Open Banking platform Lean Technologies has received a third-party provider financial license from Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The Saudi Arabia-based company has received a Financial Services Permission to carry out the regulated activity of providing third-party services, which makes it the first fully regulated Open Banking platform in both the UAE and KSA.

The company has received this permission following a testing period as part of ADGM’s RegLab, which is a fintech sandbox designed to support innovation within the UAE’s financial services market for both new market entrants and existing financial institutions. By creating a regulated, safe environment RegLab has been designed to allow fintech innovation to be tested without being subjected to the full suite of regulatory requirements that would otherwise apply to traditional financial services firms. With RegLab, Lean was able to test its Data and Payments APIs in a risk-appropriate and cost-effective manner.

Lean onboarded clients and showcased the importance of its services during the testing phase. Some of its customers include Etisalat, Hubpay, Lulu Money, Careem, as well as crypto and trading companies such as Binance, Sarwa, and BitOasis. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi launched a new framework for third-party technology service providers in 2021.

This framework would allow them to work in proximity with financial institutions on customer transactions while protecting the interests and data of those customers. The framework also encourages Open Finance in the region by giving customers and businesses control over their financial data. The Saudi Central Bank has issued an Open Banking Framework In November 2022, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced the issuance of the Open Banking Framework as one of the main goals of the Open Banking Programme.

The Saudi Open Banking Programme includes a set of legislation, regulatory guidelines, and technical standards based on international best practices to allow banks and fintechs to provide Open Banking services in the Kingdom. The first version of Open Banking services focused on the Account Information Service (AIS), and the second version will work on the Payment Initiation Service (PIS). SAMA is also tracking the development of banks and fintechs to ensure their readiness to launch Open Banking services within the first quarter of 2023.

The Open Banking Programme is one of the initiatives of the Fintech Strategy, one of the pillars of the Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDP) under Saudi Vision 2030. The Fintech Strategy was approved by the Council of Ministers in May 2022. .