DIFC Selects Tarabut Gateway for MENA’s First Open Finance Lab Partner

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has chosen the open banking platform Tarabut Gateway as the preferred technical platform partner for its new Open Finance Lab, formally launching Tuesday (June 28), according to a press release.

The UAE’s Open Finance Lab initiative is a six-month program with four banks and a FinTech company participating — Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq Bank, National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, and Zand, which is in the final stages of obtaining its banking license from the Central Bank of UAE.

Tarabut Gateway is among the largest open banking platforms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and also has a presence in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

See also: Open Banking Firm Tarabut Gateway Partners With Four Saudi Banks

The Open Finance Lab is striving to unlock economic benefits, financial wellness and financial inclusion and to promote the development and growth of the UAE financial technology sector. The lab will be an education forum for banks, regulators and FinTechs and will serve as a live testing ground to spotlight the positive impacts open finance has had on businesses, customers and the wider economy.

Tarabut Gateway has played a leading role in forwarding the region’s open banking ecosystem and is the first regulated open banking platform licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

Read more: Is 2022 the Year Islamic FinTech Takes Off?

Tarabut Gateway CEO Abdulla Almoayed said it’s an honor to be selected by DIFC as its preferred platform partner.

“The UAE’s commitment to shaping the future of finance and establishing itself as a major global FinTech hub is reflected in the support we’ve received from regulators such as the DFSA. We are committed to contributing to the country’s vision and look forward to enabling a new world of financial services in collaboration with the various ecosystem players,” Almoayed said.

Related: State of Open Banking in Europe, Africa and the Middle East

Use cases will be developed from July to November, and the lab will conclude with a demonstration of the impact achieved in December.

Tarabut Gateway was founded in 2017 by Almoayed as MENA’s first and largest regulated open banking platform for account information service providers (AISP) and payment information service providers (PISP) that connects a regional network of banks and FinTechs via APIs.

Working closely with regulators, the company provides the connectivity for data to flow between banks and FinTechs and supports the creation of a thriving ecosystem and an improved consumer experience.