Spare to operate as an open banking ancillary service provider in Bahrain

By Leandra Monteiro

Spare, a Kuwait based financial technology application, has received the license from the Central Bank of Bahrain to operate as an open banking ancillary service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The license will pave the way for Spare to kickstart their operations in Q2 of 2022.

Spare, an app designed to encourage people to adopt smart and sound financial habits, breaks down spending and guides users to understand where their money is going. Spare will also allow users to make payments via account-to-account transfers as well as offer open banking bill payment solutions for businesses and merchants.

Spare will be integrated with all major banks in Bahrain to allow users to connect multiple bank accounts and monitor all balances, track spending across selected accounts, set budgets, and make payments easily and securely.

Furthermore, the solution will cater to businesses in Bahrain by providing faster, cheaper and more secure payment solutions. With Spare, businesses will have multiple benefits including lower fees, direct account to account transfers, and higher security. Additionally, merchants can directly connect to Spare to create QR codes and generate links for payments.

Open banking gives customers more choices and control over their financial data, and it opens up access to a variety of personalized financial products and services that are not available in the Middle East region. Open Banking in the Middle East is picking up momentum, and Spare’s analysis suggests that it is expected to reach over 1.2$ billion by 2025 and that can grow faster as more countries in the region embrace open banking.

Dalal Alrayes, CEO and Co-founder at Spare commented, “Users are demanding better financial experiences whether it comes to the way they do their payments or try to understand their spending information. With Spare, we’re elevating the way people manage their money and providing hyper-personalized experiences, all powered through secure connections to their banking information”

She added, “With Bahrain being the first country in the MENA region to adopt the open banking framework, we are grateful to be able to contribute to the ecosystem and offer this solution. This is in line with our mission to provide a seamless money management experience for everyone to stay on top of their financial lives.”