detailed insights.
When does the need for a refund arise?
- When you make an online purchase and pay through your card but later decide to cancel or return the ordered item
- When you are in the middle of making an online payment and you lose network connectivity
Why do payments fail?
- Failure in communication – At some point in the payment making process, if there is a failure in communication after the customer has been charged, the customer can ask for a refund. This usually occurs in most cases due to network or connectivity issues and is a rather common occurrence.
- Failure in a status update – Another reason for the failure of payments is the status of payment not getting updated. In such a case, even though the payment has been deducted, one or more of the banks involved fail to update the status. Since the payment gateway has no information, no information is available to the buyer or seller.
Why getting refunds takes time?
Firstly, the merchant usually needs a certain amount of time to determine whether the request for refund is legitimate or not. In cases where goods are returned, the merchant would like to make sure that the goods have not been damaged by the other party.
Secondly, the banks have a vested interest in keeping your money with them for as long as it is legally possible as they make interest off of that money. That is part of the reason why the bank charges your account immediately while delaying the refund to your account. In these cases, the merchant is able to provide the customer with an authorization code that can be used to hasten the refund process with the bank.
Thirdly, refunds take time because there are multiple online payment platforms involved. The process of authorization can be quite cumbersome. A slight delay at any stage further delays the entire process. To explain the refund process further, let’s take an example.
A customer raises the request for a refund. This request will be made to the payment gateway involved. The payment gateway then sends a request to the acquiring bank with which the merchant has an account. After the necessary approvals, the acquiring bank raises a request with the customer’s issuing bank. The entire process of authorization and re-authorization, despite the fact that no actual money is transacted, is a tedious one.
The bottom line
It is important to maintain your calm and understand how the process of refunds works. The movement of money in an online transaction, while faster, is sometimes hindered due to the complexity of the process. The entire process of online payments is monitored by the online payment gateway, the issuing bank, and the acquiring bank.
It is really up to the banks to approve and reflect the balance in their respective accounts. While no money is actually moving, the coordination between the two banks and the gateway determines the amount of time that the entire transaction takes.
PayTabs Holds a Mentorship Session for Bahrain’s Startups on the Eve of its 5th Anniversary
The road to glory is always tough. You get the roses at the end but initially the road is filled with thorns. The journey of PayTabs has been somewhat similar. When we began in March 2014, we were confident that someday we would achieve our goals. Today, we stand here, all set to celebrate 5 years of operations in a few days.
Mentorship Program Begins
And to commemorate this special occasion, we, along with Flat6Labs, Bahrain’s leading Accelerator Program, organized an exclusive event for the budding startups of Bahrain. The motive of hosting a startup meet was to impart knowledge, advice, tips, and tricks under the aegis of mentors. To add a cherry on the cake, PayTabs’ success story was served as a live example for all the 60 startups that attended the event.
Here, at PayTabs, we know the importance of mentorship. When the foundation was laid in March 2014 with a corpus of $10,000, we were determined to make an impact in our industry. And we were able to do so because we received genuine guidance from experts. And today, after 5 glorious years, we have established our presence in 21 countries, with our dedicated offices in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Philippines and India.
Now we felt the need to do something for our startup community. So as a startup, we planned to host the startups over breakfast at the PayTabs’ headquarters. The event comprised of the following sessions – PayTabs’ journey from zero to hero, round table discussions, questions from the participants, and a brief mentorship program on the right and wrong startup practices. The participants gained knowledge necessary to operate a startup in the right manner.
Bahrain – The City of Startups
The startup meet was a landmark event held in the land of Bahrain. Bahrain has a thriving ecosystem of around 75 startups, striving to make a mark in the field of innovation and technology. These startups have the support of over 34 accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, and other institutions.
PayTabs is a prodigy of Bahrain’s startup culture. Once, we had an idea and a strong will to succeed. Today, we have the skills, resources, ambition, and vision. But it’s not just about us, it’s about everyone who dreams of spearheading a revolution in the society. And there’s no better way to do it than to found a startup. Isn’t that so?
MEFTECH-KSA 2019 in Riyadh
Explore the latest in the world of financial technology with MEFTECH-KSA 2019 in Riyadh
The e-commerce landscape in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become more dynamic than ever before, and the credit goes to forward-thinking financial and technological institutions. The process of making and receiving payments online has especially become extremely advanced and convenient, helping local businesses in KSA to go global with ease. And as the longest running banking and financial technology event, MEFTECH-KSA 2019 will focus on e-commerce payment systems and more.
The MEFTECH-KSA 2019 event will see numerous governments departments, banks, and enterprises of various sizes come together to network, exchange knowledge and pave the way for better business opportunities. And, as one of the leading names in the world of online payment gateway providers in the GCC region, PayTabs will participate in this event as well. PayTabs is the first Saudi fintech company that is all set to disrupt the way e-commerce transactions are carried out, by offering unique advantages to both customers and merchants.
What is MEFTECH-KSA 2019 all about?
MEFTECH-KSA 2019 will be held on 24th and 25th February in Riyadh, in partnership with SAMA, the prominent payment authority in KSA. Till date, MEFTECH has been able to draw more than 1000 technology providers and 8000 financial industry executives in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain. The 2019 event will especially focus on the fast-changing payment scenario in the ecommerce and retail sectors in Saudi Arabia.
Industry leaders are expected to share thoughts and knowledge about the latest developments in the payments sector, and discuss game-changing technologies such as:
- Mobile payments
- Blockchain and digital currencies
- Fintech vs. Banks
- Cashless evolution
- AI and machine learning
- Authentication
Various programs such as conferences, open theatres and roundtable discussions will be conducted where entrepreneurs, disrupters and innovators will join hands to explore all things new and promising in the world of payments.
Why will PayTabs participate?
PayTabs is a new-age online payment gateway provider that makes online transactions smooth, fast and safe. We accept over 168 currencies and offer multiple payment modes to make the experience better for both merchants and customers. Our cutting-edge anti-fraud technology, ease of technical integration, and express checkout process are features that will help boost the e-commerce landscape in KSA like never before. At MEFTECH-KSA 2019, we intend to share our experience and ideas about how an efficient online payment gateway can help local businesses expand, improve sales, monitor transactions from anywhere and anytime, track performance and develop strategies for the long run.
Important details about MEFTECH-KSA 2019
The MEFTECH-KSA 2019 event will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, at Kingdom Centre on Olaya Street. Master passes can be bought for a 2-day access or separately for day 1 or day 2. These passes will give you access to:
- 3500 square meters of exhibition space
- World Class Conference
- MEFTECH Innovation Theatre
- MEFTECH Innovation Awards
- Galaxy Fintech Startup Zone
Trade visitors can explore the exhibition, the innovation theater and the Galaxy Fintech Startup zone only, for free. The roundtable discussions on day 1 (24th February) and day 2 (25th February) can be attended for free, though seats are limited and subject to approval.
So, don’t miss this one-of-a-kind opportunity and register your name for the MEFTECH-KSA 2019 event. Find out how leaders in the financial and technology sectors brainstorm, ideate and explain the recent developments in payment systems and more.
