Press Releases

Keen to enable the new FinTech and support the Open Banking to help bring about innovative business models in the field of financial services, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has given the green light to test a first-of-its kind product by launching thereof in the local market within the Regulatory Sandbox and applying the same to banking transactions of volunteer customers to fully assess and evaluate the product before the final launch in the market.

Commenting on the new product, His Excellency the CBK Governor, Basel Al-Haroon, stated that the CBK spares no effort to support the advanced FinTech, adding that the new Open Banking product that has been initially launched in the market within the Regulatory Sandbox is the first of its kind in the State of Kuwait. The product operates within an Open Banking Model and provides the users with analytical services for transactions processed on their bank accounts with different banks, along with e-payment services.

Al-Haroon shed the light on the importance of FinTech to CBK, which can be defined as new technologies that relate to the financial industry, and aim to improve the financial activities including launch of advanced products, services and business models in the financial services industry. To this end, the CBK has launched the Regulatory Sandbox in 2018 and updated the same in 2019 to broaden the scope of accepted products and services. The Regulatory Sandbox is a safe space that allows for experimentation with innovative products and services related to FinTech without jeopardizing the stability of the financial and banking system.

On other CBK efforts to support and regulate Open Banking, the Governor noted that the CBK specialists had conducted a wide-scope study concluding that there is a need for Open Banking Regulatory Framework and for Application Programming Interface (API) specifications. For this purpose, the CBK has formed “Open Banking Working Group,” which includes specialists from Kuwaiti banks. The CBK also formed the “CBK Open Banking Working Group” which comprises of CBK specialists and representatives of Kuwaiti banks.

In Conclusion, the Governor praised the cooperation of Kuwaiti banks in supporting the development of Open Banking, stressing on CBK’s role as a motivator and its keenness to deploy the latest technology to enhance banking and financial services in the country.