Pay10 and Commercial Bank of Dubai Launch Open Finance under the UAE’s Al Tareq Initiative

Commercial Bank of Dubai and Pay10 have launched live Open Finance services under the UAE’s AlTareq initiative, moving the region’s digital banking landscape from experimental pilots to regulated retail implementation. This milestone allows customers to securely share data and initiate payments, signaling a major shift toward a more interconnected and customer-centric financial ecosystem in the Middle East.

What was announced

The activation represents one of the first large-scale retail implementations of Open Finance capabilities in the United Arab Emirates, moving beyond controlled pilots into live customer usage. Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) has enabled its retail current and savings accounts to connect through the national Open Finance framework, AlTareq, allowing customers to securely share data and initiate payments in line with Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) regulations. This go-live was implemented in collaboration with Pay10, which is the first entity to be licensed by the CBUAE under the relevant Open Finance framework.

The two organizations have completed live transactions in a production environment, a step that validates the technical integration, operational readiness, and end-to-end data and payment flows required for a wider rollout. This phase marks a transition from early testing to structured, real-world deployment, enabling CBD to offer Open Finance-enabled services to its retail customers while maintaining governance, security, and compliance standards. The activation is powered by Nebras, the CBUAE-supervised Open Finance platform. Nebras’ enablement of both Pay10 and CBD confirms that all regulatory, technical, and operational requirements have been met, with oversight mechanisms in place to support secure participation in the ecosystem. Looking ahead, Pay10 and CBD will continue to expand Open Finance use cases, monitor performance at scale, and support broader customer adoption in line with the UAE’s long-term vision under the AlTareq initiative.

The companies involved

Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) is a prominent financial institution in the UAE that has increasingly focused on digital-first customer experiences. By participating in the AlTareq initiative, the bank has placed itself at the center of a fundamental shift in the country’s financial architecture, aiming to give retail customers greater control over their financial interactions. The bank’s involvement in this go-live specifically targets its retail current and savings account holders, providing them with more transparent and innovative financial solutions.

Pay10 is a fintech organization and the first entity to receive a license from the Central Bank of the UAE under the national Open Finance framework. As a licensed participant, Pay10 facilitates the secure exchange of data and the initiation of payments between banks and third-party services. The company’s role in this partnership involved validating the technical and operational frameworks necessary for live production transactions. Both CBD and Pay10 operate under the supervision of the Central Bank of the UAE and utilize the Nebras platform to ensure that all activities adhere to the country’s long-term vision for a regulated and secure financial ecosystem.

What this means

This go-live moves the UAE's Open Finance conversation from theoretical benefits to operational reality. By transitioning from pilots to production, CBD and Pay10 have set a benchmark that puts pressure on other regional incumbents to accelerate their own integration with the AlTareq initiative. The involvement of the Central Bank via the Nebras platform suggests a highly controlled but scalable rollout. For the wider fintech sector, this provides a proven pathway for licensed entities to access retail data, which is likely to trigger a wave of new personal finance management and payment products in the Gulf. The success of this implementation will likely determine the pace at which the CBUAE mandates participation for the rest of the banking sector.