ruya and Insightter Launch AI-Powered Banking Intelligence for UAE Fintechs

ruya Community Islamic Bank and Insightter have teamed up to roll out what they’re calling the region’s first AI-powered growth intelligence layer built directly into a Banking-as-a-Service platform. It’s quite a mouthful, but in simple terms it means fintechs in the UAE can plug into ruya’s banking infrastructure and immediately access a ready‑made set of AI tools that usually take years to build. I remember chatting with a young founder at an Arageek event who said getting reliable customer insights early on was “a bit of a faff,” so this sort of thing could be spot on for teams like his.

The two organisations have actually been working side by side for about 18 months, co‑designing what they describe as the bank’s intelligence fabric. Over that period, Insightter helped ruya shape analytics for onboarding and activation, diagnose drop‑offs inside mobile and card flows, and create persona and look‑alike models aimed at spotting high‑value customer segments. They also developed AI‑driven engagement tools and early‑save strategies to improve satisfaction and, crucially, unit economics. And believe it or not, all of this sits within ruya’s secure perimeter, with fintechs keeping full ownership of their own data.

Christoph Koster, the CEO of ruya, noted that fintechs often learn the hard way that customer behaviour “follows patterns,” not theory. He said Insightter helped the bank convert those patterns into its intelligence engine—an engine that new fintech partners will now gain access to from day one. On the flip side, these startups won’t just inherit dashboards; they’ll tap into the same activation, habit‑building and risk‑prediction models powering ruya’s digital bank. I reckon that’s a clever move, especially for teams trying to cut down on experimentation costs.

Insightter’s chief executive, Michel Kilzi, highlighted that ruya had a clear vision from the start: building a bank designed around modern digital habits. Insightter’s job was to craft the intelligence layer beneath it. Now, that same layer is being extended to fintechs choosing ruya as their BaaS partner—something that could well reshape how young financial firms scale across the Gulf.

ruya itself only launched in 2024, but it’s positioned as an Islamic community bank rooted in fairness and transparency, with branches that double as educational hubs. Insightter, meanwhile, brings over two decades of experience in data and customer value management across markets from the GCC to Europe.

If this partnership works as advertised, fintechs plugging into ruya won’t just move faster—they’ll move smarter. Well… I mean, that’s the hope anyway, though nothing in startup life is ever garanteed.

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