RIYADH: Lean Technologies is gearing up to seize new opportunities as Saudi Arabia and the UAE roll out major regulatory reforms poised to transform the region’s financial services landscape.


With the introduction of payment initiation services and open finance frameworks expected over the next 18 months, the company is entering a pivotal stage in its efforts to build the digital infrastructure underpinning financial innovation across the Gulf.

“We’re heads down right now focused on the rollout of the two regulatory updates,” said Hisham Al-Falih, CEO of Lean Technologies, in an interview with Arab News. 

“These are both massive opportunities we’ve been waiting for since the beginning,” he said, referring to the upcoming rollout of open finance in the UAE and payment initiation services in Saudi Arabia.

Founded in 2019, Lean Technologies set out to bridge critical infrastructure gaps that had long stifled fintech innovation across the region.

Al-Falih, who returned to Saudi Arabia after several years in Silicon Valley, was struck by the lack of digital financial services in a market marked by high mobile penetration, a youthful population, and a growing venture capital ecosystem.

“There was a big gap in the market when it came to accessing consumer data and accessing cutting-edge payment capabilities,” he said. 

Lean’s core offering enables businesses to access consumer-authorized bank data and real-time payment services within a fully regulated framework.

The company collaborates closely with regulators and financial institutions to provide secure, compliant connectivity that supports a variety of applications — from onboarding and credit scoring to payment processing and account verification.

Since its inception, Lean has partnered with over 300 enterprise clients and financial institutions across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

It currently handles more than $2 billion in transaction volume and projects reaching $2 billion in annualized volume in the UAE alone by the end of the year.

Lean’s momentum was further strengthened by a high-profile funding round in 2024, bringing its total capital raised to over $100 million since inception. The latest round included a $67.5 million investment led by global investors such as Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital Ventures.

Although Al-Falih did not disclose Lean’s valuation or confirm unicorn status, he emphasized that the company is “very well funded for the foreseeable future” and remains focused on execution rather than fundraising.

Future plans include deeper regulatory engagement, product innovation, and long-term preparation for a potential IPO. 

“We want to do what’s right for our stakeholders,” Al-Falih said. 

One of Lean’s immediate priorities is guiding clients through upcoming regulatory changes in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

These regulatory shifts extend regulated access beyond traditional bank accounts to encompass a wider range of financial data, including loans, insurance, and investments.

Al-Falih explained that while open banking provides third parties with secure, user-consented access to bank account data, open finance broadens this access to include additional financial products such as investments, loans, savings, and insurance.

He described this as a natural progression from open banking, which has already enabled consumers to safely share banking data with third-party providers.

The advantages of this expanded data access are already evident. Lean’s platform supports clients across diverse sectors including lending, e-commerce, trading, and insurance.

For instance, buy now, pay later provider Tabby integrated Lean’s platform to reduce customer application times from days to minutes, enhancing credit decisions through real-time bank data access.

Talabat utilized Lean to automate vendor payouts and customer refunds, boosting operational efficiency.

Capital.com employed Lean’s account verification tools to cut onboarding drop-off rates by 30 percent and reduce transaction costs by 20 percent.

“These are companies that are benefiting from our underwriting capabilities, our onboarding flows, and our payment capabilities,” Al-Falih said. 

Lean also serves an advisory role within the regulatory ecosystem, actively collaborating with financial authorities across the Gulf to offer technical insights and ensure alignment with evolving compliance frameworks.

“We’ve been working closely with central banks and associated parties in the ecosystem to provide our feedback,” he said. 

The company holds a license from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market and has received an in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE.

Lean is also System and Organization Controls 2 compliant and has made significant investments in cybersecurity infrastructure to safeguard its platform.

SOC 2 is a compliance standard developed by the American Institute of CPAs that focuses on the security of a service organization’s systems and controls related to handling customer data.

“We have invested literally millions of dollars in our cybersecurity posture and maturity,” Al-Falih noted. “This is a responsibility that end users are endowing on us, and we don’t take that lightly.” 

Despite strong uptake among enterprise clients, Al-Falih acknowledged that open banking remains relatively unfamiliar to the general public. “Sometimes we mistake terminology with adoption,” he said. 

The CEO noted that open banking is often embedded in everyday digital experiences — such as bank transfers, wallet top-ups, and online onboarding— even if consumers are unaware of the infrastructure behind it.
Trust, he added, remains crucial to user adoption. 

Lean has observed that consumers are more likely to opt in to open banking services when these are offered through well-known, established brands.

“The highest conversion comes from merchants that are already a trusted brand,” he said. 

While user interface design and clear communication play a role in driving adoption, Al-Falih emphasized that technical performance and strong security credentials are ultimately the most critical factors.

Looking ahead, Lean is exploring the convergence of artificial intelligence and digital assets as a new frontier for innovation.
The company sees promising use cases for generative AI in helping consumers better manage their finances, as well as for stablecoin technologies that could lower transaction costs and improve the speed of digital payments.

Al-Falih pointed to the rise of agentic AI — autonomous systems capable of making decisions on behalf of users — as a potential game-changer in personal finance. Such tools, he said, could one day optimize account activity in real time based on an individual’s risk profile and financial goals.

While Lean has not yet announced specific products in this space, Al-Falih confirmed that the company is actively exploring how to integrate these technologies into its platform to deliver greater long-term value to users.

Despite the company’s progress, Al-Falih emphasized that Lean’s mission is far from complete. 

“We don’t feel anywhere near like the mission is complete,” he said. “There’s still a very long way ahead of us.”