Bank Albilad becomes first Saudi bank to enable Open Banking Services

By Leandra Monteiro

Bank Albilad announced it has completed the technical permit requirements to enable open banking services according to the regulatory framework issued by the Saudi Central Bank with the aim of supporting the FinTech ecosystem in the Kingdom. This makes it the first bank in Saudi Arabia to obtain the technical permit and enable open banking services.

Abdul-Aziz Al-Onaizan, CEO of Bank Albilad said, “We took the initiative to enable the open banking services in order to support and enable the FinTech system and innovation in the financial sector, as it is one of the pillars of the financial sector development program emanating from the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. As we worked very hard since that time to contribute in achieving the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, we are pleased today to enable all segments of our customers to share their financial data securely with our partners from service providers and providers of new and innovative products, which improves the quality of the banking services and enables sharing financial data”.

Bank Albiad opened an Innovation Center (HORIZON) in June 2022, which is regarded as a step to encourage innovation, FinTech, and entrepreneurship towards creating a connected environment that ensures the incubation of ideas and digital leading projects. This qualified Bank Albilad to keep pace with the regulatory framework for open banking since it is issued by the Saudi Central Bank on November 2022 to include regulations, business rules, and technical standards that were developed according to the best global practices and to enable banks and FinTech companies to provide the open banking services in the Kingdom.