2022, a Breakout Year for Open Banking in Saudi Arabia

2022, a Breakout Year for Open Banking in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, open banking is taking off, driven by a conducive regulatory landscape, increased competition in the financial sector, and rising investors’ interest.

A new report by fintech research firm WhiteSight in partnership with homegrown fintech company Mod5r takes a closer look at open banking in Saudi Arabia, outlining the key factors driving the movement.

According to the report, 2022 will be a breakout year for open banking, building on a series of developments observed over the past year.

Open Banking in Saudi Arabia: The Dawn of Collaborative and Scalable Innovation

In 2021, the Saudi Arabian Central Bank (SAMA) launched a framework for open banking that sets out the regulator’s ambitions and a timeline for development, implementation and go-live of open banking in the country. The central bank is currently in the process of rolling out open banking.

Open banking regulations require banks to open up their customers’ data to regulated third parties when consent is granted. By using open application programming interfaces (APIs), these third parties can provide more tailored services, and financial processes can be streamlined. Open banking also lowers the barriers to entry for startups, thus resulting in increased competition and innovation.

In addition to the open banking framework, SAMA also launched