Lean Technologies has partnered with Ziina to launch a customer-initiated Open Finance payment experience in the UAE under the Central Bank’s framework.
Ziina, a licensed FI through its SVF authorisation, will execute the payments initiated by customers, with its app allowing users to complete instant A2A bank payments through regulated Open Finance APIs that connect directly to their bank accounts. This offers them a faster and more transparent way to move funds without switching to other apps or relying on manual transfers.
Customer-initiatied payment experiences
While Ziina takes care of the customer experience, which includes designing the payment flow, Lean delivers the regulated infrastructure that supports the journey, which includes secure connectivity, compliant payment initiation, and enterprise-grade resilience. The two companies aim to reflect the UAE consumers’ demands and needs, solving their problems instantly and predictably.
The initiative marks the transition of Open Finance in the region from technical readiness to real-world application, demonstrating how regulated API connectivity supports production-grade payment flows. The UAE’s Open Finance Regulation, together with Nebras, the national Open Finance platform, and Al Tareq, the Central Bank’s API framework, offers the foundation for secure connectivity, allowing licenced API providers to deliver consent-based solutions, thus supporting inclusion, innovation, and customer choice.
Lean has experience when it comes to building Open Finance infrastructure across the UAE, as it worked with regulators, banks and fintechs to enable scalable payment and data connectivity. This aligns with the Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme. Lean’s platform was tested across production-grade applications and is designed to support nationwide adoption.
Ziina’s contribution stands in building a unified payments platform used by consumers and SMEs across the country, which integrates account transfers, card acceptance, invoicing and everyday payment experiences into a single interface. This demonstrates how regulated connectivity can translate into simple interactions that meet the expectations of users in a rapidly digitising economy.
