The UAE has recorded its first live Open Finance payment after Ziina successfully executed a customer-initiated account-to-account transaction in partnership with Lean Technologies.
Ziina, the UAE-based payments platform, has become the first company in the country to execute a live Open Finance payment in production, working in partnership with financial infrastructure provider Lean Technologies. The milestone marks the transition of the UAE’s Open Finance framework from pilots and testing into real-world consumer use.
The launch enables customer-initiated, account-to-account payments to be completed directly within the Ziina app using regulated Open Finance connections. Instead of relying on card rails or manual bank transfers, users can securely connect their bank accounts and make payments through API-based payment initiation, without leaving the app or entering bank details repeatedly.
Ziina delivers the front-end payment experience under its Stored Value Facility (SVF) licence from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), while Lean Technologies provides the regulated Open Finance infrastructure. Lean’s role includes secure bank connectivity, consent management, and compliance with the CBUAE’s technical and regulatory requirements for third-party payment initiation.
The transaction was executed within the UAE’s national Open Finance framework, which is supported by the Nebras platform and the CBUAE’s Al Tareq API framework. These initiatives are designed to allow licensed third-party providers to access bank data and initiate payments in a secure, standardised, and consent-driven manner. The successful execution demonstrates that the regulatory and technical foundations are now capable of supporting live, consumer-facing payment use cases at scale.
From a market perspective, the development is significant for both consumers and businesses. For users, Open Finance payments offer a more seamless alternative to traditional bank transfers, with faster execution and fewer steps. For merchants and small businesses, account-to-account payments could reduce dependence on card networks, lower acceptance costs, and improve cash flow through near-instant settlement.
The announcement also has broader implications for the UAE’s fintech ecosystem. By moving beyond sandbox environments into live deployment, Ziina and Lean Technologies have provided a practical reference point for other financial institutions and fintechs considering Open Finance-based payment products. It signals growing regulatory maturity and supports the UAE’s ambition to position itself as a regional leader in digital financial infrastructure.
With the first live Open Finance payment now completed, attention is expected to turn to wider adoption, additional use cases, and how account-to-account payments may coexist with, or gradually complement, established card-based payment methods in the UAE market.
