In a defining moment for the Kingdom’s financial infrastructure, Lean Technologies has become the first company granted a Major Payment Institution license by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide Open Banking services.
This inaugural license marks a critical inflection point for the Saudi financial sector, signaling that Open Banking has officially graduated from the testing phase of SAMA’s regulatory sandbox into a fully licensed, commercial activity.
From sandbox to systemic infrastructure
Lean Technologies began its journey as one of the first participants admitted into SAMA’s Regulatory Sandbox. Operating under strict governance, the financial infrastructure provider connected over one million bank accounts and analyzed more than one billion transactions, establishing itself as a deeply integrated Open Banking provider in the Kingdom.
“When we founded Lean over six years ago, we held a conviction: that open, regulated access to financial data would become the foundation upon which the next generation of Saudi financial services would be built,” said Hisham Al-Falih, CEO and co-founder of Lean Technologies.
“Receiving this license from SAMA is the moment that validation becomes official. With this license, we have the platform, the partnerships, and the regulatory standing to extend the reach of our infrastructure to thousands of merchants, tens of thousands of SMEs, and millions of end users across the Kingdom”.
Driving financial inclusion and better underwriting
Lean’s infrastructure is already powering a wide array of financial services through partnerships with leading Saudi institutions, including Tabby, Tamara, Abdul Latif Jameel, Sukuk, and Tasheel. The technology enables enhanced KYC, improved risk assessment models, and the creation of data-driven products across sectors like BNPL, consumer finance, and automotive.
One of the most consequential impacts of this Open Banking layer is its ability to broaden financial access for Saudi Arabia’s growing workforce of non-traditional income earners. By utilizing Lean’s verified, real-time data, lenders can properly assess the affordability of freelancers, gig workers, and individuals with multiple income streams—segments that legacy credit infrastructure historically struggled to evaluate.
Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, CEO and co-founder of Tamara, highlighted the tangible business impact of this data access:
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“Lean has unlocked the full potential of cash-flow data in our underwriting”.
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“With access to rich, verified financial information, we can now responsibly serve customers that were previously difficult to underwrite”.
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“This has expanded our access to credit, increased approval rates by more than 32% in our new consumer financing product, and driven strong, risk-adjusted growth”.
Looking ahead to Vision 2030
The successful rollout of a licensed Open Banking layer represents a core component of the Kingdom’s broader Vision 2030 objectives. The milestone validates SAMA’s structured approach to financial innovation, which balanced the need to scale new technologies with robust consumer protection and systemic integrity.
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