The Dubai International Financial Centre ('DIFC') announced, on 28 June 2022, that it had launched the Open Finance Lab ('the Lab'), the first of its kind in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. In particular, the DIFC stated that the Lab aims to engage and educate banks, regulators, and the industry to showcase the positive impact of open finance on the economy. In this regard, the DIFC highlighted that the initiative had begun, on 28 June 2022, with a six-month program, where four banks and a FinTech company will be participating, developing, and exploring use cases until November 2022. Subsequently, the DIFC stated that the program will conclude with a demonstration of the impact achieved by the program to government officials and bank executives.

Moreover, the DIFC specified that the Lab will run business and technical workshops and facilitate industry and regulatory forums on important issues, which will include Application Programming Interfaces ('API') standards, consumer consent management, and promotion of greater understanding of how open finance data will contribute to data-driven innovations and business models, enhancing the future of the financial system. In this regard, the DIFC noted that the Lab has the potential to unlock growth for the financial sector and increase consumer protection, financial inclusion, social benefits, and economic opportunities. Additionally, the DIFC emphasised that this initiative supports the DIFC in realising its 2030 strategy objectives by unlocking opportunities and reinforcing the DIFC's position as a global financial services hub.

You can read the press release here.