Bahrain’s flagship fintech forum closed with momentum that felt tangible on the ground. The FinTech Forward 2025 wrap confirmed 38 partnerships and strategic agreements across fintech, digital infrastructure, and financial services, with around 2,000 attendees at Exhibition World Bahrain on October 8–9. These figures mirror the official press release shared with media and partners, which also frames FF25 as the strongest edition yet on sponsors and participation.

One headline outcome was a live Google Cloud Universal Ledger payments pilot. In a collaboration facilitated by Bahrain FinTech Bay, the National Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Islamic Bank, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, and BENEFIT executed instant payments using digital commercial bank money between clients on Google Cloud. The pilot positions Bahrain as a practical testbed for next-generation financial infrastructure and cross-institution interoperability.

Cross-border interest also scaled up. The UK Department for Business and Trade delegation brought 70 delegates from 36 fintech companies, with several firms announcing launches in Bahrain during the week. That signal matters for founders and investors tracking enterprise pilots and early hiring. The numbers come from the event’s media release.

FF25’s speaker slate underscored the forum’s global pull. Title sessions highlighted Changpeng Zhao and Dhiraj Mukherjee, alongside more than 40 speakers covering embedded infrastructure, AI adoption, open banking, Islamic fintech, and payments, as documented in the official materials and the EDB wrap. For builders in Bahrain, that mix compresses learning cycles and shortens the path from idea to pilot.

The macro picture stayed consistent. Financial services remained Bahrain’s largest GDP contributor in 2024, accounting for 17.2% of the economy under a regulatory framework led by the Central Bank of Bahrain, according to the press release. For early-stage teams, that context explains why partnerships signed at FF25 can move quickly from MoUs to pilots.

The GCUL pilot shows banks and infrastructure players are willing to run real experiments in-market, creating room for startups building compliance-ready modules and services. Second, the incoming UK cohort, flagged ahead of the event by Fintech Forward and echoed in coverage by GDN Online, widens the pool of potential partners for distribution, co-selling, and integrations across GCC use cases like treasury automation, SME finance, and cross-border rails. Finally, the EDB wrap documents 38 agreements, a reminder that deal velocity is attainable when the right stakeholders share a room.

Next step for Bahrain teams: review the FinTech Forward wrap for partner names and themes, then approach the banks and enablers behind the Google Cloud pilot to scope proofs-of-concept that plug into existing rails over Q4. If you’re exploring UK ties, map your product to the DBT cohort’s segments using the Fintech Forward notice and request intros this month.