Doha: QNB, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, has announced its launch of Open Banking platform for a wider audience including the Bank’s customers, partners and emerging fintechs in Qatar.
QNB is the first bank in Qatar and one of the first in the region for launching Open Banking services. With this enhanced API infrastructure, the bank will provide a unique banking experience to its customers allowing them to access its core banking systems securely.
Announcing the launch, Adel Al Malki, General Manager of QNB Group Retail Banking stated: “QNB has been exploring the space of Open Banking since much earlier; our partnership with Ooredoo on the Ooredoo Money is a classic example for both open banking and fintech partnership in providing financial services for the masses”.
“We implemented this almost 10 years ago and it has now become a case study where wallets operated by a telecom have access to multiple banking facilities like virtual IBAN, Virtual MasterCard, Payroll Solution, Local and International Remittances and other services. It is important to note that these products offered by QNB and Ooredoo are first of their kind in the region, and at times in the world,” he added.
Open Banking aims to integrate the bank’s core financial services with its partners in a secure manner, to share customer data and facilitate payments between organisations. The changing consumer demand, fueled by lifestyle habits of generation Z require organisations to provide seamless customer experience in each interaction.
Fintechs, IoT companies and other third party providers are looking at unified integration with banks for data sharing and payment processing. Enabling these Open Banking APIs would transform the fintech landscape in Qatar and help launch innovative futuristic solutions for nationals, residents and visitors to the country.
Khalid Ahmed Al Sada, General Manager for Group Corporate and Institutional Banking at QNB said: “We are actively exploring potential regional and global partnerships with the advocates of Open Banking solutions. Beyond regulatory compliance, our goal is to enrich our corporate bank e-channels with Beyond Banking Value-Added services. We strongly believe that with the arrival of Open Banking a new digital collaborative financial ecosystem started to emerge globally, where banks together with their new partners can unlock further synergies and drive innovation faster. The ultimate goal of Open Banking is to increase efficiency, enrich functionality and put user experience to the next level”.
Maryam Mohd Al Kuwari, General Manager at QNB Group Information Technology added: “We are very excited with the possibilities that will open up for our customers and partners as we add Open Banking to our existing technology ecosystem. We aim to leverage our banking expertise and industry-standard technology to integrate with emerging tintechs; thus providing highly innovative and focused solutions across multiple domains. We hope to introduce hyper personalised experiences for our Retail and Corporate customers as we continue to adhere to our track record of implementing pioneering solutions”.
From a customer perspective, Open Banking can deliver real, meaningful value to a bank’s customers and partners. From offering customers the flexibility to use their bank accounts for payments without relying on credit/debit cards to facilitating access to a single financial portal for all their banking needs across different financial institutions, investment and insurance companies, and provident and pension funds. With customer consent, financial data can be shared securely with third parties, thus leading the way for better customer insights and tailored financial instruments.
Al Malki further commented: “The success of future banks relies on its use of data and technology; banks blending these two elements to provide lifestyle benefits at competitive offering will lead the industry”.
