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Central Bank of Bahrain

03/06/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/06/2021 01:50

CBB and BAB hold forum on FinHub973 for the financial sector (March 6th, 2021)

Published on 6 March 2021
Media Center Press Release

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain - 6March 2021 -The Central Bank of Bahrain('CBB'), in cooperation with the Bahrain Association of Banks('BAB'), held a forum for banks and insurance companies regarding FinHub973 todiscuss the progress of the platformwhich waslaunchedin October 2020in cooperationwith Fintech Galaxy.

The virtual forum was attended by Mr. Rasheed Mohammed AlMaraj, Governor of the CBB, Dr. Waheed Al Qassim, CEO of BAB,Mr. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), and CEOs of retail banks and insurance companies.

FinHub 973 is the MENA region's first cross-border digital innovation platform that connects and facilitates collaboration between financial institutions and FinTechs under the supervision of the central bank. FinHub973 enables local and global FinTechs to connect seamlessly with Bahrain's financial institutions to explore, test, and prototype new and innovative solutions on a centralized digital sandbox.

During the forum, the latest developments in FinHUb 973were presented, most notably the open API Sandbox, which will enable banks and other financial institutions in Bahrain to seamlessly integrate with FinTechs to support them on their digital transformation journeys. A new feature of the platform was also highlighted, namely providing compliance as a service for partner banks and financial institutions with Bahrain Open Banking Framework.

On this occasion, Mr. Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the CBB said: 'This initiative is an opportunity to stimulate innovation opportunities and enhance cooperation between theCBB, financial instituions and FinTechsto explore and createnew and innovative solutions through a centralized virtual environment. Such an initiative supports seamless transition towards digital banking as part of ourcontinuousdigital transformation strategy for thefinancial sector in the Kingdom'. Mr. Al Maraj encouragedfinancial institutions to participate in this platform and benefit from the opportunitiesresulting from collaberating with FinTechs.

Dr. Waheed Al-Qassem, CEO of BAB, said: 'This smart initiative by the CBB willboost the developmentoffinancial technologyandprovidethe necessary support for incubation, guidanceand financing of FinTechs, and enhancethis field within the financial sector and wider economy in linewith the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030'.

Dr. Al Qassim added: 'FinHub 973 become a comprehensive benchmarkfor the development of financial technology in Bahrain, based on the shared focus and talentprovided by the partner financial institutions and stakeholdersof the platform.' Dr. Al Qassim expectsthis platform toachieve more success, especially as financial technology is an essential part of digital transformation in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the need to adopt this new technologyby the public.

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