Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Open Banking platform Lean Technologies today announced that it has received its Financial Services Permission (FSP) to carry out the regulated activity of providing Third Party Services from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre of the capital of the UAE.

As the first licensed Third-Party Provider (TPP), Lean helps businesses to build new fintech solutions through its developer-friendly API suite.

After entering ADGM’s RegLab, which is a fintech sandbox designed to foster innovation within the UAE’s financial services market for both new market entrants and existing financial institutions, the company was able to test its Data and Payments APIs in a risk-appropriate and cost-effective manner.

The testing phase has allowed Lean to onboard clients, and successfully demonstrate the importance of their service. Some of their clients include Etisalat, Hubpay, Lulu Money, Careem, as well as crypto and trading companies such as Binance, BitOasis, and Sarwa.

In 2021, the FSRA introduced a new framework for third-party technology service providers to be able to work alongside financial institutions in a secure and efficient manner that facilitates customer transactions, whilst protecting the data and interests of those customers. This framework also advocates for open finance in the region with its focus on giving customers and businesses control over their financial data to foster innovation and new models of financial services.

“Lean Technologies has been operating from ADGM since December 2020, and we found that ADGM’s vibrant tech ecosystem and the FSRA’s visionary regulatory frameworks have enabled us to achieve our growth and ongoing expansion goals. With this progressive regulatory base, we are excited to build the region’s best open banking platform, and eventually expand into open finance,” said Mehdi Tazi, Chief Business Officer and SEO of Lean Technologies LTD.

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Markets at ADGM said “ADGM aims to catalyse the growth of home-grown Fintech innovators through fostering a trusted and collaborative marketplace for experimentation. We welcome Lean Technologies as the first fully licensed Third-Party Provider (TPP) to have graduated from ADGM RegLab.”

“Over a period of two years, we witnessed the impact of Lean and other participants’ business model and services on the financial ecosystem, as part of the development and issuance of our Third-Party Provider (TPP) framework that forms the foundation of our Open Finance regulation. We look forward to supporting a vibrant Open Finance community at this international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, focusing on building the next generation of financial services and laying the foundation for a resilient digital economy.”

Lean also envisions a fully inclusive financial ecosystem that serves everyone, no matter where they bank or live in the MENAP region. The company recently announced a USD 33 million Series A, led by Sequoia Capital, and will soon be expanding its coverage beyond the UAE and Saudi Arabia.