Salt Edge is seeking to assist banks and other financial institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to deliver innovative solutions to the market through the open banking platform’s recent expansion to the region.
The platform’s recent announcement is projected to contribute to the KSA’s adoption of open banking-enabled digital technologies.
Open banking has previously been cited as ‘pivotal’ in the development of the KSA’s financial sector and rate of financial inclusion; said the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
Just this month, SAMA published its highly-anticipated open banking framework to oversee the Kingdom’s preparedness for the arrival of open banking next year.
This includes mandates for banks to make their account information APIs available by the end of 2022 and payment initiation APIs by March 2023.
With the deadline coming up, Salt Edge’s open banking compliance solution provides a feasible route for the region’s banks to become compliant within three months.
The platform has already developed the sandboxes for KSA banks to show how it starts.
Salt Edge has become a formidable figure in the European open banking scene. Since the launch of open banking on the continent back in 2019, the company has assisted various banks and institutions with open banking’s connectivity and regulatory requirements.
These include Western Union, Odoo and Guaranty Trust Bank; among others.
Recognising the importance of open banking capabilities to the KSA and its benefits to the Saudi Vision 2030, Salt Edge is to succeed its European success with the rollout of its solutions to Saudi Arabia.
It hopes that such a move will help financial institutions empower consumers to share their transactional data and initiate payments via trusted fintechs for better financial outcomes.
Salt Edge has built strategic partnerships in the region with Finastra, Temenos and Mambu among others, striving to help financial institutions innovate, grow and deliver customer value.
Speaking on the expansion, Alina Beleuta, the platform’s chief growth officer, predicts that Saudi Arabia will embrace open banking at a higher pace than other regions.
She cites “a thoughtful regulator,” a standardised mandate for API development and increased market demand as key drives of this adoption.
Fintech apps, corporates, SMEs, merchants, lenders, and all kinds of financial service providers have been showing great interest to implement open banking-powered solutions,” confirms Beleuta.
“Now the key to succeeding in open banking is to educate every stakeholder about its benefits and help them build as many viable business use cases as possible.”
ISO 27001 certified and conformant with SAMA’s cybersecurity framework, Salt Edge employs international security measures to ensure connections between financial institutions and their customers.
The company has been onboarded onto SAMA’s open banking lab and is in process of applying to SAMA’s regulatory sandbox for several use cases, partnering with both banks and fintechs in the region.
“Our message to the local banks and financial players is for them to do what they do best, develop services and products to match their consumer’s expectations,” concludes Beleuta.
Image and article originally from thefintechtimes.com. Read the original article here.