‘Tarabut Gateway’ CEO: Open Banking Has Tripled in The Middle East

‘Tarabut Gateway’ CEO: Open Banking Has Tripled in The Middle East

Abdulla Al-Moayed, CEO and founder of the Dubai-based fintech company Tarabut Gateway, revealed that open banking has become a strategic option for growing digital transformation in regional countries as they move towards digital payments and cashless societies.

Banking through fintech in the Middle East has tripled at a time when the number of emerging companies operating in the promising sector is increasing, revealed Al-Moayed.

Al-Moayed pointed out that open banking’s importance emerged with current developments, especially that the number of smartphone users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has reached 80% of the population.

More than 90% of the population in Arab Gulf countries also are using smartphones.

Banking services provided to Tech-savvy youth in the region are still not enough, added Al-Moayed in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat.

There are ample opportunities to use banking products and services with a generation that uses mobile applications and digital transformation technologies to manage their financial affairs, he noted.

“Open banking uses a data exchange model in agreement with all stakeholders through an application programming interface (API) that is built on software blocks that enable communication and exchange of information between financial entities and third parties,” explained Al-Moayed.

“This increases the level of financial transparency