By Zainab Mansoor
MENA’s open banking platform Tarabut Gateway has announced four new banking partnerships in Saudi Arabia.
As part of its expansion in the kingdom, Tarabut Gateway has been selected as a partner by Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank (SABB), Alinma Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF).
As #OpenBanking nears its launch in #KSA, we are thrilled to announce some key new banking partnerships across the Kingdom 🇸🇦 🚀
TG is proud to be selected by some of the leading banks as a partner: @RiyadBank,@SABBBank, @AlinmaBankSA ,& @Banque_Fransi https://t.co/7uASUAfZv8
— Tarabut Gateway (@TarabutGateway) May 31, 2022
Under the Saudi Vision 2030, the kingdom has prioritised financial sector transformation as part of the Financial Sector Development Program. Within this, the country has announced its ambition to go cashless, aiming for 70 per cent non-cash transactions by 2030, a statement said.
Chief executive officer of Tarabut Gateway, Abdulla Almoayed said: “We are delighted to have been selected to partner with many of Saudi Arabia’s leading banks. Saudi Arabia is on the cusp of open banking driving rapid innovation and transforming the kingdom’s financial services. The country’s vision is ambitious and achievable, and we look forward to being a core part of the open banking ecosystem.”
Using Tarabut Gateway’s platform-agnostic solutions, traditional financial institutions and fintechs can connect and build their own apps on top of the company’s platform, offering payment services, digital wallets, and other use cases.
Senior vice president/head of digital innovation and partnership section at Riyad Bank, Emad Kashgari added: “SAMA has been a key pillar in the financial sector’s development, and Saudi Arabia’s open banking evolution. At Riyad Bank, we aim to continue being at the forefront of innovation and providing customers with enhanced digital offerings and customer experience through Open Banking adoption.”
Chief strategy and digital officer at BSF, Michael Cunningham said: “With innovation and customer experience taking precedence in BSF’s business strategy and through our adoption of open banking technology and building an API-based testing sandbox, BSF can stimulate further innovation and collaboration within the fintech space in Saudi Arabia.”
Tarabut Gateway was granted a licence by Dubai Financial Services Authority last month to provide money services in and from Dubai International Financial Centre.
Tarabut Gateway went live with its API infrastructure in December 2019 and is already a technology partner for leading banks in Bahrain. In October 2020, Tarabut Gateway expanded its presence in MENA, establishing offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
