Open Banking in Saudi Arabia
Open Banking is a banking practice to enable customers of financial institutions to share their financial data securely with third party providers, which in turn provide new and innovative financial services and products for customers.
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) is devoting diligent effort to support the Kingdom's economic growth and safeguard financial and monetary stability. In line with these effort, SAMA has launched the Open Banking Program. The Program is one of the most important initiatives of the Fintech Strategy, one of the pillars of the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) under Saudi Vision 2030. The Fintech Strategy seeks to make Saudi Arabia a global fintech hub where technology-based innovation in financial services is the foundation to enhance the economic empowerment of individuals and society.
If you would like to have access to the Open Banking Framework and the Open Banking Lab, please
contact the Open Banking Program at
Open Banking Framework
The Open Banking Framework is a regulatory framework that includes a comprehensive set of legislation, regulatory guidelines and technical standards.
Key elements of the Open Banking Framework:
- Glossary: Definitions of key terms used throughout the Open Banking Framework.
- Use Cases: An overview of the Open Banking Evaluation Framework and prioritization, together with details of the use cases to be enabled by each new release.
-
Business Rules: Business Rules provide clear directives on the requirements that must be
adhered to
in order for banks and fintechs to provide open banking services, with items
related to specific use cases clearly articulated. - KSA Standards: These Standards are comprised of Customer Experience Guidelines, API Specifications, Implementation Requirements and Operational Guidelines.
Open Banking Lab
The Open Banking Lab provides a technical testing environment to enable banks and fintechs to develop, test, and certify their open banking services to ensure the conformance with the Open Banking Framework. The lab is designed to foster innovation and speed up the development of open banking in the Kingdom.
Key elements of the Open Banking Lab:
- Sandbox Environment: The lab provides a simulation of a real bank's open banking APIs. Open Banking participants can develop and test their applications in a safe and secure environment.
- Ready Use Cases: The lab is designed to support a wide range of end retail and corporate use cases. Mock data is available for the participants to test their solutions.
- Testing and Certification: Participants can easily access the lab's conformance suites to test and certify their APIs to ensure the conformance with the Open Banking Framework.