UAE’s Open Finance Unleashed: Pay10 and CBD Pioneer Retail Shift

Editorial Team

Last updated 28-12-2025

3 min

Pay10 and the Commercial Bank of Dubai launched Open Finance services under the UAE's Al Tareq initiative.

Customers can securely link accounts and initiate payments through the UAE's Open Finance framework.

Pay10, the first company licensed by the UAE Central Bank, collaborated with CBD for real transactions.

Nebras, the Central Bank-supervised platform, ensures regulatory compliance and security for Open Finance.

This marks a significant step towards a more interconnected, digital-first banking ecosystem in the UAE.

Pay10 and the Commercial Bank of Dubai have switched on full Open Finance services under the UAE’s Al Tareq initiative, a move that feels like another nudge towards the country’s ambition for a modern, tightly regulated digital finance ecosystem. I remember chatting with a young fintech founder at an Arageek event last year who joked that Open Finance in the region sometimes felt “so close yet so far.” Well… I mean, this latest rollout suggests things are finally shifting from promise to practice.

The partnership means CBD’s retail customers can now link their current and savings accounts through the UAE’s official Open Finance framework, sharing data securely and initiating payments in line with Central Bank regulations. It’s not just another pilot tucked away in a lab; this activation is one of the first large-scale retail deployments actually reaching live customers. And believe it or not, that’s a pretty big deal for a market that has been moving carefully but steadily.

Pay10, the first company licensed by the UAE Central Bank under the relevant framework, worked with CBD to run real transactions in a production environment. The tests showed that the technical plumbing, the operational workflows, and the end‑to‑end movement of data and payments all hold up under real-world use. I reckon that’s spot on for building user trust, especially when so many people still worry about who sees what when it comes to their financial details.

All of this has been enabled via Nebras, the Central Bank–supervised platform that acts as the backbone for Open Finance in the UAE. Nebras’ approval signals that both Pay10 and CBD have ticked the right regulatory and security boxes, with proper oversight in place. On the flip side, getting through those requirements is often described by founders as a bit of a faff, so the fact they’re now live speaks volumes.

In the announcement, Pay10’s founder Harry Gill highlighted that this milestone turns the UAE leadership’s vision for Open Finance into something tangible, giving customers secure access backed by strong governance. CBD’s CEO, Dr Bernd van Linder, framed it as a major step towards a more interconnected financial ecosystem—one that puts customers in control and supports the wider shift towards digital-first banking across the Emirates. I was once told by a banker in Dubai that “control is the new currency,” and this feels very much in that spirit.

Both organisations plan to broaden the use cases and monitor adoption as more customers begin to engage with these features. The long-term aim is to support the UAE’s wider ambitions under Al Tareq, strengthening a system where innovation and compliance walk hand in hand—even if it’s not always as smooth as everyone hopes, or as “definately” straightforward as it sounds on paper.

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