Central Bank of Kuwait issues draft Open Banking Regulatory Framework for a four-week feedback period

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued a draft Open Banking Regulatory Framework and opened it for public feedback ahead of finalisation. The framework is intended to regulate Open Banking activity in Kuwait by setting regulatory requirements alongside security, technical and operating standards aligned with global best practices, enabling local banks and FinTech firms to offer Open Banking services. Under the Open Banking model described by CBK, banks would share customer data with Open Banking Service Providers licensed by CBK in a secure manner and with explicit customer approval. The statement outlines use cases including consolidated account information and expense tracking, spending and saving planning tools, faster processing for transactions related to loans and letters of guarantee, product comparison, and payment initiation from bank accounts for bills, e-commerce and person-to-person payments within and outside Kuwait, including standing orders and future-dated payments. CBK also noted it has already authorised a FinTech company to test Open Banking services within its Regulatory Sandbox (Wolooj) while developing the framework. Feedback on the draft is open for four weeks from issuance via CBK’s designated channel. CBK indicated that, once the final framework is issued, Open Banking services will be launched in phases after sufficient testing to ensure safety.