Lean Technologies and Ziina have launched the UAE’s first live customer-initiated Open Finance payment under the Central Bank of the UAE’s Open Finance framework. With the launch, Ziina, a licensed financial institution operating under a Stored Value Facility authorisation, becomes the first entity in the UAE to process live Open Finance payments initiated directly by customers. Users of the Ziina app can now make instant account-to-account bank payments through regulated Open Finance APIs that connect directly to their bank accounts, without switching platforms or relying on manual bank transfers.
Lean Technologies provides the Open Finance infrastructure supporting the payment flow, including secure bank connectivity, compliant payment initiation, and system resilience aligned with regulatory requirements. Ziina is responsible for the customer-facing experience, including the design and execution of the payment process within its app.
The rollout represents a move from Open Finance readiness to live deployment in the UAE. It demonstrates that regulated API-based connectivity can support production-grade payment use cases. The Central Bank’s Open Finance Regulation, together with the Nebras national Open Finance platform and Al Tareq API framework, provides the technical and regulatory structure enabling licensed providers to deliver consent-based financial services.
Faisal Toukan, Co-founder and CEO of Ziina, said, “Delivering the UAE’s first customer-initiated Open Finance payment marks an important step for the country’s financial ecosystem. Regulated, API-driven payments, now operating at production scale, are beginning to influence expectations around speed, transparency and trust. Enabling customers to complete a bank payment directly inside the Ziina app through Open Finance reflects how forward-thinking policy can shape everyday financial behaviour. We are proud to partner with Lean Technologies to bring the vision to life.”
Hisham Al-Falih, CEO of Lean Technologies, commented, “Seeing Open Finance payments live in the UAE is a meaningful moment for the market. This milestone reflects the Central Bank’s vision for modern, secure financial infrastructure and shows what becomes possible when strong connectivity meets thoughtful product execution. Ziina has been an exceptional partner, and we are proud to enable the country’s first live Open Finance payment experience.”
Lean Technologies has been involved in the development of Open Finance infrastructure in the UAE, working with regulators, banks and fintech companies to support secure and scalable payment and data connectivity aligned with the Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme.
Ziina operates a unified payments platform serving consumers and small businesses in the UAE, supporting services such as account transfers, card payments and invoicing. The introduction of customer-initiated Open Finance payments extends this platform by enabling direct bank payments through regulated API connections.
