Beginning 1 September 2024, all licensed financial and banking institutions must comply with the Central Bank of Bahrain's new Open Banking regulations. These rules require customer consent and authentication, licensee disclosures, and API performance reporting by service providers.
A recent circular issued by the governor of the CBB, outlined these requirements, obligating banks to provide information to payment service providers regarding legal entities after securing their consent.
The circular also introduced amendments to extend Open Banking services to legal entities such as institutions and companies. The amendments affect the General Requirements Module in the CBB's Guidebook, Volumes 1 and 2, as well as the Open Banking Module in Volume 5, incorporating legal entities within the scope of open banking services.
Customer account data requirements
The circular specified that information and payment service providers must detail customer account data requirements for any use cases related to account information. It also introduced changes to the Reporting Requirements Module and the Public Disclosure Requirements Module within Volumes 1 and 2, concerning the disclosure of API performance by account service providers.
Guidance on business models for information and payment service providers will be included in the open banking module of the CBB's Guidebook, Volume 5.
Integrated cash flow
The circular also stipulated that licensed banks must collaborate with benefit company to implement the ‘integrated cash flow’ model for obtaining initial customer consent and authentication during the onboarding process
Information and payment service providers are to agree with banks on standard API specifications and service standards, aligned with security guidelines under Bahrain's Open Banking framework. These amendments follow consultations initiated by the CBB in March and October 2023, with an action plan from all licensed financial and banking institutions due by 30 June of 2022.
Open Banking is anticipated to stimulate Bahraini fintech companies to develop new financial products and services, such as budgeting applications, personal loan offers, and investment platforms, leveraging Open Banking data.
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