Open banking platform Tarabut Gateway has teamed up with Bahrain-licensed cryptocurrency exchange Rain to allow customers to top up their crypto wallets in a faster and cheaper way.
The partnership will enable accounts to be topped up directly from users' bank accounts without the need to leave Rain’s platform.
The new feature will use the platform’s open banking payment solutions to speed up transactions and reduce errors associated with traditional bank wire transfers, Tarabut Gateway said on Tuesday.
“We’re delighted to unveil a solution that aims to make fiat-to-crypto transfers quicker, more secure and cost-effective — as well as enable such funding methods directly from bank accounts,” said Abdulla Almoayed, founder and chief executive of Tarabut Gateway.
“Our partnership with Rain is a perfect cross-sector synergy, made possible by Bahrain’s advanced open banking ecosystem. Crypto trading, wallets and other blockchain use cases are natural allies in opening up traditional banking and finance.”
Open banking is a technology that global lenders have embraced to revolutionise the traditional banking model and boost profit as they jostle to engage retail customers on a personal level and drive new areas of growth.
It allows banks to share customer data such as transaction history and spending patterns with regulated third-party providers — with the account holder’s consent.
An open banking platform gives a customer access to accounts from different banks, credit card providers and other financial services companies, allowing them to easily and instantly make transfers between them.
Third-party FinTech platforms, such as Tarabut Gateway, point customers towards financial services and products tailored to their specific needs by analysing their spending habits.
Tarabut Gateway, founded in 2017, is licensed by global regulators such as the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
It is also permitted by the Saudi Central Bank to test its services under the Regulatory Sandbox environment.
The platform, which has partnerships with several banks, financial institutions and FinTech companies across the region, raised $13 million in a seed-funding round in 2021.
The funding round was led by Berlin-based venture capital firm Target Global and it was followed by another $12 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Tiger Global.
The market size of the global open banking industry is set to hit $43.15 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of 24.4 per cent, according to Allied Market Research.
Rain chief executive Joseph Dallago said the partnership with Tarabut Gateway would unlock “a new era for crypto assets adoption in the region”.
“Through quick and efficient deposit mechanisms, crypto traders on Rain’s platform will now be able to seamlessly fund their accounts and capitalise on market movements,” he said.
Through its subsidiary, Rain Management, a digital asset broker and custodian licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rain offers users a space to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency assets.
Rain was founded in 2017 by Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson, Joseph Dallago and Yehia Badawy. In 2019, Rain Management became the first licensed cryptocurrency asset service provider in the Middle East.
A 2021 survey by FinTech company Finastra revealed that open banking was a “must have” for more than half of financial institutions around the world.
Globally, more than nine in 10 financial institutions said open banking was important to their organisation.
The UAE leads the way in terms of open banking’s importance, with 68 per cent of financial institutions saying it is a “must have”, followed by 58 per cent in Hong Kong and 56 per cent in Singapore, the survey found.
Among global financial institutions that have already integrated open banking into their operations, 97 per cent said it provided benefits to their business, such as improving customer service or experience, attracting customers — new and existing — and delivering new services, according to the survey.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Raha%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kuwait%2FSaudi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tech%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2414%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Soor%20Capital%2C%20eWTP%20Arabia%20Capital%2C%20Aujan%20Enterprises%2C%20Nox%20Management%2C%20Cedar%20Mundi%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20166%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
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Company%C2%A0profile
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
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