RIYADH — Access to financial services does not, on its own, amount to full financial empowerment, the chief executive of the Financial Academy told a session at Money20/20 Middle East 2026, arguing that individuals need the knowledge and skills to weigh available options and the risks attached to them before they can make confident, well-informed decisions.
Manea bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan said the rapid transformation of Saudi Arabia's financial sector, the expansion of digital services and the growing use of artificial intelligence are together creating demand for advanced professional skills that go beyond conventional technical knowledge, with the emphasis shifting toward empowerment built on an informed understanding of choices and risks. He was speaking during a session titled "From Access to Empowerment: Financial Literacy as Infrastructure."
Al-Khamsan argued that measuring the impact of financial education should move past tests and completed training programs toward the actual change in financial behavior, including how people manage budgets, handle debt and save for the future, alongside the quality of the decisions they make. He stressed that a qualified financial professional plays a central role in translating complex financial information into clear, direct guidance that helps clients understand their options, and said continuous learning has become a necessity given the pace of change in markets, products and services.
He also called for unified standards for professional knowledge and skills inside financial institutions, noting that uneven levels of competence among professionals can directly affect the quality of service a client receives, while standardizing core content and benchmarks raises consistency in service and guidance. According to Al-Khamsan, the financial professional needs three main pillars: strong financial and technical knowledge, clear communication skills, and high professional and ethical standards. "The professional role is not about increasing sales as much as it is about helping the client make the decision that best fits their needs and financial position," he said.
On skills development, he explained that training delivers its impact when employees are given the chance to apply what they have learned in the workplace, pointing to the role managers play in enabling staff to practice, experiment and learn in ways that show up in actual performance. Looking ahead, he said the financial professional will need more than technical knowledge, including digital skills, communication abilities, an understanding of client needs and the capacity to use AI applications to support financial decisions.
Those messages come as the Kingdom's fintech sector expands at pace: the number of fintech companies rose from 82 in 2022 to 281 as of August 2025, while cumulative investments in the sector exceeded 8.9 billion riyals through July 2025, according to Saudi Central Bank data. The growth reflects widening demand for financial talent that combines specialized knowledge with digital and analytical skills and the ability to work with modern technologies, supporting the continued transformation of the Saudi financial sector and its readiness for the next phase.