Alongside the UAE, the country was several years ahead of its GCC peers in launching a regulatory sandbox for FinTech experimentation. And to address cross-border inefficiencies, CBB announced earlier this year that it had completed a test of the JPM Coin with Onyx by J.P. Morgan, which allowed Bahrain-headquartered Bank ABC to launch real-time payment for Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) — considered the first aluminum smelter in the Middle East — in the U.S. Despite its relatively small size compared to its neighbors, the country is increasingly becoming an important center of international trade and commerce in the region, helped by an established banking sector and a proactive stance taken by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to create a thriving innovation hub for FinTech startups.
Bahrain has had a legislative framework in place to facilitate open banking, combining aspects of the European Union’s PSD2 regulation, the U.K.’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) and Australia’s Open Banking rules, all built on top of the globally recognized ISO 20022 standard. And thanks to its early lead to promote open banking, the very first graduate of its regulatory sandbox, Tarabut Gateway, has gone on to become a household name and the go-to open banking platform for many banks and FinTechs in the region, with clients including HSBC Saudi Arabia and Kuwait Finance House. The Bahrain-based FinTech recently announced a partnership with Mastercard that will allow the company to integrate Mastercard data into its ‘Ingage’ financial well-being and money management platform.