Date: 07 July 2022
Author: FINTECH Circle

digitify builds powerful, innovative digital products & platforms for those seeking to challenge and disrupt their industries, across FinTech and beyond. We spoke to their CEO and Founder Abdul Wadood, to find out how they’re changing the future of the industry and what he has learnt on his journey so far.

How would you describe your business in one sentence?

digitify is a global digital transformation specialist, that designs, develops, and deploys powerful digital applications and products for start-ups and established firms across FinTech and beyond; from mobile (branchless) banking platforms, and global remittance apps to digital payment solutions.

Tell us why your company is a game changer for our industry?

digitify was born as a result of the boom in innovation in FinTech and the need to deliver a comprehensive range of services to each and every client; something significantly lacking in the application and software development arena.

Since the CEO and Founder, Abdul Wadood started digitify in 2016, the Tangerine Team of engineers has been working with clients across the SDLC, offering the full range of services needed to launch a new digital product and applications including: Regulatory and strategic consultancy, Solution Architecture, Mobile Development (iOS and Android), Front-end & Back-end development, Quality Assurance automation, DevOps, Integration, and Cybersecurity.

This coupled with global experience in working with FinTech innovators, and an eco-system of partners that are necessary to deliver financial processing services, digitify can offer almost everything you need, all under one roof.

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

Our work and results are truly transformational, changing how businesses and consumers exchange funds and manage their wealth.

We have had the pleasure of working with innovators alongside traditional banks, to deliver truly digital services to revolutionise and disrupt industries.

Some of our FinTech applications include:

• The first independent digital banking platform in the UAE called YAP, in association with RAKBANK.
• A feature-rich mobile wealth management application for the youth
• Emirates Development Bank’s new business banking app (B2B)
• A complete mobile payments and IoT platform for a wearable tech provider called Xplora
• A remittance and international money transfer app, based in the UK called Vowpay

None of this is possible without the amazing engineers and specialists we have assembled since 2016. Our Tangerine Team of over 150 staff includes some of the most technically gifted engineers in the region, supporting customers across their work. This is truly our finest achievement; our people.

What has been the greatest challenge leading a start-up so far?

digitify itself was a start-up and we are cognizant and aware of the trials and tribulations of starting your own company from scratch.

Now having established itself with key case studies and a trusted network of partners, digitify is set to become an even more vital part of the FinTech ecosystem.

Their greatest challenge was building the team over the first couple of years. Finding a workforce with the right mindset as well as skillset was vital, and it took us a while. Once the Tangerine Team was in place, it was an upward trajectory, growing into a team of over 160 staff members in six years, whilst always maintaining a fairly flat structure.

Now at digitify, we apply our knowledge and experience to help start-ups navigate through what can be an uncharted journey across temperamental waters. That’s why we offer complimentary advice services for start-ups to help guide them through the regulatory and legislative landscape and financial services, as well as take them on a technical journey, where we together design their application, develop it all in-house and help them deploy it into a cloud environment with confidence and security.

We literally help start-ups bring their ideas to life.

YAP is an example of this, where we created a mobile banking application from scratch and is now being used by tens if not hundreds of thousands of users.

What’s your typical day like?

Every day I start the day with the aim to make it better than the previous one.
My day starts very early sometimes at 5 am in the morning to liaise with my team of international engineers.

After doing the school run, I’ll make my way into the Langley office where my day will involve speaking with all different types of companies, from start-ups to large major banking institutions, with a single aim for both; to help them digitally transform and create new, creative and innovative banking applications and products.

My evenings are spent with my family but I’m always readily available for each and every one of my clients, just in case they need anything.

Your advice to anyone starting out as an entrepreneur?

Simply, go for it!

Believe in yourself and create a (virtual) team around you of like-minded winners. Be ready for the tough time that lies ahead as well as the good time, and know that you never need to do it alone.

Abdul Wadood, CEO and Founder of digitify

You can connect with Abdul Wadood on LinkedIn