**MANAMA, Bahrain** – Picture a room where banks, tech giants, and regulators actually finish their handshakes. That's what happened at Fintech Forward 2026 (FF26), which wrapped up at Exhibition World Bahrain. More than 2,900 participants showed up, and the fourth edition delivered over 60 MoUs, strategic agreements, and announcements.
Announcements and signings jumped 65% this year, and the forum also welcomed its largest group of sponsors and exhibitors yet. Clearly, the industry is leaning in.
Moreover, several deals grew from connections made at FF25. Bahrain's Team Bahrain approach, a public-private partnership model, turns conversations into lasting momentum.
BBK showcased a Google Cloud Universal Ledger pilot, built with ARRAY Innovation, a Mumtalakat portfolio company. It explores tokenized payments and programmable settlement.
Meanwhile, Beyon and barq Group announced an agreement to merge Beyon Money's operations with barq's fintech platform. BENEFIT also named NBB as anchor bank for its Trade Finance Registry pilot, developed with MonetaGo and Bahrain FinTech Bay. In addition, BENEFIT and Huawei signed an MoU on AI and digital infrastructure.
The debut Tech Talent Hub, featuring Citi, J.P. Morgan, and KPMG, highlighted Bahraini professionals serving global clients. Likewise, Beyon Connect unveiled an AML Referral Programme with AMAN Compliance Solutions as its first partner.
Financial and insurance activities made up 17.6% of Bahrain's real GDP in 2025. Therefore, a forum like this does more than generate headlines; it strengthens the Kingdom's economic backbone.
Hosted by Bahrain EDB and programmed by Forbes Middle East, FF26 ran under the theme "Finance in the Age of Intelligent Infrastructure." Judging by the results, that future has already started.
