The Gulf Co-operation Council region is powering the global growth in Islamic finance, as The Banker’s latest ranking show.

Bahrain is leading the Gulf states charge to boost digital financial services.

Western Union is just one major company to seize digital opportunities in the underbanked Middle East and Africa regions.

The merger of two Saudi giants heralds a second wave of bank consolidation in the region.

Now Money co-founder Ian Dillon outlines big plans for the remittance and banking app.

Leading banks expanded across the continent, while consolidation continued in overbanked countries.

The Middle East and north Africa has some of the lowest access to financial services in the world, but work is underway to change this.

The Top 100 African Banks ranking shows strong performance for South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. 

Despite optimal conditions for a digital shake-up of the banking sector, a genuine challenger has yet to emerge.