# About Name: Spare's blog Description: The future of finance is open URL: https://tryspare.com/blog # Navigation Menu # Blog Posts ## Real estate verification: how proptech platforms confirm ownership before a transaction Published: 2026-10-12 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/real-estate-verification-how-proptech-platforms-confirm-ownership-before-a-transaction/ ![Real estate verification](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/blog-cover-image-real-estate-verification-1791803223112-compressed.png) As proptech platforms across the GCC take on more of the property transaction, from listings to financing, they're also taking on a risk that's always existed in real estate: confirming that the person or company on the other side of a deal actually owns what they're selling. It's a risk that's already playing out at scale elsewhere. Property title fraud in the UK rose 78% in the year to 2024, according to analysis by Open Property Group, with £27 million worth of property illegally transferred using forged documents and identity theft. In the US, a 2025 survey by the American Land Title Association found that 59% of title insurance firms had encountered someone attempting to sell property they didn't own, more than double the rate from the year before. The pattern behind most of these cases is the same: a seller, a signatory, or a company presents itself as the rightful owner, and the transaction moves forward on documents that look legitimate but were never properly checked. By the time the fraud surfaces, the money has usually already moved, and reversing it can take months and significant legal cost. For proptech platforms handling property listings, transactions, or financing, this isn't a rare edge case. It's a structural risk built into how real estate has always changed hands, on paperwork and trust rather than verified records. ## What real estate verification actually confirms Real estate verification checks ownership against official records before a transaction proceeds, not after a dispute arises. That means confirming the seller or landlord genuinely holds title to the property, that the property itself is correctly registered, and that anyone acting on behalf of an owner, such as a company or an authorised signatory, actually has the standing to do so. This shifts the burden of proof. Instead of a platform relying on documents a seller chooses to provide, ownership gets confirmed directly against the records that actually determine who owns what. ## Where this matters most Proptech platforms facilitating sales or rentals, real estate financing and mortgage products, and any marketplace where a listing needs to be trusted before a buyer commits, all carry this exposure. The more transactions a platform processes, the more a single unverified listing can cost, not just financially, but in the trust the platform depends on. ## Why this is a build-vs-verify problem, not a paperwork problem Manual document checks catch some fraud, but they're slow, inconsistent, and easy to defeat with a convincing forgery. Verifying directly against official ownership and registration records removes that reliance on the document itself and checks the underlying fact instead: does this person or company actually own this property. As proptech in the GCC matures, this kind of verification is likely to move from a differentiator to a baseline expectation, the same shift Open Banking data went through in lending. Platforms that build it in now avoid finding out the hard way what an unverified listing can cost. Powering verification across Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - [tryspare.com](https://www.tryspare.com) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## From bank statements to real-time affordability: what changes for lenders Published: 2026-10-01 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/from-bank-statements-to-real-time-affordability-what-changes-for-lenders/ ![From bank statements to real-time affordability](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-blog-from-bank-statements-to-real-time-affordability-what-changes-for-lenders-1790856630292-compressed.png) For most lenders, affordability assessment still starts with a document. A borrower uploads a bank statement, or a bureau report comes back with a score, and someone works through it manually to decide what a borrower can actually afford. This process is slow, and it's also incomplete. A bank statement is a snapshot. It tells you what happened, not what's happening now, and it says nothing about income that arrived yesterday or a commitment that started this week. Open Banking data changes what's possible here, and the European market, further ahead on adoption, already shows the scale of the shift. ## What the numbers show The clearest gains are in speed. UK lender LendInvest cut its time-to-decision by 50% after adopting Open Banking data, reducing the underwriting review of an applicant's financial history to five minutes. Elsewhere, research from Yolt Technology Services found Open Banking could cut loan processing time by more than 85%, turning a 16-day application-to-payment process into one measured in minutes. Equifax has made a similar point about mortgage applications specifically: Open Banking can bring the time needed to source and process a bank statement down from weeks to minutes. The gains aren't limited to speed. Credit broker TotallyMoney saw a 22% increase in approval rates when lenders used enriched transaction data instead of credit reference agency data alone, meaning more borrowers approved without lenders taking on more risk. On the risk side, lender Moneyboat reported a 20% reduction in missed payments after incorporating Open Banking data into its affordability assessments, catching patterns like loan stacking or heavy BNPL use before they turn into defaults. ## What a static document misses A PDF statement can be months old by the time it's reviewed. It can be edited. It shows a period, not a pattern, and it says nothing about a borrower's financial behaviour today, only what it looked like on the day it was generated. Manual review compounds the problem too: every statement is read differently by whoever reviews it, and at volume, that inconsistency becomes a risk in itself. ## What real-time data adds With direct, consented access to a customer's bank account, a lender sees income as it arrives, not as it's reported. Recurring commitments, existing debt, spending patterns, and account behaviour are all visible in real time, refreshed continuously rather than captured once. That means affordability assessment reflects a borrower's actual financial position now, not a snapshot from weeks ago. ## Where this is heading Europe's numbers point to what's coming as Open Banking infrastructure matures across the GCC. Faster decisions, higher approval accuracy, fewer missed payments, not as a marginal improvement, but as the standard lenders will be expected to work with. The businesses that build affordability assessment around real-time data now will be the ones making faster, better-informed decisions before the shift becomes the norm. _Powering financial data across the region -_ [_tryspare.com_](https://tryspare.com/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## What Europe's decade of Open Banking tells us about the GCC's next five years Published: 2026-09-02 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/what-europes-decade-of-open-banking-tells-us-about-the-gccs-next-five-years/ ![What Europe's decade of Open Banking tells us about the GCC's next five years](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-what-europes-decade-of-open-banking-tells-us-about-the-gccs-next-five-years-1788327400484-compressed.png) Open Banking in the UK didn't launch as a finished product. It launched as a regulatory mandate, in 2018, with a small base of early adopters and a long road ahead. Looking at where that market stands now gives the GCC a genuinely useful preview of what a mature Open Banking ecosystem actually looks like, and how long it realistically takes to get there. ## Adoption doesn't happen overnight, but it compounds In March 2021, roughly 1 in 17 UK consumers and small businesses were using open banking. By March 2025, that had grown to 1 in 5, with active users reaching 13.3 million, a 40% increase on the previous year. By July 2025, the user count had climbed further, to over 15 million people and businesses, nearly one in three UK adults. By December 2025, user connections reached [16.5 million, a 36% increase](https://thepaymentsassociation.org/article/the-state-of-open-banking-payments-in-the-uk-in-2026/) over the previous year. That trajectory is the real lesson here. Adoption in the UK didn't spike, it compounded steadily over years, with growth accelerating rather than plateauing as the infrastructure matured and use cases multiplied. Regulators moved early, but consumer and business behaviour took years to catch up, and once it did, the growth curve got steeper, not flatter. ## Payments, not just data access, became the growth engine Early Open Banking activity in the UK leaned heavily on data access rather than payments. That balance has shifted. Payment information service calls grew 53% in 2025, more than double the growth rate of data access calls, and total open banking payments reached 351 million transactions across the year, a 57% increase year-on-year. Recurring payment mechanisms grew even faster: sweeping variable recurring payment volumes nearly doubled, up 98% year-on-year. This is the shift worth paying attention to. Once the infrastructure existed and businesses had confidence in it, payments overtook data access as the primary driver of growth, because payments are where the commercial value is most direct. The GCC is still earlier in this curve, with much of the current activity centred on data access and early payment use cases. The UK's experience suggests payment initiation, not data alone, is where the larger commercial opportunity eventually concentrates. ## Infrastructure reliability is what unlocks scale None of this growth happened on infrastructure that was still finding its feet. By 2025, the UK's Open Banking system maintained weighted availability above 99.5% across the year, with average API response times improving to 324 milliseconds. That level of reliability is what allowed household names, from HMRC to Just Eat, Tesco, and Ryanair, to build real payment journeys on top of it with confidence. That's a useful benchmark for the GCC. Infrastructure reliability isn't a nice-to-have that comes later, it's the precondition for the kind of merchant and enterprise adoption that actually moves usage numbers. Businesses won't build core payment flows on rails they don't trust to perform consistently. ## What this suggests for the GCC's next five years The UK took roughly seven years to go from regulatory mandate to nearly one in three adults using Open Banking regularly. The GCC's frameworks are younger, but the region isn't starting from zero the way the UK was in 2018. Licensed providers already exist, banks are already live, and the payments use cases the UK spent years discovering through trial and error, recurring payments, instant checkout, embedded credit, are already understood from the outset. That's the advantage of moving second. The GCC doesn't need a decade to reach the adoption curve the UK is on now, because the destination is already visible. What it does need is the same discipline around infrastructure reliability, and the same patience to let adoption compound rather than expecting it to arrive in a single product launch. The UK's decade proves Open Banking adoption is a long game that rewards infrastructure built to last. The GCC's next five years will likely move faster, but the underlying principle won't change. ## Why the window matters now There's a real advantage to being early in this next phase, not just for regulators and banks, but for the businesses building on top of the infrastructure. In the UK, the earliest movers, the fintechs and merchants who integrated Open Banking before it was mainstream, were the ones who shaped the use cases everyone else eventually adopted, and they captured the customer relationships and commercial learnings that came with being first. Businesses in the GCC that build on this infrastructure now are in a similar position. The rails are live, the frameworks exist, and the use cases are already proven elsewhere. Waiting for the market to mature removes the one advantage early movers actually get: getting there before it's the obvious thing to do. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare Partners with Tabadulat to Enable Pay By Bank Funding for Investment Accounts Published: 2026-08-12 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-partners-with-tabadulat-to-enable-pay-by-bank-funding-for-investment-accounts/ ![Tabadulat x Spare ](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/screenshot-2026-08-11-at-5-1786456043352-compressed.png) **UAE – Aug 12, 2026** —Spare, a leading Open Finance infrastructure provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Tabadulat, a UAE-based online brokerage offering Shariah-compliant investment products, to integrate its Pay-by-Bank solution into the brokerage's investment platform. The partnership marks another step in extending Open Finance beyond traditional payment use cases and into trading and investment accounts, enabling investment platforms to offer faster, more efficient funding experiences through regulated account-to-account payments. Through the integration, investors can move money between their bank and investment accounts using regulated Open Finance payment rails, replacing traditional card-based funding. The solution simplifies how investors move money instantly into and out of their brokerage accounts while reducing payment costs for Tabadulat and its customers. Pay by Bank enables near real-time deposits and withdrawals, giving investors faster access to capital and allowing them to respond more quickly to time-sensitive market opportunities. Spare's infrastructure strengthens compliance for digital investment platforms by verifying that deposit and withdrawal bank accounts match a customer's verified identity. This reduces fraud risk while supporting regulatory requirements around verified sources of funds. The infrastructure also enables regulated financial institutions and fintech platforms to securely initiate account-to-account (A2A) payments through a single API integration, eliminating the complexity of managing multiple banking integrations. **Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare**, said: "We're seeing Open Finance move beyond traditional payment use cases into wealth, trading, and digital asset platforms. Pay by bank can improve the funding experience where speed and verified source of funds matter. Our partnership with Tabadulat marks an important milestone in bringing Open Finance to the investment journey." **Samy Mohamad, Co-founder of Tabadulat,** said: **“** At Tabadulat, we want the journey from deciding to invest to putting your money to work to be as simple and efficient as possible. Integrating Spare’s Pay by Bank infrastructure will help our investors move funds directly between their bank and investment accounts with greater speed and ease, while strengthening the safeguards behind every transaction. **”** The partnership comes as account-to-account payments continue to gain momentum in the UAE. According to Mastercard's New Payments Index, 83% of UAE consumers using account-to-account payments have maintained or increased their usage over the past year, reflecting growing demand for faster, more seamless alternatives to traditional payment methods. **About Spare** Spare is a leading Open Finance infrastructure company that enables businesses to access financial data and payment services through a single secure API. Operating across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Kuwait, Spare is building the financial connectivity layer powering the next generation of digital financial products across MENA. [https://tryspare.com/](https://tryspare.com/) Media contact: [pr@tryspare.com](http://pr@tryspare.com) **About Tabadulat** Tabadulat is a UAE-based online brokerage regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), providing Shariah-compliant investment and savings solutions across the GCC. As an official AAOIFI member, Tabadulat offers access to Shariah-compliant U.S. stocks with 0% commission, Halal ETFs, and Commodity Murabaha savings with expected annual profits of up to 6%. The platform also provides a free Halal Stock Screener, enabling investors to check the Shariah compliance of stocks before investing. Founded in 2024 by Samy Mohamad, formerly of Morgan Stanley; Ali Abdulkadir Ali, formerly of Wahed Invest; and Ahmed Said, formerly of Nomo Bank, Tabadulat brings together expertise across global markets, Islamic finance, and digital investing. Website: [https://tabadulat.com/](https://tabadulat.com/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Speed without shortcuts: a blueprint for moving fast in regulated tech Published: 2026-08-05 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/speed-without-shortcuts-a-blueprint-for-moving-fast-in-regulated-tech/ **_By Saurabh Shah, Co-founder, Spare_** ![Speed without shortcuts ](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/saurabh-shah-blog-speed-without-shortcuts-1785916675810-compressed.png) In my last piece, I wrote about compliance by design and the technical choices that make an Open Banking platform compliant at its core. That was about what we built. This piece is about something harder to talk about honestly: how we operate every single day. Here is the truth most founders avoid saying out loud. The fastest way to ship software is to give everyone access and let them run. No approvals, no gates, no waiting. We deliberately chose not to work that way. I want to be honest about what that choice costs us, why we still make it as an Open Banking provider, and why even startups outside of finance should consider taking the exact same trade-off. ## The reality of the calculation When you build Open Banking infrastructure across the GCC to handle bank connections, financial telemetry, and live payment initiation, the cost of a mistake goes far beyond a simple rolled-back deployment. A single mistake can mean severe financial penalties, a revoked licence, or an enterprise client taking on your security failure as their own. When those are the stakes, moving fast and breaking things stops being a startup philosophy and becomes genuine negligence. So we made a deliberate trade. We slow down in the specific areas where speed would expose us, and we move fast everywhere else. The goal was never to remove friction entirely. It was about placing friction in the right spots so that company-ending mistakes cannot happen, while the rest of our work keeps moving. That trade runs through four distinct layers. ## The four-pillar operating framework ### **1\. Identify the risks, set the targets, then write the policy** Policy is not just a document you produce for the sake of compliance. Done right, it is the set of guardrails that keeps your business safe. So do not copy someone else's for the sake of it. Identify what actually matters to you, set your targets, and only then write the policy. Use a template if you like, but the targets have to be your own and they have to make sense for your business. Ours are set in-house against our own systems, stress-tested by our cyber and GRC teams, and proven in external audits. The output is not a shelf of documents; it is a set of thresholds an engineer can check their work against. Because we operate across the region, we carry three regulatory regimes at once: CBB in Bahrain, SAMA in Saudi Arabia, and the Central Bank of the UAE. Rather than force our engineers to reason about three separate rulebooks, we take the strictest version of every requirement across all three and set that as our single internal baseline. Clear the internal threshold and you clear every jurisdiction at once, automatically. ### **2\. Turn compliance into muscle memory** A policy that lives in a Notion doc nobody reads is worthless. We build compliance directly into how our engineers write code every day. Every developer who joins Spare spends time learning our pipeline before they touch production. This is a real front-loaded cost. It takes a new engineer nearly a month to fully master our CI/CD controls, security testing gates, and codebase. We start them small on bug fixes, scaling them up as the pipeline becomes second nature. The payoff is that compliance stops being a checklist people resent and becomes instinct. A developer here approaches compliance the same way they approach writing a unit test. When compliance lives inside developer tooling, like automated pre-commit hooks and PR templates, the friction moves off the delivery clock and onto the learning curve. That is not the same as free. We pay it once per engineer, and we pay it again every time we hire. ### **3\. Replace human promises with machine guardrails** This is the layer engineers feel the most, and it is where traditional compliance breaks down. Traditional compliance relies heavily on human vigilance through checklists, peer sign-offs, and promises that developers will follow policy. But humans get tired, miss details, and cut corners under deadline pressure. And human-scale controls do not survive company-scale growth. In 2024, the FCA fined Starling Bank £29 million after its anti-money-laundering and sanctions screening controls failed to keep pace as it grew from 43,000 customers to 3.6 million in a few years. Starling accepted the finding publicly. The lesson is uncomfortable but clear: manual vigilance breaks exactly when you scale fastest. So we replaced human trust with machine-enforced technical controls: - **Policy as Code:** Rules live inside automated pipeline checks instead of static documents. If a change violates data localization rules, exposes sensitive API telemetry, or fails dependency scans, the pipeline fails instantly. The developer does not get asked to fix it later; the machine simply refuses to build it. - **Zero Standing Access:** We apply the same machine enforcement to system access. No engineer holds permanent access to production. When someone needs it, an automated portal issues short-lived credentials that expire on their own. Standing access never actually reaches zero. Service accounts, break-glass identities and admin roles are standing by design, and pretending otherwise is how you fail an audit you thought you had passed. What we do instead is keep the list of standing identities short, put a named owner against every one of them, and re-prove each entitlement on a quarterly cycle. - **Break-Glass Auditing:** In an emergency, a small group of designated engineering leaders can trigger a break-glass override to fix production immediately. Even then, the machine takes over. Every command executed during a break-glass session is automatically recorded, tagged, and routed for mandatory post-incident review. ### **4\. Treat compliance as code** If the first three layers stood alone, we would drown in our own paperwork. Automation is our release valve. We treat compliance as code across the board. Workflows, sign-offs, and infrastructure deployments route automatically. System assets continuously log telemetry into our security tools to catch unusual behavior in real time. When an auditor or enterprise client asks who approved a specific API change six months ago, we do not spend weeks reconstructing history. We pull an immutable, automated audit trail in less than fifteen minutes. ## The part I won't dress up None of this is seamless, and I would be lying if I claimed otherwise. The place it bites hardest is in documentation and cross-team review. A GRC or cybersecurity reviewer might not immediately grasp why an engineering team chose a specific database design or API architecture. That gap creates real friction. Our solution is unglamorous, but it works: we ban long written argument threads. The moment a security review hits a second round of back-and-forth comments, the teams jump on a quick 10-minute call to talk it through live. The effortless, frictionless compliance process touted in corporate marketing blogs does not exist. There is a real operational cost here, and we simply believe it is the right cost to pay. ## Why non-regulated startups should steal this blueprint It is easy to look at this and assume it only applies to fintechs handling bank APIs. I used to think that way too, but that view feels outdated now. Even if you do not answer to a central bank, adopting a lightweight version of these guardrails gives you three massive advantages: 1. **Enterprise sales move faster.** The moment you try to sell upmarket, enterprise procurement will put your application through a grueling InfoSec review. Spending six months retrofitting access controls and drafting emergency policies will kill your deal in procurement. Proactive guardrails turn InfoSec into a sales accelerator instead of a bottleneck. 2. **You control your blast radius.** A regulatory fine is not the only thing that can kill a company. A fat-fingered database drop, an exposed public object storage bucket, or a leaked API key can wipe out customer trust overnight. Guardrails protect you from self-inflicted wounds. 3. **Data privacy applies to everyone.** Regional regulations like the UAE Data Protection Law and KSA PDPL mean that almost every software startup handles regulated data today. The line between regulated and unregulated tech has largely disappeared. ## The lightweight version None of those advantages require a central bank. And none of them require you to build what we built. The four pillars have a minimum viable form, and it is the same four pillars at a starter maturity. Here is what I would build if I were starting today with no auditor and no budget line, inside one quarter. **Targets, lightweight.** Classify your data before you set a single target. Four tiers is plenty. Every store, every bucket, every table gets exactly one. Access rules, retention, encryption and vendor reviews all depend on this one decision, which means doing it later is not one task, it is redoing everything you built on top of the wrong answer. Alongside it, keep one register of every number you have promised: uptime, fix windows, retention periods, breach notification timelines. You have promised more of them than you think, scattered across contracts, policies and a security page on your website that nobody has reread since the day it went up. **Process, lightweight.** Prioritise fixes by exploitability, not by severity label. Most of a critical list is not actually reachable in your environment. Fix what is being exploited in the wild and what is exposed to the internet on a system you cannot afford to lose. Separately, define your non-negotiables: two or three conditions that override all negotiation, and let everything else be argued on risk. Then, once a quarter, export who has access to what, system by system, and count the accounts nobody can explain. Not the ones you decide to remove. The ones for which no person in the room can name an owner. That number is your real access posture, and the first time you produce it, it will be higher than you expect. **Technology, lightweight.** Make evidence a by-product, not a project. If proving something happened requires someone to go and assemble it afterwards, the control is not real yet. Approvals inside the tool, tickets linked to changes, logs retained by default. The test is whether you can answer "who approved this, and when" without asking a single colleague. You will notice there is no lightweight version of the people pillar. That is deliberate. Muscle memory is the one thing you cannot buy or automate your way into early. It is built by doing the other three consistently until they stop feeling like overhead. Start the other three now, and the habit forms on its own. ## The real payoff For Spare, this discipline pays for itself where it matters most. Today we hold a SOC 2 Type II report, our information security management system is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and we operate against the SAMA Cybersecurity Framework and the UAE Information Assurance Standard. When a financial institution runs a security audit on us, the evidence is already waiting for them. Because we invested heavily in this operational foundation early, expanding our Open Banking platform into new regional markets becomes a repeatable process. We don't have to pause innovation to retrofit our security architecture every time we scale. And the discipline does not stop at our own edge. Every merchant and financial institution that integrates with Spare inherits it along with the integration itself. The governance we've built is what lets them move fast too, without taking on the risk themselves. We are not the fastest team at writing unverified code. We are the fastest team at shipping code that survives serious external scrutiny. Build the guardrails first, and then go as fast as you can. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance framework: what it means in practice Published: 2026-07-29 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/central-bank-of-the-uaes-open-finance-framework-what-it-means-in-practice/ ![Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance framework](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-blog-central-bank-of-uaes-framework-1785317987379-compressed.png) The Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance framework has been live for some time now, but the gap between what it enables in regulation and what businesses understand it to mean in practice remains wide. That gap is worth closing, because the commercial implications for businesses operating in the UAE are significant, and the market is moving faster than many realise. The UAE's Open Banking market is projected to grow from USD 3.16 billion in 2024 to USD 5.71 billion by 2029, driven by a consumer base where 89% already use digital accounts. The infrastructure to serve that market is not on its way. It is already here. ## What the framework actually is The Central Bank of the UAE issued its Open Finance Regulation in 2024, requiring licensed banks and financial institutions to participate. The framework establishes the regulatory infrastructure for secure, consent-driven access to financial data and payment initiation in the UAE, defining who can participate, under what conditions, and to what standard. At its core, the framework enables two things. First, licensed Third-Party Providers can access financial data, also referred to as account information, on behalf of customers who have given explicit consent. Second, those same providers can initiate payments directly from a customer's bank account, also referred to as Pay by Bank or Payment Initiation Services. Both capabilities operate under the AlTareq scheme, which is the UAE's national Open Finance infrastructure. AlTareq connects banks, licensed TPPs, merchants, and customers within a single regulated framework, setting the standards for how data is shared, how payments are initiated, and how customer consent is captured and managed. Notably, the UAE is the first country globally to implement a consolidated trust framework and a centralised API hub for Open Finance, a structural advantage that reduces fragmentation and accelerates adoption. The first version of the AlTareq standard was published in August 2024, with an updated version released in December 2024, reflecting the pace at which the framework is maturing. ## Who participates and how Merchants and businesses do not connect to AlTareq directly. The framework works through licensed Third-Party Providers, which are entities that have received authorisation from the Central Bank of the UAE to operate under the framework. Licensed TPPs carry the regulatory relationship, maintain compliance with the framework's requirements, and provide the connectivity layer through which merchants can access Open Finance capabilities. Several UAE banks are live under the framework, including Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, with connectivity expanding as more institutions complete their integration. For merchants, this means that the bank coverage available through a licensed TPP is growing, and with it the proportion of customers who can be reached through Open Finance payment and data flows. ## What is live today Under the framework, businesses in the UAE can access a meaningful and growing set of capabilities. Payment initiation allows merchants to accept account-to-account payments directly from a customer's bank account, in real time, without card schemes or intermediaries. Financial data access allows businesses to retrieve verified account information, income data, and transaction history with customer consent, enabling use cases across lending, onboarding, and risk assessment. International payment initiation is also now live, following the execution of the first international Open Finance payment in the GCC through AlTareq. This extends the framework's payment capabilities beyond domestic transactions, opening up cross-border payment flows for remittance businesses, merchants collecting internationally, and platforms managing recurring cross-border payments. The Central Bank of the UAE has also joined Project Aperta, an initiative launched in October 2024 by the Bank for International Settlements, aimed at connecting domestic Open Finance infrastructures across multiple jurisdictions, signalling clear long-term ambition for cross-border interoperability. ## What it means commercially For businesses operating in the UAE, the framework creates a regulated, reliable foundation for payment and data capabilities that were previously either unavailable or required bespoke bilateral arrangements with individual banks. The commercial implications are direct. Merchants can accept payments at lower cost than card rails, with real-time settlement and no chargeback exposure. Lenders can access verified financial data at the point of credit decision, improving the accuracy and speed of underwriting. Businesses onboarding new customers can verify accounts instantly, reducing drop-off and manual processing overhead. These are not future capabilities. They are available today, through licensed providers operating under the framework, to any business ready to integrate them. ## What to look for in a licensed provider Not all licensed TPPs are the same. The quality of bank connectivity, the breadth of market coverage, and the depth of the product layer built on top of the framework vary significantly. For businesses evaluating providers, the questions worth asking are: which banks are live, which markets are covered beyond the UAE, and how much of the underlying complexity is absorbed by the provider versus passed on to the merchant. The framework creates the foundation. The provider determines what you can actually build on it. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Real-time financial data: from insight to action Published: 2026-07-22 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/real-time-financial-data-from-insight-to-action/ ![Real-time financial data: from insight to action](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-real-time-financial-data-02-1784706472114-compressed.png) For most of the history of financial services, data has been the thing you looked at after the transaction had already happened. Statements arrived monthly. Bureau reports were only updated once a month, so by the time they were used, they reflected a financial position that was already weeks old. Risk assessments were built on snapshots that were out of date before they were even applied. Real-time financial data changes that relationship entirely. And the businesses that understand it not just as a reporting tool but as an action layer are finding that it changes what is possible across almost every part of their operation. ## What real-time data actually means Real-time financial data, accessed through Open Banking infrastructure, is live bank data pulled directly from a customer's or business's accounts with their consent. It covers income and revenue flows, cash flow patterns, account balances, spending behaviour, debt obligations, and repayment history, aggregated and available at the point of decision rather than days or weeks later. The distinction matters because financial behaviour is dynamic. A customer's affordability today may look meaningfully different from their affordability six months ago. A business's cash flow position this week may not reflect the picture their last filed accounts present. Static data captures a moment. Real-time data captures reality. ## What it means for lenders For lending businesses, real-time financial data transforms the quality of decisions at every stage of the credit lifecycle. At origination, verified income ranges, cash flow volatility scores, and debt coverage ratios give underwriters a far richer picture than bureau data alone. Affordability assessments become more accurate, approvals more confident, and declines more defensible. Beyond origination, real-time data enables ongoing portfolio monitoring. Early stress signals, changes in income stability, increases in overdraft frequency, shifts in cash flow patterns , these are visible before they become defaults, which means lenders can act before the situation deteriorates rather than after. The difference between reactive and proactive risk management is largely a data timing problem, and real-time access solves it. ## What it means for merchants and businesses For businesses outside lending, real-time financial data creates visibility that changes operational and commercial decisions. Reconciliation becomes faster and more accurate when transaction data is available in real time rather than at the end of the day. Cash flow forecasting improves when actual account movements are the input rather than estimates. Customer onboarding accelerates when account verification is instant rather than document-dependent. For businesses managing recurring payment relationships, real-time balance visibility reduces failed collections by enabling smarter timing of payment attempts. For B2B businesses managing supplier relationships, real-time account data provides the visibility needed to make payment scheduling decisions with confidence rather than assumption. ## From insight to action The shift that real-time data enables is not just analytical. It is operational. When data arrives at the point of decision, it can change the decision itself, not inform a report about it later. A lender that sees a deteriorating cash flow pattern can trigger an early intervention rather than waiting for a missed payment. A merchant that knows a customer's account balance before attempting a collection can reduce failure rates and the operational cost that follows them. A business that has live visibility over its receivables can make deployment decisions based on what is actually in its accounts rather than what it expects to be there. This is what it means to move from insight to action. The data is the same. The timing is everything. ## The infrastructure that makes it possible None of this is possible without the right infrastructure underneath it. Real-time financial data at this level of granularity requires direct bank connectivity, consent-based access built to regulatory standards, and a data layer that normalises and enriches raw bank data into actionable signals. Across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, Open Banking frameworks have created a regulated environment in which this infrastructure can operate. Licensed providers with direct bank connectivity are making real-time financial data accessible to businesses that previously had no route to it. The insight has always been there, sitting in bank accounts across the region. What has changed is the ability to access it, act on it, and build it into the decisions that matter. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## "سبير" تعلن عن شراكة استراتيجية مع Xsquare لتمكين مدفوعات الشركات عبر حلول التمويل المفتوح Published: 2026-07-10 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/sbyr-taln-an-shrakh-astratyjyh-ma-xsquare-ltmkyn-mdfwaat-alshrkat-abr-hlwl-altmwyl-almftwh/ ![Spare and Xsquare Partnership](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/1-1783669613111-compressed.png) **الإمارات العربية المتحدة – 13 يوليو، 2026**— أعلنت شركة "سبير"، المزود الرائد لخدمات البنية التحتية لقطاع التمويل  المفتوح، اليوم عن إبرام شراكة استراتيجية مع Xsquare، المتخصصة في حلول الدفع للشركات ومقرها دولة الإمارات، بهدف تمكين الشركات من تحسين استراتيجيات الدفع بالاعتماد على إطار التمويل المفتوح الصادر عن مصرف الإمارات العربية المتحدة المركزي. تتيح هذه الشراكة دمج خدمة الدفع عبر الحساب البنكي المباشر (Pay by Bank) ضمن عمليات الدفع الخاصة بالشركات. وتواجه الشركات اليوم تكاليف تتراوح بين 2% و3% على كل عملية دفع بالبطاقة، إلى جانب تأخر في تسوية المدفوعات، مما يؤثر سلباً على التدفقات النقدية والتخطيط التشغيلي. ومن خلال البنية التحتية للتمويل المفتوح التي توفرها "سبير"، سيتمكن عملاء Xsquare من الاستفادة من ميزة الدفع المباشر لتسهيل عملياتهم التجارية الأساسية بما في ذلك  المدفوعات الصادرة والواردة والمدفوعات العابرة للحدود، مما يضمن  خفض تكاليف المعاملات وإتمام التسويات بشكل فوري تقريباً. وتوفر "سبير" من خلال واجهة برمجة تطبيقات (API) موحّدة وآمنة، نقطة ربط واحدة للمنصات تتيح لها بدء المعاملات عبر استخدامات متعددة، مما يغني الشركات عن إدارة علاقات مصرفية مجزأة ويحد من التعقيدات التشغيلية. كما تسهم هذه الشراكة في توفير تجربة دفع أكثر سلاسة، مع تحسين معدلات إتمام عمليات الدفع، ورفع دقة المعاملات، وتعزيز الرؤية المالية للشركات. وقالت **دلال الريس، الشريك المؤسس والرئيس التنفيذي** لشركة "سبير": "لا تزال مدفوعات الشركات في المنطقة مجزأة ومكلفة ومعقدة تشغيلياً **.** ومن خلال شراكتنا مع Xsquare، نعمل على دمج  قدرات التمويل المفتوح ضمن عمليات الدفع للشركات، بما يساعدها على تقليل التعقيدات والعمل بكفاءة أكبر عبر مختلف الأسواق". من جانبه، قال **أشوين شينوي**، **الشريك المؤسس ورئيس إدارة المنتجات** في شركة Xsquare: "من المتوقع أن تُحدث خدمات التمويل المفتوح تحولاً جذرياً في طريقة إجراء الشركات لمعاملاتها المالية، ونحن نؤمن بأن دولة الإمارات تتمتع بمقومات تؤهلها لقيادة هذا التحول. ومن خلال شراكتنا مع "سبير"، تجمع Xsquare بين قنوات الدفع المنظمة والمباشرة من حساب إلى حساب (Account-to-Account) ومنصة متقدمة لإدارة مدفوعات الشركات وهو ما يعزز رؤيتنا لبناء نظام تشغيل مالي موحد للشركات وتسلط هذه الشراكة الضوء على الدور المتنامي للتمويل المفتوح في تطوير البنية التحتية المالية لمدفوعات الشركات في المنطقة، وتوسيع نطاقها لتتجاوز تطبيقات المستهلكين الأفراد نحو معالجة تحديات قائمة منذ فترة طويلة في طريقة نقل الشركات لأموالها وإدارتها. وتأتي هذه الخطوة في أعقاب إطلاق "سبير" مؤخراً لخدمة المدفوعات الدولية القائمة على التمويل المفتوح في دولة الإمارات، بما يدعم استراتيجية الشركة لتوسيع نطاق هذه البنية التحتية في قطاع مدفوعات الشركات على مستوى المنطقة. **نبذة عن سبير** "سبير" شركة رائدة في مجال البنية التحتية للتمويل المفتوح، حيث تُمكّن الشركات من الوصول إلى البيانات المالية وخدمات الدفع من خلال واجهة برمجة تطبيقات (API) موحّدة وآمنة. وتعمل الشركة في المملكة العربية السعودية والبحرين والإمارات العربية المتحدة والكويت، كما تعمل على تطوير البنية التحتية التي تربط المؤسسات المالية بالشركات، بما يدعم الجيل القادم من المنتجات المالية الرقمية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا. [https://tryspare.com/](https://tryspare.com/) للتواصل الإعلامي: [pr@tryspare.com](http://pr@tryspare.com) **نبذة عن Xsquare** **XSquare** هي شركة متخصصة في مدفوعات الشركات تركز على أسواق دول الخليج، وتتيح للشركات إدارة دورة العمليات المالية بالكامل، بما يشمل الفوترة الإلكترونية، وتحصيل المدفوعات، وسداد مستحقات الموردين باستخدام بطاقات الشركات، والمطابقة المالية، وذلك من خلال دفتر حسابات موحد. تعتمد الشركة على البنية التحتية لبرنامج Mastercard لمدفوعات الشركات، مما يتيح للشركات سداد فواتير الموردين باستخدام بطاقات الشركات، بينما تُحوَّل الأموال مباشرة إلى الحسابات المصرفية للموردين دون الحاجة إلى أي تغييرات من جانبهم. كما أن XSquare منصة غير احتجازية (Non-Custodial)، وحاصلة على شهادة الامتثال لمعيار أمن بيانات بطاقات الدفع PCI DSS من المستوى الأول، وتعمل من خلال شركاء مرخصين بصفتهم مزودي خدمات دفع (PSP)، والخاضعين لرقابة مصرف الإمارات العربية المتحدة المركزي ومصرف قطر المركزي. [https://xsquare.biz/](https://xsquare.biz/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare and Xsquare Partner to Enable Open Finance-Powered Business Payments Published: 2026-07-10 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-and-xsquare-partner-to-enable-open-finance-powered-business-payments/ ![Spare and Xsquare Partnership](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/1-1783669515175-compressed.png) **UAE– July 13, 2026** — **Spare**, a leading Open Finance infrastructure company, today announced a strategic partnership with **Xsquare**, a UAE-based B2B payments company that facilitates and optimizes payment strategies for businesses powered by CBUAE’s Open Finance Framework. The collaboration embeds Pay By Bank capabilities directly into business workflows. Businesses today face transaction costs of 2–3% on every card payment, alongside settlement delays that disrupt cash flow and operational planning. Through Spare’s Open Finance infrastructure, Xsquare clients can now leverage Pay by Bank capabilities to streamline key business use cases, including payables, receivables, and cross-border payments, delivering reduced transaction costs and near real-time settlement. Spare’s unified API integration provides platforms with a single integration point to initiate transactions across multiple use cases, eliminating the need to manage fragmented banking relationships and reducing operational complexity at scale. The partnership enables a more seamless payment experience with improved conversion rates, greater accuracy, and enhanced financial visibility. **Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare**, said: “B2B payments across the region remain heavily fragmented, expensive, and operationally complex. Partnering with Xsquare allows us to bring Open Finance capabilities into real-world business payment workflows, helping companies reduce friction and operate more efficiently across markets”. **Ashwin Shenoy, CPO & Co-Founder of Xsquare**, said: “Open Finance is set to fundamentally reshape how businesses transact, and we believe the UAE is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. Through our partnership with Spare, XSquare is bringing together regulated account-to-account payment rails and a powerful B2B payment orchestration layer. This collaboration strengthens our vision of creating a unified financial operating system for businesses”. The partnership reflects the growing role of Open Finance in transforming B2B financial infrastructure across the region, expanding beyond consumer applications to solve longstanding inefficiencies in how businesses move and manage money. The collaboration also follows Spare’s recent launch of its International Open Finance Payments solution in the UAE, reinforcing the company’s broader strategy to expand Open Finance infrastructure across real-world business payment use cases in the region. **About Spare** Spare is a leading Open Finance infrastructure company that enables businesses to access financial data and payment services through a single secure API. Operating across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Kuwait, Spare is building the financial connectivity layer powering the next generation of digital financial products across MENA. [https://tryspare.com/](https://tryspare.com/) **Media Contact:** [pr@tryspare.com](mailto:pr@tryspare.com) **About Xsquare** XSquare is a GCC-focused B2B payments platform that runs the entire business financial workflow, e-invoicing, payment collection, supplier payments on corporate cards, and reconciliation, on a single ledger. Running on Mastercard's B2B program rails, XSquare enables businesses to pay supplier invoices via corporate card while suppliers receive funds directly to their bank accounts, with no change required on the supplier's side. XSquare is non-custodial and PCI DSS Level 1 certified, operating through licensed PSP partners regulated by CBUAE and QCB. [https://xsquare.biz/](https://xsquare.biz/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Why cross-border was the milestone we had to build toward Published: 2026-07-08 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/why-cross-border-was-the-milestone-we-had-to-build-toward/ **_By Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO, Spare_** ![Why cross-border was the milestone we had to build toward](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/dalal-linkedin-why-cross-border-was-the-milestone-we-had-to-build-toward-14-1783509840048-compressed.png) When we executed the first international Open Finance payment in the GCC, it wasn't a moment that came out of nowhere. It was the result of a deliberate build, one decision at a time, toward something we believed had to exist. What this opens up matters more than the announcement itself. It represents a meaningful shift in what Open Finance infrastructure can do for businesses operating across the region, and it's worth explaining how we got here and why the sequencing mattered. ## The problem we kept hearing From early on, one of the most consistent things we heard from businesses across the region was that cross-border payments were a bottleneck. Not just expensive, though they are, but operationally painful, with multiple banking relationships, fragmented processes, and limited visibility built on infrastructure that wasn't designed for the way regional businesses actually move money today. The GCC is a region defined by cross-border commerce, from remittance corridors to international trade to businesses with customers and suppliers spread across multiple markets. Yet the payment infrastructure underneath all of that hadn't kept pace with the commercial reality it was supposed to support, and businesses were absorbing the cost and complexity of that gap, often without a clear alternative. ## Building in the right order Cross-border wasn't a feature we added when the opportunity arose. It was a direction we built toward from the foundation up, and that meant getting the domestic infrastructure right first. We built regulatory oversight across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, bank connectivity across multiple institutions, and consent flows aligned to each market's regulatory standard, so that regulated payment initiation was something merchants could rely on at scale. Much of that work was invisible from the outside, but it was the prerequisite for everything that followed. International payments on Open Finance rails need a solid domestic foundation underneath them. You can't extend infrastructure across borders reliably if it isn't performing within them, so building it in that order mattered. ## What businesses gain from this Through AlTareq and in partnership with our bank partners, this brought together two things: the regulatory infrastructure the Central Bank of the UAE has built, and the commercial infrastructure we've been building at Spare. For businesses, what this opens up is genuinely new. Payment initiation across borders, through regulated Open Finance rails, now works with the same simplicity as a domestic transfer. For remittance businesses, merchants collecting internationally, and platforms managing recurring cross-border flows, this changes both the economics and the operational experience. The friction that has historically defined cross-border payments in the region no longer has to be a given. ## Why this matters for the region Cross-border interoperability is one of the most important pillars for financial infrastructure in the GCC, a region shaped by significant remittance flows, multi-market financial groups, and growing intra-regional trade. This shows that the infrastructure to support it is being built now, within a regulated framework, by licensed providers working alongside banks and central banks. That combination of regulatory rigour and commercial execution is what gives it durability. ## What comes next This opens up a different conversation about what financial infrastructure in the GCC can look like. Cross-border payment infrastructure that is regulated, reliable, and accessible through a single integration changes the landscape for businesses that have long treated international payments as a necessary complexity rather than a strategic capability. The region has the regulatory foundations, the commercial appetite, and increasingly the infrastructure to support a more connected financial ecosystem. The work of building it continues. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## The architecture of trust: what "compliance by design" actually means in Open Banking Published: 2026-07-01 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/the-architecture-of-trust-what-compliance-by-design-actually-means-in-open-banking/ **_By Saurabh Shah, Co-founder, Spare_** ![What "compliance by design" actually means in Open Banking](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/saurabh-shah-founders-blog-01-1782910040235-compressed.png) There's a phrase that gets thrown around constantly in fintech: compliance by design. The idea is simple. You build regulatory requirements directly into your product architecture from day one instead of layering them on later. But getting this right is incredibly difficult. While many platforms use the phrase, there is a massive gap between marketing and actual execution. ## The Tech-First Illusion A few years ago, when my co-founder Dalal and I were testing early fintech ideas in Kuwait, we built a micro-investing prototype. We moved fast, wrote clean code, and stood up the technology quickly. We were quite proud of what we had built. Then the operational reality of building in a regulated space dawned on us. We quickly learned something that shapes how we build today: developing the core software is the straightforward part. The real challenge lies in navigating localized compliance frameworks, data sovereignty, and operational security. We chose not to pursue that micro-investing idea for strategic business reasons, but the experience changed how we look at infrastructure. When we started building Spare's Open Banking platform, we knew compliance had to be an engineering constraint from day one. Many teams try to chase speed-to-market by building the product first and patching compliance on top later. In financial data and payment infrastructure, that approach backfires. You end up building on top of deep technical debt that leaves you exposed to sudden regulatory changes and operational disruption. ## The Open-Source Trap When engineering teams need to scale quickly, it is easy to default to generic open-source libraries and developer tools because they let you deploy code immediately. We recognized the hidden trade-offs of this approach early on. In a regulated Open Banking ecosystem, open-source components often carry a steep architectural cost. Many global developer tools are not built to satisfy the precise data residency rules, localized encryption standards, or explicit audit-trail mandates defined by GCC regulators. If you drop an unvetted open-source component into a core transaction flow, you risk failing a central bank audit because the tool routes metadata through international servers or lacks proper data isolation protocols. Building enterprise-grade infrastructure means avoiding these shortcuts. We invested heavily in dedicated, highly compliant enterprise platforms from day one. It required significant upfront capital and rigorous engineering oversight, but it ensured our core foundation was solid. We still use open source where it makes sense, but only after rigorous vetting to ensure complete compliance with local frameworks. Part of this commitment also meant prioritizing on-prem cloud deployments, giving us absolute control over data residency and environment security instead of relying on generic public cloud setups. ## The UX Tension There is a common misconception that designing for compliance automatically creates a clunky user experience, or conversely, that compliance-by-design makes everything seamless. The tension between the two is real. If you prioritize user speed blindly, you fail the audit. If you build strictly for the rules, the interface becomes unusable. Getting both right is incredibly difficult. At Spare, when we engineered our consent flows, we didn't just design a convenient screen and hope it passed legal review. We started with the region's strict regulatory mandates as our baseline constraints and iterated on the user experience around those rules until the friction disappeared, without compromising the standard. ## Navigating Regional Micro-Frameworks The biggest pitfall a financial technology provider can fall into within the GCC is assuming that what works in one jurisdiction can be universally copy-pasted into another. There is no singular generic Middle East Open Banking template. Each central bank has tailored its framework to its market's unique risk profile. If you look closely at the underlying payment APIs, the regional differences appear immediately. In Bahrain, the Open Banking frameworks focus heavily on streamlined, direct account-to-account payment execution. In the UAE, the central framework introduces advanced security parameters. To trigger a payment, the architecture must capture and pass comprehensive risk objects, including mandatory identifiers for merchants such as SIC code and trade license number, directly through the API payload. Attempting to scale across the region by treating one country's framework as a template for another country doesn't just result in failed API requests. It places both the provider and their enterprise clients out of alignment with the UAE's explicit regulatory expectations. ## The Cost of the Compliance Freeze This isn't just an early-stage startup issue; it happens at the highest levels of enterprise procurement. During my time at BCG, I worked with a large utility company migrating to a modern billing and CRM platform. The platform was excellent, the efficiencies were clear, and it was a multi-million GBP deal. Yet, the entire project froze because the software provider lacked SOC2 or ISO 27001 certifications. To keep the deal moving forward, the company had to run a massive manual compliance review that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and caused months of delays. Technical excellence means very little if it cannot pass an audit. When large institutions procure technology, compliance is a binary gatekeeper. If your infrastructure lacks inherent institutional rigor, your enterprise customers end up paying the price in massive operational overhead, stalled procurement cycles, and delayed rollouts. ## Infrastructure is an Inherited Responsibility The GCC's Open Banking landscape is maturing quickly. Progressive frameworks from SAMA, the Central Bank of the UAE, and the CBB are setting clear standards for secure financial innovation. In this environment, businesses cannot afford to rely on bolted-on architecture. When a merchant or financial institution integrates with an Open Banking platform, they inherit the underlying regulatory profile of that vendor. Shortcuts taken by the provider become a liability for the client. True compliance by design requires real engineering trade-offs, but it protects your enterprise clients, satisfies your regulators, and gives you a durable foundation to scale. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare Partners with Rewa to Digitize Rental Payments and Advance Dubai's Paperless Real Estate Vision Published: 2026-06-25 Category: News Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/news/ URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-partners-with-rewa-to-digitize-rental-payments-and-advance-dubais-paperless-real-estate-vision/ ![Rewa and Spare](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/rewa-spare-pr-1782369218682-compressed.png) **Dubai, UAE – June 23, 2026**— Spare, a leading Open Finance infrastructure provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Rewa, a UAE-based property technology platform, to modernize rental payments and accelerate the digitization of real estate transactions across the UAE. Through the partnership, Rewa will integrate Spare's Pay-by-bank payment solution, enabling tenants to pay rent directly from their bank accounts without cheques or manual transfers, simplifying rent collection, improving payment visibility, and enabling digital tracking of rental transactions throughout the payment lifecycle. Spare’s solution utilizes the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) Open Finance Framework to provide Pay-by-bank capabilities to fintech platforms and financial institutions across the country. **Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare**, commented on the partnership, saying: "The UAE has set a global benchmark for digital government services, ranking among the world's top countries for digital infrastructure and e-government delivery, and the real estate sector is a natural extension of that. Through our partnership with Rewa, we're helping transform the cumbersome, manual process of rental payments to a seamless experience that is more transparent and easier to manage." **Najib Khanafer, Co-Founder and CEO of Rewa**, said: "Moving away from post-dated cheques isn't just a convenience upgrade, it's a structural shift in how the rental market operates, and one that sits squarely within the Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance vision. Integrating Spare's Pay-by-bank infrastructure means tenants can pay rent digitally and instantly, while landlords gain the payment certainty and real-time visibility that cheques never provided. We're building the payment and loyalty layer that the UAE rental market has been missing." The partnership supports the Dubai Land Department's vision for a fully digital and paperless real estate ecosystem. In 2025, Dubai recorded 1.38 million registered tenancy contracts worth a combined AED 126.4 billion, according to DLD data, underscoring the scale of the opportunity to modernize how rental payments move through the sector, and the shift away from post-dated cheques has never been more urgent. As UAE’s Open Finance Framework adoption grows, Spare and Rewa are demonstrating how financial infrastructure and property technology can work together to deliver more efficient, secure, and customer-centric experiences. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## What no one tells you about building regulated payment infrastructure Published: 2026-06-18 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/what-no-one-tells-you-about-building-regulated-payment-infrastructure/ **_By Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder & CEO at Spare_** ![What no one tells you about building regulated payment infrastructure](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/dalal-linkedin-founders-blog-1781762885976-compressed.png) When businesses come to us, they usually want one thing: to accept payments. What they rarely see is everything that has to line up before a single payment can happen. In open finance, a payment isn't a card swipe. It's a customer granting consent, authenticating directly with their bank, and money moving account-to-account in real time. This is cleaner for everyone, but only if the infrastructure underneath behaves. That infrastructure is not something you build once and ship, rather it's a continuous, market-by-market commitment to compliance, connectivity, and trust. In a region like the GCC, where every country runs its own framework, that commitment compounds fast. This is the part we don't talk about enough. **Every market is its own problem to solve** Saudi Arabia runs its Open Banking ecosystem under SAMA's Open Banking Framework. The UAE operates under the Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance framework, with payments initiated through AlTareq. Bahrain has its own licensing model under the Central Bank of Bahrain. There is some overlap, but each framework carries its own requirements, its own API standards, its own consent flows, and its own authentication flows. For a merchant, this should be invisible. For us, it is the entire job.  When Spare connects a business to open banking infrastructure in any of these markets, we are not just providing an API. We are carrying the regulatory relationship, holding the compliance posture, maintaining live connectivity with banks, and keeping pace with frameworks that are still evolving. That’s what a licensed Third-Party Provider actually does, and it’s not a small thing. **The part that is easy to underestimate** Before founding Spare, I spent years in private equity, watching business struggle not because of a flawed product or service, but because the infrastructure underneath it was never built to last. Open finance in regulated markets is exactly that kind of problem. It looks simple from the outside, and almost all of its difficulty sits hidden below the surface. Bank come online at different speeds and reliability varies. API documentation is inconsistent. Consent flows need to be built and maintained across multiple institutions. Regulatory requirements update, and someone has to track them, interpret them, and implement them. When something changes in the framework, it cannot wait. Most businesses have neither the appetite nor the license to build this themselves, and they shouldn’t have to. **Why we built Spare the way we did** From day one, we made a deliberate decision to absorb this complexity rather than pass it on. One integration. Three markets. Compliance inherited by default. A merchant connects to Spare once, and everything underneath from banks, consent flows, authentication, and regulatory upkeep is handled on our side. That single decision shaped how we build, how we hire, and how we operate. It’s the harder way to build a company. But it is the right way to build infrastructure. The businesses we work with are busy with their own products, their own customers, their own growth. The last thing they should be thinking about is whether their payment integration is compliant with the latest update to a regulatory framework in a market they are trying to enter. That part is ours and we take it seriously. **What this means for the region** The GCC is at an inflection point. Regulatory frameworks are maturing, bank connectivity is improving, and businesses are moving from curiosity to deployment. As that happens, the infrastructure layer is becoming more and more important. Getting it right matters. Not just commercially, but for the long-term credibility of Open Banking in the region. Every payment that goes through smoothly, every merchant that launches without compliance friction, every customer that completes a transaction securely builds business and customer trust at scale. We’re here to make that possible. Quietly, consistently, and at the infrastructure level where it counts. To learn more about how Spare can help you build on Open Finance, reach out to [**hello@tryspare.com**](mailto:hello@tryspare.com). --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## The economics of Pay by Bank: where the real savings come from Published: 2026-05-21 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/the-economics-of-pay-by-bank-where-the-real-savings-come-from/ ![The economics of Pay by Bank: where the real savings come from](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-blog-the-economics-of-pay-by-bank-1779349388686-compressed.png) Pay by Bank is often called a lower-cost payment method. That's accurate. But it only captures part of the picture. The real advantage isn't a single fee reduction. It's a fundamentally different cost structure, one that compounds across transaction fees, fraud exposure, failed payments, and operational overhead. **The fee problem with cards** Card payments run through multiple layers: acquirers, card networks, and issuing banks. Each adds its own fees. Interchange alone typically ranges from 1.5% to 3.5% per transaction in most markets, and that's before scheme fees and acquirer margins are added. For a business processing AED 10 million a month, that fee structure represents hundreds of thousands of dirhams in payment costs annually, before a single chargeback or failed transaction is factored in. Pay by Bank removes most of those layers. Payments move directly between accounts. Fewer intermediaries means a materially lower cost per transaction, typically a fraction of card processing rates. **Fraud and chargebacks: a structural difference** The merchant initiates the transaction, which creates inherent fraud exposure. Global card fraud losses exceeded $33 billion in 2022, with merchants bearing a significant share through chargebacks and dispute costs. Pay by Bank provides an added security element. The customer initiates and authorises the payment directly at their bank. There are no stored card credentials to compromise and no chargeback mechanism. In the UK, Open Banking payment providers have reported fraud rates significantly below the card industry average, with some reporting near-zero chargeback exposure. For high-volume businesses, that difference is not marginal. It is structural. **Failed payments: the hidden cost** Card payment failure rates typically sit between 5% and 15%, driven by expired cards, insufficient funds, and network issues. Each failed payment carries a cost: retry processing, customer drop-off, and operational follow-up. Real-time bank-to-bank payments significantly reduce failure rates. Authorisation happens at the point of payment, funds availability is confirmed instantly, and the customer is in the flow. UK data shows Open Banking payment success rates consistently outperforming card equivalents, particularly for higher-value transactions. **Reconciliation: where time becomes money** Traditional card settlements take 2 to 5 business days, arrive in batches, and require significant manual effort to match against orders and invoices. For finance teams at high-volume businesses, reconciliation is one of the most resource-intensive processes they manage. Pay by Bank delivers real-time confirmation with transaction-level data attached. Matching is automated. Settlement is instant. European businesses that have moved to account-to-account payment rails report significant reductions in reconciliation overhead, with some cutting manual finance effort by 30% or more. **What this looks like in the UAE** In the UAE, AlTareq, the national Open Finance framework regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE, standardises how payments flow between banks and licensed providers. Spare connects to AlTareq as a licensed TPP. Merchants integrate once and access the full bank network, with consent, payment initiation, and settlement all handled on our side. No fragmentation. No inconsistency. Direct rails, lower cost, and real-time confirmation across every participating bank. **The compounding effect** Individually, each saving looks incremental. Together, they compound. A business processing AED 50 million annually that reduces its effective payment cost by 1.5 percentage points saves AED 750,000 per year. Add reduced fraud losses, fewer failed payments, and lower reconciliation overhead, and the total economic impact is material. This is where Pay by Bank stops being an alternative payment method and becomes a lever for economic optimisation. **The bottom line** The economic value of Pay by Bank doesn't come from one saving. It comes from removing cost at every layer of the payment lifecycle, from the transaction fee through to the finance team's monthly close. For businesses processing payments at scale, that shift isn't marginal. It's material. Ready to see what the numbers look like for your business? Let's talk → [business@tryspare.com](mailto:business@tryspare.com) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Why Open Finance is becoming core infrastructure, not a feature Published: 2026-05-12 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/whyopenfinanceisbecomingcoreinfrastructure/ ![Why Open Finance is becoming core infrastructure, not a feature](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/why-open-finance-is-becoming-core-infrastructure-not-a-feature-1778234278115-compressed.png) Open Finance is often positioned as a feature. Something to add. Something to enable. Something to experiment with. That framing is already outdated. Across MENA, Open Finance is becoming core infrastructure, embedded into how payments are made, credit is assessed, and financial services are delivered. **From feature to foundation** In its early stages, Open Banking was introduced through specific use cases. Account aggregation. Payment initiation. Income verification. These were important, but they were treated as standalone capabilities, layered on top of existing systems. That approach has already shifted, and the evidence is in the markets where Open Banking matured first. In the UK, following PSD2 implementation, Monzo and Starling built current accounts natively on open infrastructure. Klarna integrated Open Banking affordability assessments, reducing time-to-decision from days to minutes. HMRC embedded Open Banking into tax payment flows. The UK now has over 15 million active Open Banking users, nearly a third of all UK adults. Open Banking payment volumes in Europe surpassed data access volumes for the first time in 2023, and 94% of EU licensed banks now comply with PSD2 API requirements. These are not feature adoption metrics. They are infrastructure adoption metrics. **Why infrastructure matters** Features can be added or removed. Infrastructure defines how everything works. When Open Finance is treated as infrastructure: - Payments move through lower-cost, real-time rails - Data flows continuously, not in static snapshots - Risk models evolve with live financial behaviour - Onboarding becomes instant and verifiable The impact is not incremental. It is structural. **What is driving the shift** Three factors are accelerating this transition across GCC. **1\. Regulatory clarity** The GCC now has three distinct but coordinated frameworks. Bahrain's CBB launched the region's first Open Banking framework in 2018. Saudi Arabia's SAMA followed in 2022, expanding to payment initiation in 2024. The UAE's CBUAE issued its Open Finance Regulation in 2024, covering banking, insurance, and investment, with mandatory bank participation and standardised APIs through a centralised hub. **2\. Bank readiness** APIs are more stable and consistent, particularly in the UAE. The CBUAE's centralised model mandates uniform APIs from all licensed banks. No fragmentation. No inconsistency. Integration is predictable and scalable. **3\. Commercial pressure** Businesses are prioritising cost efficiency, risk optimisation, and conversion. Open Banking directly addresses all three. This combination moves Open Banking from innovation to necessity. **Where this shows up first** The shift is already visible in key areas: - **Payments** Account-to-account rails are reducing reliance on cards and improving settlement speed. - **Lending** Real-time cash flow data is replacing static credit models. UK lenders using Open Banking data report 40–60% reductions in manual underwriting effort and materially lower default rates - a trajectory now visible in early GCC adopters. - **Onboarding** Instant account verification reduces friction and increases conversion. Onboarding drop-off rates using traditional micro-deposits can be as high as 49%. With instant account verification via Open Banking, that drops to as low as 1%. In each case, Open Finance is not an add-on. It is the mechanism enabling the outcome. **The risk of treating it as a feature** Organisations that continue to treat Open Finance as a feature tend to: - Isolate it within specific use cases - Underutilise available data and capabilities - Miss out on compounding efficiency gains More importantly, they struggle to scale. Because features solve individual problems. Infrastructure compounds value across the entire system. **The direction of travel** As adoption increases, the distinction will become clearer. Organisations building around Open Finance as infrastructure will operate with: - Lower cost bases - Better risk visibility - Faster, more seamless user journeys Those that don’t will face increasing competitive pressure. The shift is already underway. Open Finance is no longer something you add - it is something you build on. To learn more about how Spare can help you build on Open Finance, reach out to [hello@tryspare.com](mailto:hello@tryspare.com). --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## From APIs to outcomes: why connectivity alone doesn’t create value Published: 2026-04-30 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/from-apis-to-outcomes-why-connectivity-alone-doesnt-create-value/ ![From APIs to outcomes: why connectivity alone doesn’t create value](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/from-apis-to-outcome-1777540110011-compressed.png) For years, Open Banking has been framed around connectivity. APIs were the milestone. Access was the goal. Integration became the benchmark for progress. But connectivity alone does not create value. Outcomes do. As Open Banking matures across GCC, a clear distinction is emerging between organisations that are connected and those that are operational. **Connectivity is the starting point, not the outcome** APIs enable access to accounts, data, and payment initiation. They make new use cases possible. But on their own, they do not improve cost structures, reduce risk, or increase conversion. Value is only realised when that connectivity is embedded into real workflows. - A lender integrating account data into underwriting models. - A merchant embedding Pay by Bank into checkout flows. - A business automating reconciliation using transaction-level visibility. Without this layer, APIs remain technical capability, not commercial advantage. **The gap between access and execution** Many organisations reach the point of integration, but stall before operationalisation. In the UAE, this challenge looks fundamentally different. The CBUAE's Open Finance Regulation (2024) mandates all licensed banks to participate. APIs are standardised through a centralised hub, with consent frameworks built into the infrastructure from day one. No bank-by-bank negotiation. No inconsistent data to normalise. A merchant in the UAE can embed Pay by Bank through a single API call, gaining access to all participating banks, with consent, data normalisation, payment initiation, and settlement all handled at the infrastructure layer. Spare's API connects directly to this infrastructure. One integration provides access to the full bank network. Every new bank, compliance update, and regulatory change is managed on our side. The complexity stays with us. The simplicity stays with you. This is what closing the gap between access and execution actually looks like, not orchestrating complexity, but removing it entirely. The result is operational impact. Connectivity is in place. The complexity is handled. Businesses can focus entirely on what the integration enables. **From infrastructure to outcomes** Open Finance creates value when infrastructure is translated into outcomes across key areas: - **Payments** Lower-cost, real-time account-to-account rails reduce reliance on legacy systems and improve settlement speed. - **Lending** Access to real-time financial data enables more accurate affordability assessments and earlier risk detection. - **Onboarding** Instant account verification and data access reduce friction and improve conversion rates. - **Operations** Automated reconciliation and real-time visibility streamline internal processes and reduce manual overhead. In each case, the value is not in the API itself, but in how it is applied. When a single integration gives you the full network - simplicity for your team, complexity handled on our side - that is when connectivity becomes a commercial advantage. **Why this shift matters now** The GCC has taken three distinct but complementary approaches to Open Finance. Bahrain's CBB pioneered the region's first formal framework in 2018. Saudi Arabia's SAMA launched its Open Banking framework in 2022. The UAE's CBUAE issued its Open Finance Regulation in 2024, the most comprehensive in the region, covering banking, insurance, and investment with mandatory bank participation and standardised APIs through a centralised hub. For merchants and businesses operating in the UAE, the model is straightforward: connect once, access all. This changes the question. It is no longer: can we connect? It is: are we creating measurable outcomes from that connection? Organisations that focus only on access risk underutilising the infrastructure now available to them. Those that focus on execution, and partner with providers who manage the complexity on their behalf, will capture the real advantage. **From access to advantage** Connectivity is necessary. But it is not sufficient. The next phase of Open Finance will be defined by how effectively organisations convert access into outcomes, embedding infrastructure into the core of how they move money, assess risk, and operate. The organisations moving fastest aren't building more. They're integrating once, and letting the provider handle everything behind it: consent, data, payments, compliance, so their teams can focus on what actually matters. Because in the end, value is not created by being connected. It is created by what that connection enables. Ready to convert access into outcomes? Let's talk → [tryspare.com](https://tryspare.com/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## سبير تكشف عن أولى عمليات الدفع عبر الحدود المدعومة بنظام "الطارق" (المصرفية المفتوحة) في دول الخليج Published: 2026-04-28 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/sbyr-tkshf-an-awla-amlyat-aldfa-abr-alhdwd-almdawmh-bnzam-altarq-almsrfyh-almftwhh-fy-dwl-alkhlyj/ ![International payments unveiled](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-international-payments-17-1777357277587-compressed.png) دبي، الإمارات العربية المتحدة – 28 أبريل 2026 —كشفت شركة "سبير" [Spare](https://tryspare.com/)، المزود الرائد لخدمات البنية التحتية للمصرفية المفتوحة، عن **خدمة المدفوعات الدولية** ضمن إطار التمويل المفتوح في دولة الإمارات، في خطوة تُوسّع من خلالها محفظة منتجاتها لتمكين المعاملات المالية العابرة للحدود بشكل سلس وآمن وفوري. ويمثل هذا الإعلان محطة مهمة في مسيرة الشركة، ويؤكد مكانتها كأحد أبرز مزودي المصرفية المفتوحة في المنطقة. وقد نجحت "سبير" في تنفيذ أول عملية دفع تجريبية عبر الحدود بالتعاون مع بنوك في دولة الإمارات، ما يتيح للشركات ومزودي التقنية المالية تحويل الأموال دوليًا عبر بنية تحتية موحّدة ومتوافقة مع الأطر التنظيمية. ومن خلال واجهة برمجة تطبيقات (API) موحّدة وآمنة، تُمكّن "سبير" الشركات من الوصول إلى البيانات المالية ومباشرة المدفوعات المحلية والدولية عبر واجهة واحدة متكاملة، مما يقلل الحاجة إلى إدارة علاقات متعددة مع البنوك ويحدّ من التعقيدات التشغيلية. قالت **دلال الريس، الشريك المؤسس والرئيس التنفيذي لشركة "سبير"**: "يُعد الوصول إلى خدمات دفع دولية موثوقة من أبرز التحديات التي تواجه الشركات في المنطقة عند توسعها عبر الحدود. ومن خلال خدمة المدفوعات الدولية المعتمدة على نظام "الطارق"، نقدّم بديلاً عملياً لهذه التحديات، ونسعى إلى جعل التحويلات عبر الحدود بسهولة التحويلات المحلية." وقد حصلت "سبير" على الموافقة المبدئية لرخصة التمويل المفتوح من مصرف الإمارات العربية المتحدة المركزي للعمل ضمن إطار التمويل المفتوح ، بما يتماشى مع الأطر التنظيمية المعتمدة، مع الاستفادة من نظام "الطارق" الوطني لبدء عمليات الدفع. ومن المتوقع أن يصل حجم المدفوعات عبر الحدود في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا إلى 31 مليار دولار بحلول عام 2030، في حين لا تزال الشركات في المنطقة تواجه تحديات تتعلق بارتفاع تكاليف التحويل. وتعمل "سبير" من خلال حلولها في المصرفية المفتوحة على معالجة هذه التحديات عبر تقديم بديل متوافق وموحّد وفوري، مصمم خصيصًا لاحتياجات السوق الإقليمي للتواصل الإعلامي: [pr@tryspare.com](http://pr@tryspare.com) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare Unveils First Seamless AlTareq (Open Banking) Powered Cross-Border Transactions In The GCC Published: 2026-04-28 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-launches-first-seamless-open-banking-powered-cross-border-transactions-in-the-gcc/ ![International Open Finance Payments solution](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-international-payments-17-1777357091515-compressed.png) **Dubai, UAE – 28 Apr, 2026** — [Spare](https://tryspare.com/), a leading Open Banking infrastructure company, today unveiled the first **International Open Finance Payments solution** in the UAE, expanding its product suite to enable seamless, secure, and real-time cross-border financial transactions globally. The new offering marks a significant milestone in the company’s evolution as a regional Open Banking leader. **Spare successfully executed its first cross-border pilot transaction with trusted banks in the UAE**, enabling businesses and fintechs to move funds internationally through a unified and compliant infrastructure. Through its unified API platform, Spare provides enterprises and fintechs with a single integration point to access financial data and initiate both domestic and international payments. This eliminates the need to manage multiple banking relationships and reduces operational complexity at scale. **Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare, said:**"One of the top factors holding back the international growth of regional business leaders is difficulty accessing reliable international payment solutions. With our AlTareq based International Payments solution, we have an answer to that. We're making cross-border transactions as simple as a local transfer". Spare has received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to operate under the country’s Open Finance Regulatory Framework. The **International Open Finance Payments** solution aligns with the framework and utilizes the national [AlTareq](https://tryspare.com/blog/altareq-enabling-open-finance-in-the-uae/) scheme for initiation. Cross-border payments in the Middle East and Africa are projected to reach $31 billion by 2030, yet businesses in the region continue to face some of the highest transaction costs globally.  Spare's suite of open banking solutions are designed to cut through the friction, offering a compliant, standardized, real-time alternative built for the region's financial landscape. **Media Contact:** [**pr@tryspare.com**](mailto:pr@tryspare.com) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## From compliance to competitive advantage: the second phase of Open Finance Published: 2026-04-17 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/from-compliance-to-competitive-advantage-the-second-phase-of-open-finance/ ![From compliance to competitive advantage ](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/blog-from-complaince-to-competitive-advantage-1776413250831-compressed.png) For several years, Open Banking across GCC was primarily a regulatory milestone. Frameworks were introduced. Licensing models were defined. Banks invested in API infrastructure to meet supervisory requirements. That phase was about readiness. The next phase is about advantage. Open Finance is no longer just something institutions implement because regulators require it. It is becoming a structural lever for cost efficiency, risk optimisation, and growth. And the organisations that move early in this phase will capture disproportionate value. ## **The shift from obligation to opportunity** In its first phase, Open Finance was compliance-driven. Institutions asked: - Are we aligned with the framework? - Are our APIs secure? - Are we meeting regulatory deadlines? In the second phase, the question changes: - Are we using this infrastructure to improve our economics? Because the infrastructure now exists. The rails are operational. The frameworks are live. What differentiates organisations is how quickly they embed these capabilities into core journeys. ## **Where the advantage emerges** Open Finance is not a feature. It is infrastructure. And infrastructure reshapes outcomes and enables new use cases. ### **Cost structure** Account-to-account payment initiation reduces reliance on legacy fee-heavy rails. For high-volume businesses, even small improvements in unit economics compound quickly. Early adopters are already recalibrating payment strategies around efficiency. ### **Risk and underwriting** Access to real-time financial data enhances affordability modelling, fraud detection, and credit decisioning. Institutions that incorporate real time cash flow insights gain sharper visibility than those relying solely on static bureau data. Risk models become more predictive, not just historical. ### **Conversion and speed** Instant account verification and real-time payment confirmation reduce drop-off and onboarding friction.  In competitive digital markets, marginal gains in conversion materially affect revenue. Infrastructure decisions translate into commercial performance. ## **The cost of waiting** Open Finance adoption will not happen overnight. But momentum is building across payments, lending, and digital onboarding in MENA. Organisations that delay this shift will face: - Higher payment costs relative to competitors - Slower underwriting processes - Reduced visibility into customer affordability - Less efficient onboarding journeys In markets where margins and risk discipline matter, infrastructure lag can become a competitive disadvantage. ## **Why now matters** Regulatory clarity across key GCC markets has improved. Bank connectivity is strengthening. Licensed providers are operational. Businesses are accelerating innovation. This creates a window: early enough to build advantage, late enough to build with stability. From our work across the region, we see a clear pattern - organisations that treat Open Banking as a strategic lever, rather than a compliance checkbox, unlock value faster and more sustainably. ## **The second phase rewards execution** Open Banking is entering its optimization era. The next wave of leaders will not be defined by whether they comply with frameworks, but by how effectively they operationalise them. In this phase, speed of adoption becomes a competitive variable. - The infrastructure is here. - The economics are compelling. - The momentum is building. The question is no longer whether Open Finance will matter. It is whether you will use it to your advantage. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Why MENA is entering its Open Finance acceleration phase Published: 2026-04-08 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/why-mena-is-entering-its-open-finance-acceleration-phase/ **_By Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder & CEO at Spare_** ![Why MENA is entering its Open Finance acceleration phase](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/why-mena-is-entering-its-open-finance-acceleration-phase-with-photo-1775637897091-compressed.png) For the past few years, Open Banking in GCC has been defined by regulation, infrastructure building, and ecosystem readiness. Frameworks were introduced. Sandboxes were launched. APIs were standardised. Banks began investing in compliance infrastructure. That foundation-building phase is now shifting. MENA is entering its Open Finance acceleration phase, where infrastructure moves from compliance-driven implementation to commercial deployment. ### From regulation to activation Across the GCC, regulators have taken deliberate steps to establish secure, consent-driven data sharing and payment initiation frameworks. Saudi Arabia’s SAMA Regulatory Sandbox created a structured environment for Open Banking services across retail and corporate accounts. The UAE’s AlTareq framework enables licensed Third-Party Providers to access financial data and initiate payments in a regulated manner. Bahrain established early regulatory standards, while Kuwait’s draft Open Banking Regulatory Framework signals clear long-term direction. Oman has introduced its Open Banking framework through the Central Bank of Oman, setting the foundation for secure data sharing and licensed third-party access. Jordan has also issued Open Banking guidelines, with the Central Bank of Jordan outlining standards to enable regulated participation and ecosystem growth. This first phase was necessary. Trust, interoperability, and security are non-negotiable in financial services. But regulation alone does not create transformation. Adoption does. ### What has changed From our vantage point working with banks and fintechs across the region, three shifts signal that acceleration is underway. **1\. Bank readiness has materially improved** - API capabilities are no longer experimental. - Consent management flows are becoming more standardised in certain markets. - Core systems are modernising to support real-time infrastructure. Integration is becoming more predictable, and that changes commercial timelines. **2\. Use cases are moving from theory to deployment** Early Open Banking conversations were conceptual. Today, businesses are actively deploying: - Real-time account-to-account payments - Automated income verification - Cash flow-based underwriting - Reconciliation - Instant account verification The question is no longer whether Open Finance will arrive. It is how quickly organisations can operationalise it. **3\. Efficiency is driving decision-making** Across global markets, cost discipline and risk optimisation are strategic priorities. Open Finance enables: - Lower-cost payment rails - Reduced fraud exposure - Cash flow visibility - Stronger affordability assessments - Faster, more compliant onboarding In this environment, infrastructure-level improvements move from innovation projects to board-level discussions. ### Payments as an inflection point Pay by Bank is one of the clearest indicators of acceleration. Account-to-account payments reduce reliance on card schemes, lower transaction costs, and provide real-time confirmation of funds. For industries such as trading, remittance, digital lending, and B2B payments, this represents structural optimisation rather than marginal improvement. As more banks and licensed providers enable these flows, familiarity increases — and adoption compounds. ### The regional advantage Unlike markets where Open Finance evolved organically, MENA benefits from forward thinking regulatory direction. Frameworks have been designed with security and interoperability at their core. This alignment between regulators, financial institutions, and licensed providers reduces fragmentation and builds long-term trust. We are also beginning to see conversations around cross-border interoperability , a critical factor in a region characterised by remittance corridors and multi-market financial groups. Acceleration does not mean overnight disruption. It means momentum. ### What comes next In this next phase, differentiation will come from execution. Organisations that embed Open Finance into core journeys, not as an add-on, but as infrastructure, will be best positioned to scale. The groundwork across MENA is largely in place. The shift now is from preparation to execution. The acceleration phase has begun as bank readiness, deployment and commercialisation is taking shape, enabling businesses to take financial innovation to the next level. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## The most underrated payment type in Open Finance: future-dated payments Published: 2026-02-25 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/future-dated-payments/ ![Future-dated payments](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/the-most-underrated-payment-type-in-open-finance-future-dated-payments-1772010072449-compressed.png) When Open Finance payments come up, the focus is usually on instant transfers. Real-time. Immediate. Final. Speed matters. But it is not the only thing that defines a strong payment experience. Think about rent. Across the UAE, post-dated cheques are still widely used to secure future payments. They create commitment and provide predictability for both sides of an agreement. But cheques are manual, operationally heavy, and increasingly out of place in a digital financial ecosystem. The real opportunity in Open Finance is not just making payments faster. It is making financial commitment digital. This is where future-dated payments quietly become powerful. ### **What are future-dated payments in Open Finance?** Future-dated payments allow a customer to authorise a payment today that will be executed on a specific date in the future. A fixed amount and a defined date pre-agreed between both parties. In Open Finance, that authorisation happens directly through the customer’s bank, using secure and regulated infrastructure. Think of a rental agreement. Instead of handing over a post-dated cheque, the tenant authorises a future payment instruction through their bank for the agreed date and amount. For the landlord, it is the digital equivalent of securing a future cheque. For the tenant, it is setting up a confirmed bank instruction for a scheduled payment. There is no need to collect cheques. No need to store card details. No reliance on reminders or manual transfers. The customer approves the payment once. The date is defined. The instruction is confirmed. It is a structured, bank-level commitment scheduled for the future. ### **Why they matter more than people realise** Many businesses have normalised uncertainty in scheduled payments that have no set commitments. Late transfers. Failed card charges. Manual reconciliation. Follow-ups and reminders that drain operational time. Take rent as an example. A landlord may hold post-dated cheques for months in advance to secure payment certainty. A tenant, meanwhile, is committing on paper and trusting that the cheque will be processed on time. It works, but it is operationally heavy and disconnected from today’s digital financial systems. Future-dated payments introduce predictability into this equation without the manual burden. Payment dates are agreed and authorised upfront through the bank. Cash flow becomes easier to forecast. Operational friction is reduced. For customers, payments can be approved at the right moment, when reviewing a contract, signing a tenancy agreement, or confirming a purchase — rather than relying on memory weeks later. The impact is subtle but meaningful: fewer disputes, fewer payment failures, and stronger alignment between agreement and execution. ### **A growing opportunity in the region** As Open Finance adoption expands across the GCC, businesses have an opportunity to design payment journeys that reflect how financial agreements actually work. Many transactions are not spontaneous. They are planned. Contractual. Scheduled. Future-dated payments support installment-based pricing, milestone payments, deposits, and longer billing cycles. They align with markets where financial commitments are formal and structured, not casual. In this context, the value is not speed alone. It is a certainty. ### **Where future-dated payments create real value** This capability is particularly effective in sectors built around scheduled commitments. Real estate can reduce reliance on post-dated cheques while maintaining payment discipline. Education providers can structure instalments with clarity and confidence. Healthcare and professional services can secure payment at the point of booking for a future appointment. B2B agreements can move from invoice chasing to payment scheduling at the time of contract. These are not edge cases. They represent everyday financial flows across the regional economy. ### **Why Open Finance changes the game** Scheduled transfers are not new. What changes with Open Finance is how they are initiated and embedded. Payment authorisation becomes part of the digital customer journey. Consent is captured transparently at the point of agreement. Confirmation is structured and traceable. For businesses, this reduces reliance on manual processes and fragmented systems. For customers, it provides clarity over what will be paid, when, and under what authorisation - all within their trusted banking environment. Future-dated payments move from being a workaround to being a designed experience. ### **Where Spare fits in** At Spare, we see future-dated payments as a practical step forward for Open Finance in the region. They help businesses improve cash flow predictability and reduce operational overhead, while giving customers a straightforward way to commit to payments directly from their bank accounts. Our focus is on building infrastructure that supports real commercial behaviour in the GCC, not just accelerating payments, but structuring them better. ### **Final thought** Open Finance does not only win by being instant. It wins by improving how financial commitments are made and fulfilled. Future-dated payments may not be the loudest feature in Open Finance, but in markets built on structured agreements and scheduled obligations, they are one of the most quietly transformative. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## The state of Open Banking in the GCC: 2026 edition Published: 2026-01-30 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/the-state-of-open-banking-in-the-gcc/ ![cover](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-blog-the-state-of-open-banking-in-the-gcc-07-1770046458252-compressed.png) Open Banking is transforming financial services globally and the GCC is no exception. At its core, Open Banking enables secure, consent-driven access to financial data (also referred to as account information) and payments (also referred to as Pay by Bank or Payment Initiation Services), allowing businesses to offer smarter, faster, and more customer-centric financial services. This enables use cases for account views, real-time payments, automated credit decisions, and seamless onboarding, all powered by secure APIs. As a regulated Third-Party Provider (TPP), Spare helps businesses across the region leverage these capabilities, delivering secure, compliant, and scalable solutions for payments, data aggregation, and Open Finance. Across the GCC, regulators and financial institutions are incorporating Open Banking in national initiatives in ways that reflect local needs and priorities while creating future opportunities for cross-border innovation and regional interoperability. ### Saudi Arabia: SAMA regulatory sandbox Saudi Arabia’s Open Banking ecosystem operates under the SAMA Regulatory Sandbox, designed to ensure security, interoperability, and consumer trust. The framework supports financial data and payments, for retail and corporate accounts A number of Saudi banks are actively participating with Open Banking initiatives, laying the groundwork for future services. For providers like Spare, Saudi Arabia offers the opportunity to deliver compliant and scalable solutions tailored to local requirements. ### UAE: AlTareq framework The UAE has implemented AlTareq, a regulatory framework that allows licensed TPPs to provide financial data and payments. Several UAE banks, including Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) are live with API-enabled Open Banking services, helping businesses integrate payments and financial data more effectively. For businesses, this enables: - Real-time account-to-account payments - Enhanced risk insights for lending - Seamless integration with licensed TPPs such as Spare The framework supports a robust ecosystem for Open Banking, enabling innovation across fintech, digital lending, and e-commerce. ### Bahrain: early-mover foundations Bahrain was the first GCC market to introduce Open Banking regulation, establishing early standards around APIs, secure data sharing, and licensed third-party access. Spare’s experience in Bahrain supports organisations operating in or expanding from early-regulated markets, enabling compliant access to Open Banking capabilities such as financial data, payments, and operational automation. ### Kuwait: evolving regulatory groundwork Kuwait is in the early stages of shaping its Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystem, with regulatory discussions and market readiness gradually gaining momentum. The Central Bank of Kuwait released the draft Open Banking Regulatory Framework in June 2025 to regulate data sharing between banks and authorized third-party providers (OBSPs) using APIs.  While the framework gets formally released, local banks and fintechs are increasingly investing in digital infrastructure, laying the technical foundations required for future Open Banking initiatives. This includes improved API capabilities, enhanced customer consent mechanisms, and modernisation of payment rails. For providers like Spare, Kuwait represents a market with strong long-term potential. As regulatory clarity continues to develop, businesses will be well-positioned to adopt Open Banking-enabled use cases such as account aggregation, data-driven decisioning, and streamlined payments. ### Other GCC markets Beyond the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait, other GCC countries such as Oman and Qatar are gradually exploring and releasing Open Banking frameworks. Regulatory bodies in these markets are assessing international models and running early-stage initiatives focused on secure financial data sharing and digital payments. While adoption remains at a pilot or exploratory stage, progress is steady. These markets are expected to advance over the coming years, creating opportunities for regional interoperability and multi-market Open Banking solutions as standards and regulations mature. ### GCC outlook and summary The GCC’s Open Banking ecosystem is maturing rapidly. By 2026, we expect continued expansion of API-enabled services, growing adoption of real-time and recurring payments where frameworks allow, and increased use of financial data for onboarding, lending, and operational efficiency. The UAE operates under AlTareq, providing access to financial data and payments, while Saudi Arabia enables similar capabilities through the SAMA Regulatory Sandbox. Bahrain continues to build on its early regulatory foundations, with other GCC markets steadily gaining momentum. Adoption is growing: more banks and licensed third-party providers are integrating Open Banking solutions, with pilot programs expanding across payments, account aggregation, and credit decisioning. This creates tangible opportunities for businesses to leverage financial data for improved efficiency, customer experience, and innovation. Partnering with a licensed TPP such as Spare ensures organisations can confidently navigate this evolving landscape with compliant, scalable, and regionally-ready Open Banking solutions. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## AlTareq: Enabling Open Finance in the UAE Published: 2026-01-23 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/altareq-enabling-open-finance-in-the-uae/ ![altareq](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/powered-by-al-tareq-1769510247445-compressed.png) ## Introduction: The Foundation of Open Finance in the UAE Open Finance in the UAE is built on trust, security, and clear governance. At the heart of this ecosystem is AlTareq, the UAE’s national Open Finance platform, designed to enable safe and standardised connectivity between banks, licensed Third Party Providers (TPPs), and customers. AlTareq establishes the regulatory, technical, and operational framework that allows Open Finance services , including data sharing and payment initiation services, to operate securely and consistently across the UAE. Spare helps bring these standards into real-world payment flows in alignment with the regulatory framework, through the AlTareq ecosystem. ## What is AlTareq AlTareq is the UAE’s Open Finance scheme governing how Open Finance works in the UAE. All parties involved in AlTareq are regulated and licensed by the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE). Its purpose is to: - Enable secure and standardised Open Finance services. - Ensure customer consent and control are central to all interactions. - Offer customers with more choice, convenience and personalized experiences. - Support innovation while maintaining regulatory oversight and consumer protection. Through AlTareq, banks and TPPs can safely offer Open Finance use cases such as bank data sharing and payment initiation. Both AlTareq and licensed TPPs, including Spare, are regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE. ## What is Open Finance Open Finance is an initiative where customers can safely share their financial data with apps and services they trust. With their consent, it allows regulated providers to securely access and share information, such as bank accounts, insurance, or mortgages, through Spare to access more personalized, innovative, and convenient financial services. AlTareq governs how this happens by defining technical standards, consent and authentication requirements, and security expectations, ensuring Open Finance services are delivered in a controlled and customer-centric manner. ![landing-page-illustration-1769159425906.png](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/landing-page-illustration-1769159425906-compressed.png) **Security, Consent, and Governance** Security and customer protection are core principles of AlTareq. The framework ensures that: - Customers explicitly approve every data share or payment. - Authentication remains under the control of the customer’s bank. Through AlTareq, Spare operates within defined scopes and permissions as a regulated entity. As a CBUAE regulated company, Spare operates within AlTareq’s defined scope to securely access financial data and initiate services with customer consent. **What this means for merchants ands customers** For merchants, AlTareq reduces fragmentation by providing a consistent national framework and scheme. For customers, it supports a more uniform Open Finance experience across participating banks. AlTareq’s governance model ensures clear accountability and oversight on Open Finance. Customers remain in control of approvals, while merchants can rely on a framework designed to meet regulatory and security expectations. By enabling AlTareq within its flows, Spare supports Open Finance services that are governed, auditable, and aligned with national standards. ## Open Finance Use Cases Enabled by AlTareq ### **A. Pay By Bank** One of the key Open Finance use cases enabled through AlTareq is payment initiation, sometimes referred to as Pay by Bank. Under this model: - Payments are initiated following customer approval through their bank. - Authentication takes place within the bank’s environment. - Consent is captured for every transaction. While customer experiences may vary by bank, AlTareq ensures consistent standards for consent, authentication, and security across all participants. **What this means in practice** Customers benefit from account-to-account payments without entering card details, while merchants gain access to a regulated Open Finance payment flow supported by participating banks. Spare supports this by connecting merchants to the AlTareq framework and approved payment initiation journeys. ![payment flow](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/white-bsckground-user-journey-1769508238342-compressed.png) ### How Pay By Bank works with Spare 1. User Selects Pay by bank using Altareq 2. User Grants Payment Consent 3. Bank Authenticates Identity 4. Bank Account Selected 5. Payment Authorized & Executed. ### **B. Bank** Sharing **Services** Customers can allow licensed providers to access selected account information through their bank, with explicit consent. **What this means in practice?** Customers have greater visibility and control over financial information, while businesses have the ability to build data-driven services within a regulated framework. ## How Spare aligns with AlTareq Licensed Third Party Providers, such as Spare, deliver Open Finance services within the boundaries defined by AlTareq, while banks retain control over authentication and account security. Spare operates within this role to support Open Finance payment and data sharing use cases while respecting the responsibilities and controls established by the framework. [Get in touch](https://www.tryspare.com/ae/#contact) today to learn how you can enable Open Finance use cases for your business. [Frequently Asked Questions](https://help.tryspare.com/en/) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare and MoneyHash partner to power Pay by Bank in the UAE Published: 2026-01-12 Category: News Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/news/ URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/copy-of-spare-and-moneyhash-partner-to-power-pay-by-bank-in-the-uae/ ![Spare & MoneyHash Signing Ceremony](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/blogmhandspare-1768213100166-compressed.png) At [Spare](https://www.tryspare.com), our mission has always been clear: to build the open banking infrastructure that powers the next generation of financial experiences across the GCC. Today, we’re excited to share a major step forward in that journey, our strategic partnership with [MoneyHash](https://moneyhash.io), a leading payment orchestration platform in emerging and global markets. Together, we’re enabling merchants in the UAE to offer Pay by Bank, an open banking powered, account-to-account (A2A) payment method that allows customers to pay directly from their bank accounts. For merchants, this means lower transaction costs, faster settlement times, and a seamless, secure customer experience. ## **Advancing Open Banking payments in the UAE** As businesses across the UAE and wider GCC look beyond traditional card-based payments, open banking is becoming a cornerstone of modern payment strategies. Through this partnership, Spare provides the regulated payment rails through Open Banking infrastructure and seamless connectivity to financial institutions, while MoneyHash brings powerful payment orchestration capabilities to the table. The result is a Pay by Bank experience that is easy for merchants to adopt and trusted by customers. By combining our strengths, we’re helping businesses: - Lower payment processing costs - Reduce reliance on card networks - Shorten settlement times - Offer customers more choice at checkout “ _Our goal is to make Open Banking accessible and trusted for organizations of all sizes_,” said **Shaima Ghafoor, Country Manager at Spare**. _“Partnering with MoneyHash allows us to strengthen the UAE’s financial infrastructure and support the shift toward secure, account-to-account payment capabilities.”_ _“Open banking is reshaping how digital payments evolve in the region, bringing new ways to enhance security, speed, and customer choice,”_ said **Maram Alikaj, Chief Operating Officer at MoneyHash**. _“Working with Spare aligns with our mission to support the industry with modern payment capabilities and deepen the understanding of how bank-based payments can create value for businesses."_ ## **Built on regulation, trust, and seamless bank connectivity** Operating in alignment with regulatory frameworks across the GCC is fundamental to how we build at Spare. Our platform is fully compliant with local requirements and designed to provide secure, reliable connectivity to financial institutions through a single API. Through our partnership with MoneyHash, we’re expanding access to Pay by Bank and Open Banking payments while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance, helping businesses across the UAE build faster, more efficient, and future-ready payment experiences. ## **Why choose Spare as your Open Banking partner** Spare is trusted by enterprises, fintechs, and SMEs across the GCC to deliver secure, compliant, and scalable open banking solutions. From Pay by Bank to real-time financial data access, our platform is designed to help businesses innovate faster while staying aligned with regulatory requirements. Whether you’re launching in the UAE or scaling across the GCC, Spare provides the infrastructure you need to connect to banks seamlessly and build future-ready financial products. Want to learn more about how Spare can help you launch Pay by Bank and open banking-powered experiences?Get in touch with our team now at [business@tryspare.com](mailto:business@tryspare.com) ### **Why MoneyHash Powers Modern Payment Orchestration** MoneyHash is the leading payment orchestration platform built for emerging and global markets, delivering infrastructure-level payment solutions that mirror AWS's approach to cloud computing. The payment orchestration software enables multiple payment gateway integrations through a single API, offering smart payment routing, multi-currency payment processing, and a unified dashboard for complete operational control. MoneyHash empowers businesses to turn payment complexity into a competitive advantage, delivering the flexibility and scalability needed to scale across one of the world's most diverse and fastest-growing digital markets. Learn more at [**www.moneyhash.io**](http://www.moneyhash.io) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare and Boubyan Bank Partner to Advance Open Banking in Kuwait Published: 2025-11-05 Category: News Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/news/ URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-and-boubyan-bank-partner-to-advance-open-banking-in-kuwait/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/dsc04760-c-1762328311249-compressed.JPG) We are proud to announce that Spare has entered into a strategic partnership with Boubyan Bank, marking a new chapter in Kuwait’s journey toward Open Banking and digital financial innovation. Boubyan Bank has been a supporter of Spare since day one, sponsoring our early participation in the Central Bank of Kuwait’s Open Banking regulatory sandbox. That early belief in innovation laid the foundation for today’s collaboration, one that comes at a pivotal moment following the Central Bank of Kuwait’s draft Open Banking framework. At Spare, our mission is to empower businesses through Open Banking and to drive financial inclusion by developing products that help institutions and customers make smarter, data-driven financial decisions. Partnering with Boubyan Bank, a recognized leader in digital transformation, reflects our shared vision to build a secure, localized fintech infrastructure that will accelerate Open Banking adoption across Kuwait. Boubyan Bank has long been known for its commitment to innovation and diversification, continuously investing in technologies that are shaping the future of finance. Their continued belief in Spare, now strengthened through both Boubyan Capital’s strategic investment and Boubyan Bank’s collaboration, underscores their dedication to nurturing local innovation and empowering the next generation of fintech leaders. Spare continues to develop the infrastructure and integrations required to enable financial institutions, fintechs, and businesses to collaborate seamlessly and securely within Kuwait’s evolving regulatory landscape. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## سبير تجمع 5 ملايين دولار ضمن جولة تمويل لبناء الجيل القادم من الخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة Published: 2025-09-16 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/sbyr-tjma-5-mlayyn-dwlar-dhmn-jwlh-tmwyl-lbnaa-aljyl-alqadm-mn-alkhdmat-almsrfyh-almftwhh/ أعلنت شركة "سبير"، المزود الرائد لخدمات البنية التحتية للمصرفية المفتوحة عن جمع 5 ملايين دولار أمريكي ضمن جولة تمويل(Pre Series A) وقاد الجولة ANB Capital، الذراع الاستثماري للبنك العربي الوطني وأحد أبرز المؤسسات المالية في المملكة . كما شارك في الجولة مستثمرون آخرون منهم Vision Ventures ،SEEDRA Ventures، Boubyan Ventures, 500Global ، و Middle East Venture Partners ، بالإضافة إلى مجموعة من المستثمرين البارزين. تأسست سبير في عام 2019 بواسطة دلال الريس و سوراب شاه ، و تعمل اليوم في تطوير البنية التحتية للمصرفية المفتوحة في المنطقة. الشركة مرخصة من مصرف البحرين المركزي كما تخضع لتنظيم عدد من البنوك المركزية في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، وتوفر واجهة برمجة تطبيقات (API) موحدة وآمنة تتيح الوصول إلى البيانات المالية وتنفيذ المدفوعات بين الحسابات، مما يتيح تقديم خدمات تشمل: تجميع الحسابات، التحقق من الهوية، تقييم المخاطر، والمدفوعات ال ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/whatsapp-image-2025-09-16-at-15-1758060434297-compressed.jpeg) دورية. تحظى شركة "سبير" بثقة شركات رائدة مثل تاب للمدفوعات، و تمارا، و زد، مما يساعدهم على تقديم خدمات مالية أسرع وأكثر أمانًا. سيُستخدم هذا التمويل لتوسيع ربط سبير مع البنوك والمؤسسات المالية، وتسريع تطوير المنتجات، ودفع عجلة التوسع في أسواق دول الخليج. وبفضل شبكة متنامية تضم أكثر من 35 مؤسسة مالية، تبرز "سبير" كركيزة أساسية في مجال الخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة في المنطقة، حيث تقدم حلولًا رائدة تتسم بالسرعة والكفاءة في توظيف رأس المال. وقالت دلال الريس، الشريكة المؤسسة والرئيسة التنفيذية لشركة سبير: "نعمل اليوم على تأسيس البنية التحتية المالية التي ستمكّن الجيل القادم من الشركات في المنطقة. هذا الاستثمار يعطينا دفعة قوية لتسريع الابتكار، وتعزيز الربط مع البنوك و المؤسسات المالية، وزيادة تبنّي حلول مصرفية مفتوحة وآمنة تتناسب مع الأسواق المحلية." وقال عمر ارداتي من anb capital:"سبير تضع معيارًا جديدًا لخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة في المنطقة. التزام الفريق بالبساطة والسرعة والأمان مقرونًا بفهم عميق للسوق المحلي و يجعلها واحدة من أبرز شركات التقنية المالية في المنطقة." وأضاف قيس العيسي من Vision Ventures: " سبير تبني ما تحتاجه المنطقة-  ربطًا ماليًا آمنًا وسلسًا يمكّن الشركات من النمو ويعزز التقدم الحقيقي. نحن فخورون بدعم رؤيتهم الطموحة لإطلاق الإمكانات الكاملة للخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا. إن نجاح سبير يعكس قوة التركيز والسرعة والفهم المحلي العميق." ومع تسارع الزخم نحو الخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة في المنطقة، تبرز "سبير" كلاعب رئيسي في هذا التحول. في المملكة السعودية، أطلق البنك المركزي السعودي (ساما) "برنامج المصرفية المفتوحة"، كما أرسى إطارًا تنظيميًا تدريجيًا لتحقيق ربط مالي آمن يعزز التمكين الاقتصادي للفرد والمجتمع. وفي الإمارات، يعمل مصرف الإمارات المركزي على تطوير إطار تنظيمي خاص به لدعم هذا التوجه. وتُشير التقديرات إلى أن حجم سوق الخدمات المصرفية المفتوحة في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا سيصل إلى 10.16 مليار دولار أمريكي بحلول عام 2030. يمثل هذا التمويل فصلًا جديدًا في رحلة "سبير"، يعزز من أثرها الإقليمي عبر تعميق خدماتها المصرفية، وتسريع وتيرة تطوير منتجاتها، ووضع معيار جديد للربط المالي في اقتصاد المنطقة الرقمي. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare Secures USD 5 million in Pre-Series A Funding to Build the Next Generation of Open Banking Infrastructure Published: 2025-09-08 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-secures-usd-5-million-in-pre-series-a-funding-to-build-the-next-generation-of-open-finance-infrastructure/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/whatsapp-image-2025-09-16-at-15-1758059265894-compressed.jpeg) **Riyadh, Saudi Arabia –** **September** **16** **, 2025** — [Spare,](https://tryspare.com/) a fast-growing open banking infrastructure provider based in Riyadh, has raised USD 5 million in a pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by anb Seed Fund, the venture capital fund of ANB Capital —a subsidiary of Arab National Bank’s (ANB) investment arm and one of Saudi Arabia’s leading financial institutions. Other investors included Vision Ventures, SEEDRA Ventures, 500 Global, Boubyan Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and a group of prominent investors. Founded by **Dalal AlRayes** and **Saurabh Shah** in 2019, Spare is pioneering financial connectivity across the MENA region. Licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and regulated by several GCC central banks, Spare provides a secure and unified API platform for financial data access and account-to-account payments, enabling capabilities such as account aggregation, identity verification, risk assessment, and single recurring payments. Spare’s infrastructure is already trusted by leading players like Tap Payments, Tamara, and Zid, helping them deliver faster, more secure, and user-centric financial services. The new capital will be used to scale Spare’s Open Banking platform and API integrations, accelerate product development, and drive expansion across the GCC. With a growing network of over 35 financial institutions, Spare is emerging as the infrastructure backbone of open finance in the region - delivering market-leading products with speed, focus, and capital efficiency. **Dalal AlRayes, Spare Co-founder and CEO stated:** "We’re building the financial rails for the next generation of businesses in MENA. This investment allows us to move faster, doubling down on product innovation, deepening our integrations with regional banks, and accelerating adoption of secure, localized fintech infrastructure solutions across the region. **Omar Ardati** **of anb seed Fund** commented: “Spare is setting a new standard financial infrastructure in MENA. Their commitment to speed, simplicity, and security - combined with a deep understanding of local market dynamics - makes them a standout company in the region’s fintech landscape.” **Kais Alessa** **of Vision Ventures** added: Spare’s founders are building what the region truly needs - secure, seamless financial connectivity that empowers businesses and drives meaningful progress. We’re proud to support their vision to unlock the full potential of open banking in MENA. Spare’s success is a testament to the power of focus, speed, and deep regional insight.” As MENA’s open finance momentum builds, Spare is uniquely positioned to lead. In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has launched the Open Banking Lab and rolled out a phased regulatory framework to unlock secure, interoperable connectivity across the financial system. Similarly, the Central Bank of the UAE is advancing its own Open Finance framework, reinforcing the region’s shift toward real-time, data-driven financial services. With the MENA Open Finance market projected to reach USD 10.16 billion by 2030, Spare is laying the infrastructure foundation for the region’s next decade of financial innovation. This funding marks a new chapter in Spare’s journey - deepening its impact across MENA by advancing bank integrations, accelerating its product roadmap, and enabling a new standard of financial connectivity for the region’s digital economy. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Spare Receives In-Principle Approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for Open Finance License Published: 2025-09-08 URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/spare-receives-in-principle-approval-from-the-central-bank-of-the-uae-for-open-finance-license/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-blog-06-1757496157433-compressed.png) **​** **Abu Dhabi, UAE - August 01, 2025**  Spare, a leading Open Finance infrastructure provider, has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to be licensed for Open Finance operations in the UAE. This milestone places Spare among the first cohort of companies advancing toward full regulatory authorization under the UAE’s Open Finance framework. It reflects the company’s commitment to secure, compliant, and user-centric financial innovation across the region. As part of Spare’s regional expansion strategy, the UAE reinforces the company’s approach of entering markets with a well-defined regulatory framework. Spare’s expansion into the UAE comes shortly after the establishment of the Central Bank’s Open Finance Regulation. Spare provides merchants a secure and unified API platform for financial account-to-account payments and data access, enabling capabilities such as recurring payments, future dated payments, account aggregation, identity verification, and risk assessment and many more. _“We see the UAE as a strategically important market for Open Finance, with a clear regulatory framework and strong momentum in digital financial services,”_ said Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare. _“This approval is a strong vote of confidence in our technology, our approach to responsible innovation, and our long-term vision for Open Finance in the region.”_ Spare is headquartered in Saudi Arabia, and operates across Bahrain and UAE, delivering Open Finance solutions that power account aggregation, open payments, and financial data connectivity. **About Spare** Spare is an Open Finance infrastructure company that enables businesses to access financial data and payments through a single, secure API. With strong regional regulatory alignment and a growing network of financial institutions, Spare is building the financial connectivity layer of the future. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## How Open Banking Is Transforming Account-to-Account Payments. Published: 2025-09-08 Category: Payments Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/payments/ Tags: open banking, trends, payments Tag URLs: open banking (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/open-banking/), trends (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/trends/), payments (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/payments/) URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/how-open-banking-is-transforming-account-to-account-payments-in-mena/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/cover-image-for-blog-how-open-banking-is-transforming-account-to-account-payments-1757495466017-compressed.png) ​ In the rapidly digitizing economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the way money moves is undergoing a profound transformation. At the center of this shift is Open Banking—a regulatory and technological framework that allows secure access to financial data and services via APIs. While Open Banking opens doors to countless innovations, one of its most immediate and powerful applications is the acceleration of account-to-account (A2A) payments. Gone are the days of clunky bank transfers, high card fees, and multi-day settlement windows. A2A payments, powered by Open Banking, are redefining what it means to move money—offering businesses and consumers a faster, cheaper, and more secure alternative to traditional payment rails. For decades, businesses in MENA have relied on card networks and manual bank transfers—each with its own set of inefficiencies. Cards come with high interchange fees, settlement delays, and fraud risk. Manual transfers lack automation and visibility, particularly when dealing with cross-institution transactions. These systems weren’t built for the speed or flexibility that modern businesses require. Account-to-account payments enable funds to move directly from one bank account to another—no intermediaries, no card rails. They remove friction from transactions and, when built on top of Open Banking infrastructure, offer: - **Real-time settlement:** Payments can be executed instantly, 24/7—critical for use cases like merchant payouts, gig economy disbursements, and recurring billing. - **Lower costs:** A2A eliminates the fees associated with card processing and intermediaries, making every transaction more cost-effective. - **Enhanced security:** With embedded Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and data encryption, Open Banking payments offer bank-level security. - **Better user experience:** Seamless, app-integrated flows mean customers can pay directly from their bank account with just a few taps. Open Banking provides the foundation for A2A by standardizing APIs, ensuring regulatory compliance, and enabling data access with user consent. In Saudi Arabia, the Central Bank (SAMA) has launched an Open Banking Framework, including secure payment initiation services. In the UAE, the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program is prioritizing Open Finance capabilities, while Bahrain’s Central Bank has already implemented a dedicated Open Banking regulatory framework. As these regulations evolve, fintechs like Spare are leveraging them to build intelligent infrastructure that enables seamless A2A transactions across banks and borders. **Real-World Applications in MENA** A2A payments are already driving tangible value across the region: - **Merchant Settlements:** Spare partners with platforms to enable instant account verification and settlements—reducing onboarding friction and cash flow lag. - **Subscription Billing:** Businesses can offer recurring payments without relying on card tokens or risking payment failure. - **Lending and BNPL:** Instant disbursement and repayment flows become possible, removing the need for manual transfers or card rails. As regional APIs become more standardized and consumer adoption grows, A2A payments are poised to become the default for everything from B2B payments to digital commerce. Spare’s infrastructure is already enabling this shift—offering banks, fintechs, and enterprises the rails to launch secure, real-time payment experiences built for the modern economy. A2A payments are more than a technical upgrade—they’re a paradigm shift. Open Banking is making them faster, safer, and more accessible than ever before. As MENA continues its journey toward smarter financial connectivity, businesses that adopt these technologies early will gain a powerful competitive edge. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Is Open Banking Safe? What SMEs Need to Know. Published: 2025-09-08 Category: Data Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/data/ URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/is-open-banking-safe-what-smes-need-to-know/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/blog-cover-image-is-open-banking-safe-what-smes-need-to-know-1757495503290-compressed.png) _​_ _Understanding security, compliance, and what to expect from a regulated infrastructure partner._ As Open Banking continues to gain traction across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are rightfully asking a key question: Is Open Banking safe? The short answer: Yes - when implemented within a regulated, secure, and compliant framework. But to fully understand how Open Banking ensures safety, it’s important to unpack the technology, the regulation behind it, and what to look for when choosing an infrastructure partner. ### Why Security Matters in Open Banking At its core, Open Banking is about giving businesses secure, permissioned access to customer financial data - allowing them to innovate, offer better services, and streamline financial operations. But access to sensitive financial data requires robust protection. Without strong regulatory oversight and secure technical infrastructure, Open Banking could be vulnerable to risks such as data breaches, fraud, and unauthorized access. That’s why the frameworks adopted by regulators in the GCC are built around security from the ground up. Across the GCC, central banks have established robust regulatory frameworks to ensure the security and integrity of Open Banking services. Bahrain, where Spare is licensed,  remains a regional pioneer, with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) having introduced the region’s first dedicated Open Banking regulatory framework. It requires service providers to comply with standardized APIs, implement robust consent management, and deploy real-time monitoring and fraud prevention systems. In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has introduced a phased Open Banking Framework that extends well beyond basic compliance, mandating strong customer authentication (SCA), data minimization, comprehensive audit logs, and continuous oversight and certification of third-party providers (TPPs). The UAE’s Central Bank is advancing Open Finance through its Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program, emphasizing data confidentiality, risk-based access controls, and a tiered licensing system for TPPs. Together, these initiatives establish a secure, interoperable foundation for Open Banking across the region. ### What Makes Open Banking Secure? Modern Open Banking systems are built with a layered security approach. Some of the key safeguards include: - **End-to-End Encryption:** All data exchanged between businesses, banks, and third-party providers is encrypted to ensure privacy and prevent interception. - **Customer Consent Protocols:** Access is only granted when a customer explicitly authorizes it, often with multi-factor authentication. - **Regulatory Licensing:** Licensed and regulated entities undergo rigorous vetting and are subject to ongoing compliance audits. - **Tokenization:** Sensitive data is often replaced with tokens to limit exposure. - **Real-Time Monitoring:** Transactions and access logs are continuously monitored for unusual behavior or attempted breaches. * * * ### **How Spare Keeps Your Data Secure** At Spare, we are licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and regulated across multiple GCC jurisdictions, with compliance embedded into every part of our infrastructure. We offer: - **Compliance-Ready APIs:** Built to meet and exceed regional regulatory requirements. - **Bank-Grade Security Standards:** Aligned with global best practices, including OWASP and NIST frameworks. - **Consent-Driven Access:** Customer data is never accessed without explicit permission. - **AI-Powered Monitoring:** Intelligent systems flag anomalies and prevent fraud in real time. - **Regional Localization:** We tailor our infrastructure to meet the technical and regulatory needs of each country we operate in. ### Final Word for SMEs For SMEs in MENA, Open Banking represents a powerful tool, it unlocks real-time insights, improves payment flows, and enables automation - all while reducing operational inefficiencies. But security should never be an afterthought. By working with licensed and regulated providers like Spare, SMEs can confidently adopt Open Banking with the assurance that their data, and their customers’ data, is protected by the highest standards in the region. Open Banking is the future of smarter, more secure financial connectivity. _​_ --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Why Cash Flow is King: How Open Banking Ensures You Get Paid Faster Published: 2025-09-08 Category: Payments Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/payments/ Tags: trends, payments Tag URLs: trends (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/trends/), payments (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/payments/) URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/why-cash-flow-is-king-how-open-banking-ensures-you-get-paid-faster/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/1742196332371-1757324182246-compressed.png) For SMEs, cash flow is the foundation of sustainable growth. Businesses need predictable, efficient, and cost-effective payment systems to reinvest in inventory, meet payroll, and scale operations. Yet, many SMEs in the GCC struggle with delayed settlements, high transaction fees, and cash flow blind spots that make financial planning difficult. With Open Banking, these challenges are being dismantled. > By enabling direct bank payments, reducing friction in transactions, and improving real-time financial visibility, Open Banking is helping SMEs take control of their cash flow in ways that weren’t possible before. ### The Hidden Cash Flow Problem for SMEs in the GCC Cash flow constraints are among the top reasons SMEs struggle to scale. In the UAE, 88% of businesses say cash flow is their biggest challenge, according to a survey by Al Etihad Payments. Payment delays, high transaction costs, and fragmented financial processes create liquidity issues, making it harder for businesses to operate smoothly. Traditional payment systems contribute to these inefficiencies: - **High transaction fees:** SMEs lose 2-3% per transaction on card fees, reducing profitability. - **Delayed settlements:** Card and bank transfers often take one to three business days to process, locking up working capital. - **Failed transactions:** Visa and Mastercard report that 15% of recurring payments fail due to bank declines, expired cards, or security blocks ( [Pay.com](http://pay.com/)). - **Manual reconciliation headaches:** Many SMEs operate across multiple sales channels - POS systems, invoicing tools, and e-commerce platforms - without an integrated system for tracking payments in real-time. These inefficiencies create unnecessary friction in cash flow management. Without access to funds when they’re needed, SMEs struggle to reinvest in their business, pay suppliers on time, and maintain healthy operations. ### How Open Banking Fixes Cash Flow Gaps Open Banking eliminates these bottlenecks by enabling direct, real-time bank transfers, reducing reliance on costly intermediaries and improving financial transparency. 1. **Instant Bank-to-Bank Payments** Unlike traditional card payments that take days to settle, Open Banking enables **i** nstant or near-instant transfers. In the UAE, **Aani** and in Saudi Arabia, **Sarie**, already facilitate 24/7 real-time payments. Open Banking goes further by **embedding these payments seamlessly into business operations**\- allowing SMEs to automate transactions from invoicing systems, e-commerce checkouts, or ERP platforms, eliminating manual steps and cash flow delays. 2. **Lower Costs, Higher Margins** Open Banking **eliminates the 2-3% processing fees** charged by card networks, allowing SMEs to keep more of their revenue. This means higher margins on every sale and more capital available for reinvestment. 3. **Better Cash Flow Visibility** With Open Banking, SMEs gain **real-time insights** into their financial health, allowing them to predict revenue more accurately and manage expenses proactively. Instead of waiting for end-of-month bank statements, businesses can see transactions as they happen, making financial planning easier and more precise. 4. **Automated Reconciliation and Reduced Errors** Open Banking **connects directly to ERP systems**, accounting software, and invoicing tools, ensuring payments are automatically matched to invoices. This reduces the need for manual tracking and minimizes the risk of accounting discrepancies, freeing up valuable time for business owners. 5. **Unlocking Better Access to Financing** One of the biggest obstacles SMEs face is securing funding. Traditional lenders require extensive financial records and collateral, often leaving small businesses out of financing opportunities. Open Banking changes this by **providing lenders with real-time transaction data**, enabling financing decisions based on **actual business performance**, not outdated financial statements. In the UAE, nearly 65% of SMEs cite access to credit as a major barrier to growth ( Ministry of Economy & Tourism ). Open Banking helps businesses prove creditworthiness based on real cash flow, opening doors to new funding opportunities. **The Bigger Picture: Sustainable Growth Through Smarter Cash Flow Management** Healthy cash flow is about financial resilience. When businesses have immediate access to their revenue, they can make payroll on time, reinvest in inventory, and confidently expand operations. With Open Banking, **SMEs gain more control, lower costs, and operate in a financial system that works for them, not against them.** For businesses looking to future-proof their payments, Open Banking is a necessity. The shift is already underway, with regulatory frameworks in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain accelerating adoption. SMEs that integrate Open Banking now will have a competitive advantage as these innovations become the new standard in payments and financial management. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. --- ## Future Trends in Open Banking What’s Next for MENA? Published: 2025-08-28 Category: Open banking Category URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/category/open-banking/ Tags: open banking, trends Tag URLs: open banking (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/open-banking/), trends (https://tryspare.com/blog/tag/trends/) URL: https://tryspare.com/blog/future-trends-in-open-banking-whats-next-for-mena/ ![](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cmevh57ep006x3a5lv5vb76wv/images/1755013775658-1756391874949-compressed.png) Open Banking in MENA is no longer a question of if, but how fast. With regulatory frameworks taking shape in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, the region is entering a new era of financial connectivity. These foundations are setting the stage for a wave of innovation that will transform how individuals and businesses access, move, and manage money. But what’s next? **1\. Embedded Finance Will Go Mainstream** As more financial institutions open up their APIs, businesses outside of traditional finance - retailers, telecoms, ride-hailing apps, and gig platforms - will begin embedding financial services directly into their customer experiences. Whether it’s instant lending at checkout, earnings advances for gig workers, or savings tools inside e-commerce apps, embedded finance will shift how people interact with financial products. Every digital platform becomes a potential fintech. **2\. Real-Time Payments Infrastructure Will Accelerate** One of the most critical enablers of Open Banking success is real-time payments infrastructure. Countries like Saudi Arabia have already launched national instant payment systems, such as Sarie, which allows for instant transfers and settlements 24/7. In the UAE, the Central Bank has introduced Aani, an instant payments platform operated by Al Etihad Payments. Launched in October 2023, Aani enables secure, real-time digital payments and is a key initiative under the UAE's Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program. Aani offers a suite of features, including transfers using only a recipient’s phone number, email, or QR code. It also supports “Request Money” and “Split Bills,” making payments more social and seamless. As these systems mature, they will unlock use cases such as smart invoicing, instant merchant settlements, and recurring payments, delivered through secure account-to-account (A2A) payment rails. The GCC’s real-time payments volume is expected to quadruple by 2028, driven by this shift to instant rails, according to Redseer and Mastercard. **3\. Smarter Credit and Risk Models** Access to real-time financial data will transform credit decisioning. Instead of relying on outdated credit reports or opaque data, lenders will be able to use Open Banking data for real-time insights into income, cash flow, spending habits, and risk signals. This shift will result in more accurate underwriting models, expanding access to credit for SMEs, gig workers, and underserved consumers across MENA. Open Banking helps create a more transparent and inclusive financial system. **4\. Cross-Border Use Cases Will Emerge** With more countries in the GCC rolling out Open Banking standards, regional interoperability will become a key area of innovation. Expect early experimentation with cross-border account aggregation, identity verification, onboarding, and eventually, payments—especially in sectors like remittances, travel, and regional commerce. A unified data and payment layer could reduce friction for businesses operating across the GCC. **5\. Hyper-Personalized Financial Products** As access to real-time financial data improves, fintechs will be able to design ultra-targeted experiences that move beyond traditional segmentation. Expect smart budgeting tools, personalized investment recommendations, AI-driven savings nudges, and context-aware financial advice delivered inside apps. Financial products will become dynamic and behavioral, adapting to the customer’s real-world data in real time. **6\. Open Finance > Open Banking** Regulators in the region are already thinking beyond traditional bank accounts. The next chapter is Open Finance, where access extends to insurance, pensions, credit cards, wallets, and beyond. Bahrain was the first to implement a dedicated Open Banking regulation, but its approach is already evolving toward Open Finance. This expansion of scope will enable new ecosystems of value, foster data-driven innovation, and give individuals greater control over their entire financial lives. The building blocks are in place. With regulatory momentum, infrastructure development, and rising interest from both startups and incumbents, the MENA region is well-positioned to lead the next wave of Open Finance innovation globally. From embedded finance to AI-powered risk models, the opportunities ahead are vast, and Spare is proud to be helping build the infrastructure to power it. Want to know more about the use-cases, timelines, and product integration? Reach out today on [business@tryspare.com](mailto:business@tryspare.com) and explore how Open Finance fits into your growth journey. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---