Arab Financial Services (AFS) has appointed Brankas , a Singapore-based fintech, to provide new Open Finance infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa. Brankas is a Southeast Asian-based provider of Open Finance technology with a well-established presence and banking network.

The 2016-founded Series B fintech collaborates with organisations including Bank OCBC NISP, BDO, and BCA, among others, and works with over 90 clients to offer embedded finance solutions that promote financial inclusion throughout the world. Through this new partnership with AFS, Brankas will encourage more inclusive financial services in nations like Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt by bringing its Open Finance practices there. The APIs that will be made available through the AFS platform are crucial in enabling tech platforms to provide fundamental financial services including credit scoring, payroll disbursement, account-to-account (A2A) payments, and new bank account openings.

Considering the collaborations with Visa, CRIF, and McKenzie in 2022, Brankas sees this as its breakthrough into new MENA countries as it works toward creating a global Open Finance network. Brankas’ recent developments Brankas's year was very eventful. Following the completion of its USD 20 million Series B investment round, it began to invest in the creation of 'Brankas Open', an open-source licence for the software used in Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Open Finance.

With the Series B round, Brankas planned to double its 100-person team, extend its network of more than 40 financial institutions and 100+ technology companies, and increase the number of BaaS APIs it offers to customers in six Asian markets. The 'Brankas Open' licence aims to promote fintech and digital banking innovation while lowering the financial hurdles for startups, neobanks, and even established organisations to develop and introduce new products while keeping control of their own source code. In order to enhance fraud detection tools for Open Finance offerings, Brankas teamed with AI digital identity services provider Element in January 2023.

Element can be crucial in the identity verification layer for Brankas' Open Finance Products like Brankas Direct or Statement. Open Finance in the MENA region To guarantee the industry's comprehensive adoption of Open Banking services, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) introduced the Bahrain Open Banking Framework (Bahrain OBF) in 2020. Detailed operational rules, security standards and guidelines, customer experience guidelines, technical open API specifications, and the overall governance structure required to protect client data are all included in the framework.

With the implementation of its Open Banking strategy, Saudi Arabia has also taken significant moves toward fintech regulation. In order to develop this strategy and align its financial services with innovation, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has absorbed lessons from other Open Banking countries, such as the UK. This was activated in the first half of 2022, with increased adoption and implementation occurring in the second half of the year and throughout 2023.

This is a part of a fundamental transformation in line with Vision 2030, which calls for the nation to become a regional and global fintech centre and transition to a knowledge-based economy. Brankas was part of the Open Banking Report 2022. To find out more about the company, check their profile in our company database.

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