In the wake of Bahrain’s digital transformation, the country is pacing towards evolving into a digitized ecosystem, and this major decision was taken under the guidance of its far sighted government. This revolution instigated the transformation of the country’s economy that got introduced to the new era of an open banking system. In response to this, the Central Bank of Bahrain mandated this option for retail banks providing online services to their customers, which was then followed by providing an in-principle confirmation to Bahrain’s pioneering digital infrastructure provider Almoayed Technologies, who through its subsidiary Tarabut Gateway(the region’s only licensed open banking payment initiation and account information service provider) created opportunities for building synergies between financial institutions and Fintech systems, thus scaling a more competitive and efficient financial services sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Providing vivid insights on this, Abdulla Al Moayed, CEO, Tarabut Gateway (Almoayed Technologies), states, “Usually, regulation follows innovation, and in the case of Bahrain, it is quite the opposite. The system here is being led by regulation, making the entire country move forward, and the government upped the ante by welcoming the Amazon Web Services (that launched its cloud servers in Bahrain during the Bahrain Global Summit 2019) to create a regional data center and envelope data within the cloud system. So, we work with

We work with governments and banks on digitization journeys to lead bahrain into the vision its government intends to fulfil for the benefit of people

governments and banks on digitization journeys to lead Bahrain into the vision its government intends to fulfil for the benefit of people”. The company further facilitates the connecting of banks to a single universal open banking API, where it provides access to a global network of banks and service providers that allows money and information to flow freely, instantly and at a low cost. This infrastructure further enables banks to quickly develop a world leading open banking service experience for their customers. Furthermore, as part of the open banking system, the Bahrain government implemented the Bahrain Personal Data Protection laws that prompted the ownership of data (in this case financial) to the individual who owns it. The information is accessed using a unique identifier and consent given by the data’s owner. Bahrain then utilizes its Cloud-First policy, thus making it mandatory for every bank in the country to connect with cloud. Thus, Almoayed Technologies as an entity, had joined the regulatory sandbox approximately two years ago to build an infrastructure that connects all these banks in Bahrain on a single platform.

With every data stored within the cloud, Abdulla assures that the data has been taken care of as far as encryption, in adherence to the PDPL gap assessment with the highest security frameworks in the region called the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. Moreover, the individual is in full control and has the right to grant, revoke or erase their data. However, these applications are to a major extent developed by Tarabut Gateway within the jurisdiction of Bahrain within its cloud systems. Yet when it comes to educating the population on the insurgence of this new revolution in terms of finance and fintech, the responsibility is wholly vested in the hands of the banks who would go on to educate their customers on the same.

Thus, in the realm of striving to build Bahrain as a country of the future a smart city that is completely enabled, Almoayed Technologies is rigorously pacing on, aiming to influence and support open banking in the region and grow to become a dominant player extending into horizontal segments as well and facilitating in the digitization of the country overall.