Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has become the first bank in the UAE to receive a Third-Party Provider licence under the Central Bank's AlTareq Open Finance initiative.
The licence permits ADIB to aggregate customer-permissioned account data from other financial institutions, presenting users with a consolidated view of their finances through a single ADIB interface.
In addition, the AlTareq initiative, introduced as part of the UAE Central Bank's 2023–2026 strategy, provides a regulated framework for licensed financial institutions to share financial data securely between banks and authorised third parties, subject to explicit customer consent and robust authentication controls.
A dual role within the Open Finance ecosystem
Under the new framework, ADIB is set to operate in two distinct capacities. As a regulated bank, it continues to act as a custodian of customer accounts and financial data, enabling secure data sharing through approved APIs governed by consent and data-protection standards. As a licensed TPP, ADIB can extend its digital channels to allow customers to view and manage accounts held at other banks, streamlining financial oversight and decision-making.
The account aggregation capability is designed to give customers a centralised interface for managing accounts across institutions, with the bank stating that access to consolidated data will also support its ability to tailor financial solutions to individual customer behaviour.
This development builds on ADIB's broader digital transformation programme. The bank has recently expanded fully digital onboarding for home finance approval and card applications, enabling both existing and prospective customers to complete processes through straight-through digital journeys.
Mohamed Abdelbary, Group Chief Executive Officer of ADIB, noted that the TPP licence is a step in the bank's Vision 2035 strategy, which centres on customer-centric and data-driven banking, moving away from siloed financial models towards more integrated service delivery.
The UAE's progress in Open Finance places it alongside other jurisdictions that have established regulatory frameworks for structured data sharing in financial services. At the same time, the AlTareq initiative represents the country's formal mechanism for operationalising Open Finance at a national level, with ADIB's licensing marking one of the framework's first institutional milestones.
ADIB has indicated it will continue expanding Open Finance-enabled customer journeys, with additional features and use cases to be introduced in subsequent phases.
