AED 2 Billion in Open Finance Payments Tracked in UAE
Titled The Dawn of Open Finance – Payments, the report serves as a reference for fintech companies, digital platforms, financial institutions and policymakers seeking to understand how regulatory frameworks and new technologies are coming together to reshape payment systems in the country.
The whitepaper outlines the foundational components of Open Finance in the UAE, with a particular focus on payments.
It explains how account-to-account payments are becoming a viable alternative to traditional card-based transactions, supported by regulatory infrastructure developed by the Central Bank of the UAE.
These payments are initiated and authorised through licensed third party providers using regulated APIs, enabling users to make real-time transfers directly from their bank accounts.
Key elements of the UAE's Open Finance model include AlTareq, a centralised user interface standard that ensures a consistent payment experience, and Aani, the country's national real-time payments rail.
Together, these initiatives enable faster, more secure, and more transparent transactions for both consumers and businesses.
The whitepaper also breaks down various payment types enabled through Open Finance, such as single instant payments, future-dated payments, fixed and variable recurring payments, and bulk or batch disbursements.
Each type is accompanied by a consent model that specifies transaction limits, authorisation timeframes, and access controls, providing users with full visibility and control.
A comparison with other payment methods highlights the practical benefits of Open Finance, including lower transaction fees for merchants, reduced fraud risks, and near-instant settlement through domestic rails.
In contrast to cards or manual bank transfers, Open Finance offers embedded experiences within apps or platforms, eliminating the need for manual data entry or external redirection.
The paper also outlines the governance framework behind Open Finance in the UAE, including the role of consent as a mandatory, standardised element across all services.
It provides a detailed view of how users authenticate, authorise, and manage their payment permissions, with features such as multi-factor authentication, real-time notifications, and revocation controls.
Lean, which is licensed as a third party provider in the UAE, developed the paper based on its operational experience supporting Open Finance across the region.
The company states that while systems like Aani provide the payment infrastructure, businesses often require additional layers of integration and support.
Lean's role, the paper notes, is to bridge that gap by offering developer-friendly APIs, unified bank connectivity, and real-time payment orchestration.
With integrations across more than 16 banks, covering 99 per cent of the UAE's banked population, Lean reports that its technology is currently in use by platforms such as Careem, e&, DAMAC and Lulu Money.
The company says the whitepaper reflects both the current state of Open Finance and the opportunities that lie ahead as adoption increases.
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