PaymentsCompliance – the internationally-reputed and award winning information service for compliance, legal and regulatory professionals – published an article commenting on the release by Central Bank of Bahrain of draft rules in respect of open-banking in the Kingdom. In the piece they commented that Banks in Bahrain will be made to facilitate third-party access to customer accounts under draft regulations that appear to hew closely to the European Union’s revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
According to PaymentsCompliance; the draft text addresses several areas that have proven contentious in the European market including the management of customer login credentials, data storage and privacy, and the need for strong customer authentication.
Responding to a request from PaymentsCompliance for comments; Andrew Sims, CEO NEC Payments said:
“The proactive approach that Central Bank of Bahrain is taking to new developments in the financial services industry is very encouraging indeed. In addition to this consultation on open-banking; there are other new regulations in the pipeline including a directive on the issuing and trading of crypto-currencies. While there is obviously some way to go yet; it is bold and forward-thinking for a regulator of a country of the size of Bahrain to be considering these types of advancements – especially when they have heralded the start of sweeping change in more mature and larger markets such EU. This is an affirmation of the position that Bahrain is taking on the financial services industry, and FinTech in particular, as a potential growth segment for the country’s economy as it migrates away from predominantly oil-based revenues.”
The full article may be accessed at: https://paymentscompliance.com/premium-content/insights_analysis/new-rules-aim-spark-open-banking-ecosystem-bahrain
