In a landmark move for the Middle East’s financial landscape, Ziina, the UAE’s leading consumer and business payment platform, has partnered with Lean Technologies to launch the country’s first live, customer-initiated Open Finance Payments in the UAE. This milestone, executed under the Central Bank of the UAE’s (CBUAE) Open Finance framework, signals a shift from technical theory to real-world application. By leveraging regulated APIs, Ziina and Lean are providing a faster, more transparent, and secure way for users to move money directly from their bank accounts.
What are Open Finance Payments and How Do They Work?
Open Finance Payments in the UAE represent an evolution of traditional banking. Unlike standard transfers that require manual entry of IBANs or switching between different banking apps, Open Finance uses ‘Payment Initiation’ technology.
The process works through a secure bridge (API) between a licensed fintech and a bank. When a user initiates a payment, the fintech sends a request through the regulated Al Tareq API framework. The user then authenticates the transaction directly within their familiar banking environment. Once consent is granted, funds move instantly via an account-to-account (A2A) transfer, bypassing the need for expensive card networks or slow manual wires.
Ziina’s Open Finance Payments Features
As a licensed financial institution with Stored Value Facility (SVF) authorization, Ziina has integrated these capabilities directly into its award-winning app. Key features include:
- Instant Account Linking: Users can connect their existing UAE bank accounts in seconds using secure, regulated APIs.
- One-Tap Initiation: Payments are started and completed within the Ziina interface, eliminating the “channel-switching” friction that often leads to transaction drops.
- Real-Time Settlement: Funds are moved instantly, ensuring that both individual users and SMEs have immediate access to their liquidity.
- Unified Consent: Built on the Nebras national platform, the consent journey is standardized, clear, and easily revocable by the user at any time.
What it Means for the Users
The adoption of Open Finance Payments in the UAE delivers transformative benefits to both consumers and the 260,000+ businesses using Ziina:
Unmatched Security
Because users authenticate through their own bank, sensitive data is never shared with the merchant or stored on the app, significantly reducing fraud risk.
Speed & Efficiency
It removes the need for manual IBAN entry, which is prone to human error. Payments that used to take hours or days now happen in seconds.
Cost Savings
For businesses, A2A payments are generally more cost-effective than card-based transactions, which carry interchange and processing fees.
Transparency
Users gain a holistic view of their finances, with every transaction recorded immutably and presented in an easy-to-digest digital format.
About Ziina
Founded in 2020 by Faisal, Sarah, and Talal Toukan, Ziina is a homegrown UAE powerhouse dedicated to financial freedom. Known for its ‘Red Dot’ award-winning design, Ziina offers everything from P2P transfers and ZiiLinks to the recently launched Ziina Visa Card. By becoming the first to execute live Open Finance payments, Ziina continues its mission to be the primary financial partner for the Arab world’s rapidly digitizing economy.
About Lean Technologies
Lean Technologies is the financial infrastructure backbone of the MENA region. Founded in 2019, Lean provides the ‘pipes’ that allow fintechs to connect to bank data and initiate payments securely. Having processed over $4 billion in volume and connected millions of accounts, Lean’s platform is designed for enterprise-grade resilience and total regulatory compliance within the CBUAE’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) programme.
Way Ahead
The future of Open Finance Payments in the UAE is promising as the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) advances its Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program. With the successful implementation of the infrastructure by Nebras and Al Tareq through Ziina and Lean, we can expect innovative use cases such as automated tax payments and instant insurance disbursements. This partnership marks a significant step toward a competitive, user-centric financial ecosystem in the Emirates, setting a new global standard for digital financial transactions.