is the instant-payments platforms being introduced by central banks such as those in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates . To get a sense of how this could play out , we need only look to Europe , where players who once relied on payments through card schemes are now pivoting towards open banking enabled payments . Closer to home , AlAnsari Exchange recently announced its customers can now transfer money and settle bills via the recipient ' s mobile number , enabled by the UAE ' s Aani IPP .

And finally , comes BigTech . To augment its e-wallet service , Apple has signed up to an open banking service in the UK . The open banking framework which banks enabled through their investments is being exploited by a BigTech firm that has access to 34 % of UK smartphone users . Unsurprisingly , this sparked a fierce antitrust complaint by UK ’ s banks . Other big names will surely follow as they continue to craft ways of offering the digital experiences that garnered them user loyalty in the first place .

The balance

Apple Wallet is aimed at blending payment methods , loyalty cards and other services into a single experience . But such moves have raised regulators ’ eyebrows in regard to a lack of interoperability and the preservation

Luka Celic , Head of Payments Architecture , MENA , at Endava

of competitive markets . Hence , Apple ’ s open banking foray – a gesture to calm the nerves of a finance market that fears having to compete with a company armed with countless millions of user transactions from which to draw insights . The massive user bases of tech giants will give any FSI CEO goosebumps . How does a traditional bank lure an Apple user ? Open banking initiatives open the door to greater competition and innovation , both of which are good for consumers . But the only way to ensure both is by building an www . intelligentfin . tech

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