MANAMA: Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) has announced going live with advanced open banking infrastructure, which will allow it to partner with innovative fintech firms from around the world to deliver a wide array of services.

The preparation for open banking comes in support of the long-term vision of the Central Bank of Bahrain, as well as KFH-Bahrain’s strategy and commitment to further drive and support innovation in the fintech industry, by investing in systems that further enhance customer experience with more efficiency and transparency.

The kingdom is one of the earliest global adopters of mandatory open banking, putting it at the vanguard of customer-driven change in financial services.

It is this kind of pioneering and flexible innovation that has earned Bahrain a reputation as the region’s leading testbed for next-generation technologies.

KFH-Bahrain executive manager and head of retail banking group Khalid Rafea said: “Open banking will allow our customers to enjoy a wide range of innovative digital solutions and services, including enabling a consolidated view of all their bank accounts through a single platform, which will allow for greater collaboration and integration amongst banks, financial institutions and payment service providers in the kingdom.”

“Open banking will create more opportunities for commercial collaborations and strategic partnerships. This development is a valuable addition to the existing range of exceptional services and solutions that are offered to our customers today which we aim to continue to develop to remain at the forefront of this transformation,” he added.

Mohammed Fahmi Hamad, executive manager and head of information technology, said: “Open banking, in combination with the recently announced Personal Data Protection Laws in Bahrain will allow bank account holders to consent to sharing details of their accounts and payments history, to licensed third-party providers in order to leverage new technologies like data analytics and artificial intelligence to make more aware financial decisions. In addition to that, customers will soon be able to link their accounts to independent licensed applications offering a large range of services and solutions.”

KFH-B is one of the first banks to integrate a fintech through the launch of its KFH Jazeel banking platform in partnership with Tarabut Gateway, a subsidiary of Almoayed Technologies.

Abdulla Almoayed, chief executive of Almoayed Technologies, said: “The open banking regulation introduced by the Central Bank of Bahrain will with no doubt position Bahrain as the most advanced financial services sector in the region and we are honoured to partner with KFH to support this initiative deliver best in class services to the people of Bahrain.”

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