In a bold stride far beyond incremental innovation, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has greenlit the establishment of Nebras Open Finance LLC (under Federal Decree Law No. 30 of 2024) to serve as the central infrastructure operator for open-finance in the UAE. 

A leap rather than a step

Unlike many jurisdictions that piloted open banking before expanding gradually, the UAE’s approach is ambitious and comprehensive. Through Nebras, the nation is implementing a whole-market, cross-sector open-finance framework from the outset, covering banks, insurers, e-wallets and more.

This framework includes:

A centralised API hub and trust-framework (via Nebras' “Al Tareq” brand) for data sharing and transaction initiation across participants. 

Mandatory participation of licensed financial institutions (banks, insurers) as data holders and service initiators under the open-finance regulation. 

Support for advanced payment journeys, variable recurring payments (VRP), near-field-communication (NFC) use-cases, and embedded finance across sectors. 

In short: the UAE is aiming to build an open-finance economy—not merely open banking.

Why this matters

Analysts suggest that by 2030 the shift could lift UAE GDP growth by 1% to 5%, which translates to roughly AED 80-900 billion, and support the national goal of 20% of non-oil GDP coming from the digital economy.

The open-finance model unlocks new revenue streams (global estimates suggest US$416 billion in opportunity) and supports embedded-financial-services models—payments, insurance, lending, remittances—all operating more horizontally and digitally.

For the UAE—a regional trade, finance and remittance hub—this means not just banking innovation, but enabling sectors like logistics, retail, healthcare, cross-border trade and SMEs to embed financial services directly.

Is it the “first truly open-finance economy” in the region?

From available public sources:

The UAE is certainly among the earliest and most ambitious in the MENA region to launch a full-scale, government-mandated open-finance framework.

The Nebras platform provides a unified, regulated infrastructure, unlike many markets where open-banking remains partial or pilot-only.

Participation spans banks, insurers and payment services, and the framework allows not just data sharing but service initiation, which is a more advanced form of open finance.

Thus, while “first” may invite caveats (some other jurisdictions may have open-banking pilots or regional players), the UAE is arguably leading the region in building a credible open-finance economy.

Key considerations ahead

Adoption and ecosystem-build: Much depends on third-party providers (TPPs), fintech partnerships and incumbent institutions using the APIs and data flows to launch compelling services.

Interoperability and competition: To deliver real choice, consumers and SMEs need seamless onboarding, switching and competition across providers.

Consumer trust and data governance: Consent, data security, liability frameworks must work in practice—not just in regulation. Nebras emphasises permitted data-sharing, robust consent and banning screen-scraping. 

Cross-border dimensions: Given the UAE's position in trade and remittances, open finance could unlock cross-border flows—but that also raises regulatory, licensing and data-governance complexity.

Business model sustainability: Open finance often requires the right pricing models (for API calls, third-party partnerships) so that banks, insurers and fintechs see value. Nebras mentions a “per API call pricing model” for ecosystem balance. 

Bottom line

Yes—the UAE is very much building what could become the region’s first comprehensive, truly open-finance economy. With the regulatory backing, infrastructure via Nebras, and ambition to integrate payments, services, data flows across sectors, the UAE is moving beyond traditional banking-centric reform into a broader digital-finance ecosystem. For international practitioners, this signals a strategic moment: engaging early could yield first-mover advantages in embedded finance, cross-border innovation and regional scale.