Bahrain banks must prioritize promotion of open banking: CBB official
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
A top official from the Central Bank of Bahrain has raised concerns over the inadequate promotion of an open banking system among banks in Bahrain.
Yasmeen Al-Sharaf, Head of the FinTech and Innovation Unit at the Central Bank of Bahrain, said it’s necessary to prioritise strategies that promote the concept of open banking.
Al-Sharaf believes that boosting open banking is essential to creating more innovation opportunities for the financial services and fintech sectors.
The CBB official also suggested that monetization could be achieved through rewards and loyalty programmes or by charging for premium services.
These comments were made during a digital panel discussion organised by the Bahrain Association of Banks, titled "Catching the Open Banking Wave: The Opportunities and Challenges in Bahrain."
The discussion included experts from the banking, fintech, and regulatory sectors and was moderated by Dr. Wajeeha Awadh, Group Chief Digital Officer at Al Baraka Group.
During talks, Dr. Yousif Almas, Head of the Digitization Committee at the Association and Group Chief Innovation Officer at Bank ABC, stressed the need to assess Bahrain’s progress and chart a course for the future, considering that Bahrain was the first country in the Middle East to introduce open banking regulations.
Meanwhile, Ali Ghuloom, Group Head of Technology at NBB, highlighted that open banking is a responsibility that goes beyond banks alone.
He mentioned two types of banks: those willing to go the extra mile and those who merely want to comply.
Ghuloom suggested: "Machine Learning and AI can be applied to understand customer behaviour and generate revenue through fintech partnerships."
Dalal Al Rayes, Founder & CEO at Spare, who represented the fintech perspective as an open banking provider, pointed out the core challenges, including the lack of clear onboarding processes, low user awareness, and friction in the user experience.
Al Rayes stressed the need for improvements in data quality and a more user-friendly interface.
Dr. Yousif Almas further outlined the recommendations put forth by the forum, which include creating awareness programmes, simplifying implementation, and unlocking critical data for digitising financial services.
He also mentioned that the association is collaborating with several entities to develop a roadmap for the future of financial services.
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