The Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, announced in March 2026 that it has formally commenced the licensing of fintech companies to provide open banking services, following the successful completion of a regulatory sandbox phase that allowed the framework to be tested under controlled conditions before its broader rollout. The announcement marks a pivotal moment in Saudi Arabia's ambition to build one of the most sophisticated financial technology ecosystems in the world, and brings the country's open banking infrastructure into the live commercial phase.
Open banking allows third-party providers to access customer financial data — with the customer's explicit consent — held by banks and other financial institutions through standardised application programming interfaces. The framework enables new categories of product such as account aggregation tools, payment initiation services, and personalised financial management applications that were not previously available within Saudi Arabia's banking market.
OPEN BANKING ANCHORED IN VISION 2030 STRATEGY
The Open Banking Programme sits within Saudi Arabia's National Fintech Strategy, which in turn forms part of the broader Vision 2030 initiative to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbon dependence and position Riyadh as a globally recognised centre for financial services and technology innovation. SAMA has been the principal regulatory architect of the programme, overseeing the sandbox in which participating fintechs developed and tested their open banking propositions before the formal licensing gate was opened.
Saudi Arabia's fintech ecosystem has expanded at a remarkable pace over recent years. The Kingdom had 261 active fintech companies by the end of 2024, surpassing the government's own target of 230 active companies for 2025 — a milestone reached well ahead of schedule. The sector directly employed 11,046 people by that measure, with headcount expected to increase further as the open banking licensing phase draws additional companies into the formal regulatory perimeter and new product categories emerge.
The open banking licence category represents a new tier of authorisation that sits alongside existing SAMA licences for payment service providers, buy-now-pay-later operators, and digital banks. Fintechs that successfully complete the licensing process will be permitted to offer open banking services to retail and potentially corporate customers, operating within parameters and technical standards established by the regulator to protect consumer data and ensure system integrity.
SANDBOX SUCCESS PAVES WAY FOR FORMAL LAUNCH
The regulatory sandbox allowed SAMA to work directly with participating fintech companies to identify technical, operational, and consumer protection issues before the framework was extended to the broader market. Regulators across the MENA region have increasingly adopted the sandbox model as a transitional mechanism, enabling innovation to proceed under supervised conditions while standards are developed, tested, and refined before they carry full legal weight.
The commencement of formal licensing marks the end of that preparatory phase and the beginning of competitive open banking in Saudi Arabia. Companies that participated in the sandbox phase are expected to be among the first to apply for full licences, given their head start in understanding the regulatory requirements, technical specifications, and data governance standards that will apply to all licensed providers.
SAMA has not disclosed the number of companies expected to receive licences in the initial phase, nor has it specified the timeline within which applications will be reviewed and determined. Further guidance on API technical standards, data security requirements, and consumer consent frameworks is expected to follow the licensing announcement as the programme moves into full operational deployment.