The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2017–2026
Tarabut bets Gulf banks open their data; first DFSA licence, Visa-backed $32M round
From Bahrain's 2017 sandbox to MENA's first regulated open-banking middleware: DFSA licence, four Saudi bank deals, a $32M Visa-backed Series A.
Tarabut
What the business is
Regulated open-banking middleware: a universal API that connects banks, fintechs and businesses for account information services (AIS) and payment initiation services (PIS) across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
How it started
Founded in 2017 by Bahrain-based investment banker Abdulla Almoayed, when open banking did not exist as a regulated category in the Middle East; with no PSD2-style mandate, banks had no incentive to open their APIs and fintechs had no regulated way to request access.
What happened
Graduated the CBB sandbox in 2018, expanded to Abu Dhabi's Hub71 and DIFC in 2020, and closed a seed led by Target Global plus a pre-Series A led by Tiger Global. In April 2022 it won the first DFSA licence in DIFC for AIS and PIS; in May 2022 it signed Riyad Bank, SABB, Alinma Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi; in 2023 it completed SAMA open-banking certification, joined the Saudi Regulatory Sandbox, and raised a $32M Series A led by Pinnacle Capital with Aljazira Capital, Visa and Tiger Global.
How it ended up
Still running and expanding: acquired UK A2A payments firm Vyne in 2024, rebranded from Tarabut Gateway to Tarabut, secured CBUAE in-principle approval for Open Finance plus a Riyadh headquarters in 2025, and bought Bahrain-founded AI platform Servable in January 2026.
Background
Tarabut's bet was that Gulf regulators would open bank data even though no law forced them to. When Abdulla Almoayed founded the company in 2017, MENA had no equivalent of Europe's PSD2: banks had no duty to share customer data and fintechs had no regulated way to ask, so the financial system stayed closed.
The strategy was to be the regulated intermediary first. Tarabut entered Bahrain's CBB Regulatory Sandbox in 2018 and graduated as its first successful participant, connected to 11 Bahraini banks, then expanded to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In April 2022 the DFSA gave it the first AIS/PIS licence ever issued in DIFC; within a month it had signed four Saudi banks; in 2023 it completed SAMA certification and raised a $32M Series A led by Pinnacle Capital, with Aljazira Capital, Visa and Tiger Global participating.
By mid-2026 Tarabut is MENA's first and largest regulated open-banking platform, live across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It acquired London-based Vyne in 2024 for real-time bank-to-bank payments, won CBUAE in-principle approval for Open Finance in 2025, and bought Bahrain-founded AI platform Servable in January 2026 to move from connectivity into AI-native financial infrastructure.
What has to be true
- In the UK and EU, PSD2 forced banks to share data; in MENA nobody had to, so the first company to combine a licence with live bank integrations defined the standard.
- Being first through the CBB sandbox gave Tarabut a structural head start in regulatory credibility and in working bank connectivity.
- Saudi Arabia's open-banking rollout and its SAR 300 billion SME financing gap gave Visa, Tiger Global and Pinnacle Capital a reason to back infrastructure rather than a consumer app.
- A universal API means any fintech connects once to reach many banks, so network effects reward the first mover.
What can be applied
Tarabut bet on the regulator, not the consumer: in a market with no open-banking law, the scarce asset was a licence and bank integrations, so it became the plumbing both sides had to connect to.
Aftermath
As of mid-June 2026, Tarabut is MENA's first and largest regulated open banking platform, live and licensed in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It acquired Vyne (2024) for real-time account-to-account payments and Servable (January 2026) to embed AI into its infrastructure, holds CBUAE in-principle approval for Open Finance from 2025, and operates a Riyadh headquarters supporting Saudi Arabia's open-banking rollout.
Sources
- DIFC-based Tarabut Gateway becomes the first regulated Open Banking platform in the UAE after DFSA grants licence
- Tarabut Gateway secures USD 32 mln Series A
- Tarabut: From a Bahrain Sandbox to GCC-wide Open Finance
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