Abdulla Almoayed shares his aspirations for open banking and how he plans to use his learnings over the past year as a foundation for the company’s growth strategy.
Tell us about your company and how you started.
As a technologist at heart, I’ve always been fascinated by the way technology can transform economies. Back in 2017, as part of my role as CEO of Almoayed Technologies, we were investing heavily in large-scale infrastructure projects aimed at accelerating the MENA region’s digital transformation. However, what soon came to my attention was the lack of startups addressing a significant problem in the financial services sector; products and services are still a one-size-fits-all.
And so, through setting up Tarabut Gateway; MENA’s first and largest regulated open banking platform, we now offer tools that allow the facilitation and distribution of personalized financial services. Through connecting a global network of banks and Fintech's through a universal Application Programming Interface (API) we enable financial institutions to build a new world of financial services across the region.
How did you hear about Hub71?
Given the traction we’ve witnessed in the MENA region since setting up three years ago, the UAE was definitely a key market we wanted to tap into. Hence, after researching extensively what program in the UAE would allow us to seamlessly set up our new offices virtually, Hub71 was the most attractive.
Since joining Hub71, how have you benefited from the ecosystem?
As we are committed to investing in jobs in the UAE, Hub71’s vibrant and dynamic ecosystem helped us attract extraordinary talent.
What is one key learning you gained from 2020?
This year has been the year of the big wake-up call. Like most growing companies, the pandemic has allowed us at Tarabut Gateway to embrace remote-working and a more collaborative and agile working environment. This new model provided us with greater access to talent, increased productivity, lower costs, and more individual flexibility. And when the world stood still, we focused on what we do best — which is build great products.
In the past year, we have partnered up with several leading financial institutions in the MENA region to offer them a range of open banking products and services that pave the way for the next generation of banking.
What are your aspirations for 2021?
2021 is an important year for open banking in the MENA region. Open banking will be as transformative for the financial services industry, as Netflix was for the way people watch movies at home.
Just like how Netflix makes suggestions on what films and TV shows you might want to watch, so will open banking be able to give a more tailored experience for customers, making suggestions on where you can invest and save money.
