The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has already unveiled its open banking policy framework, which seeks to ensure that banking information is safely shared through the GCC nations, allowing for fast and cheap financial transactions to be concluded.

This new policy goes hand-in-hand with the new Payment Services Law, which seeks to create a more clearly defined path for entrants into the payment services sector while also creating certainty about the commitment of the Saudi authorities to growing the sector.

Off the back of these new regulations, there has been an explosion in growth in the sector which has prompted both SAMA and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to introduce new regulations that deal with the provision of crowdfunding and lending services, as well as the necessary data aggregation sector, which deal with the new demands of credit-scoring and KYC in real-time.

A massive benefit to this style of regulation is that the financial barrier to entry is greatly reduced, as big and established players will no longer have the monopoly on vital consumer information, thus allowing for data-driven products and services to be developed while being guided by real-world, real-time information.

In a region that is still undeveloped in this space, and with a potential customer base in excess of 150 million people, the foundation is being laid for rapid growth in the FinTech sector, with the regulators and central banks working towards ensuring that there is a regulatory framework that supports sustainable growth.