UAE Open Finance and AlTareq explained for businesses and founders
The Central Bank's open finance framework lets licensed providers access bank data and start payments with customer consent. How it works and why it matters.
Open finance lets customers share their financial data and start payments from their bank account through licensed third-party apps, with their consent. In the UAE it is run by the Central Bank under a national scheme called AlTareq.
What it enables
- Payment initiation: pay directly from a bank account inside an app
- Data sharing: with consent, apps can see balances and transactions
- Service initiation: lending, savings or wealth services started inside other platforms
Why businesses care
Pay-by-bank can cost less than card payments and settle faster. It also makes recurring payments and invoices easier to collect.
Why founders care
Open finance opens new product ideas: smarter bookkeeping for SMEs, instant lending decisions, budgeting apps and embedded payments in marketplaces. Providers need the right licence or must partner with a licensed one.
Start with the customer
The best open finance products solve one clear money problem for one type of customer. Validate that first, then choose your provider.
