Lean Technologies and Ziina launch UAE’s first live customer-initiated Open Finance payment under Central Bank framework
Lean Technologies and Ziina have launched the UAE’s first live, customer-initiated Open Finance payment experience under the Central Bank of the UAE’s Open Finance framework.
The launch makes Ziina, a licensed financial institution (LFI) through its Stored Value Facility (SVF) authorisation — the first entity in the UAE to execute live Open Finance payments initiated by customers. Ziina users can now complete instant, account-to-account bank payments directly inside the app using regulated Open Finance APIs connected to their bank accounts, offering a faster and more transparent alternative to manual bank transfers.
Lean provides the regulated Open Finance infrastructure powering the experience, including secure bank connectivity, compliant payment initiation, and enterprise-grade resilience. Ziina designed and delivered the customer payment flow, aiming to match how UAE users expect money to move: quickly, predictably, and within a single channel.
The announcement is also a signal that Open Finance in the UAE is moving from “ready” to “real”. The Central Bank’s Open Finance Regulation — alongside Nebras, the national Open Finance platform, and Al Tareq, the Central Bank’s API framework — establishes the technical and regulatory basis for secure, consent-based connectivity, enabling licensed providers to build compliant services and supporting greater innovation, competition, and customer choice.
Faisal Toukan, Co-founder and CEO of Ziina, said: “Launching the UAE’s first customer-initiated Open Finance payment is a concrete step forward for the country’s financial ecosystem. Regulated, API-driven payments are now operating in real conditions, and that starts to change what customers expect around speed, transparency and trust. Being able to complete a bank payment directly inside the Ziina app through Open Finance shows how forward-looking regulation can shape everyday financial behaviour. We’re proud to partner with Lean Technologies to bring this to life.”
Lean said it has played a foundational role in building Open Finance infrastructure across the UAE, working with regulators, banks and fintechs to enable secure, scalable payment and data connectivity aligned with the Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme. The company said its platform has been tested across production-grade use cases and is designed to support national-scale adoption.
Hisham Al-Falih, CEO of Lean Technologies, said: “Seeing Open Finance payments go live in the UAE is a meaningful milestone for the market. It reflects the Central Bank’s vision for modern, secure financial infrastructure — and shows what becomes possible when strong connectivity is paired with thoughtful product execution. Ziina has been an exceptional partner, and we’re proud to enable the UAE’s first live Open Finance payment experience.”
Ziina added the milestone builds on its broader payments platform used by consumers and SMEs across the UAE, bringing together account transfers, card acceptance, invoicing and day-to-day payments into a single interface. By introducing the first customer-initiated Open Finance payment in the UAE, Ziina said it is extending that foundation — and demonstrating how regulated connectivity can translate into simple, reliable payment experiences in a rapidly digitising economy.