Egypt advanced both digital-bank market entry and the infrastructure required to support remote banking. Commercial International Bank committed $300 million to its yomo digital banking platform after receiving preliminary regulatory approval, while the Central Bank of Egypt introduced rules governing digital financial identity and electronic customer verification. The central bank also kept its key policy rates unchanged. Across the Gulf, developments centred on extending digital and financing capabilities into more specialised areas. Dubai Islamic Bank introduced off-plan home financing, National Bank of Kuwait enabled fully digital onboarding for children's accounts, and Ajman Bank launched a corporate and SME digital banking platform. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank created a dedicated executive AI role and completed another UK property financing transaction, while Fintech Galaxy moved closer to participating in the UAE's developing Open Finance framework. Read more on the week’s key developments: 1. CIB commits $300 million to yomo after preliminary digital-bank approval Commercial International Bank (CIB) announced on 20 August that it had received preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Egypt to establish yomo as a digital bank. CIB is investing $300 million in yomo Holding's digital banking platform, which will initially be deployed in Egypt as an independently licensed digital-native bank. Yomo will target retail and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with the approval allowing it to complete technology infrastructure, cybersecurity testing, regulatory compliance and operational preparations before obtaining final approval and commencing commercial operations. Yomo will operate as a separate digital bank rather than as another digital channel for CIB. The $300 million investment gives the new bank significant backing before launch, but its impact will depend on customer growth, deposits and transaction volumes. 2. Central Bank of Egypt establishes framework for digital financial identity, eKYC services The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued regulations on 23 August for electronic customer identification and verification through its Digital Financial Identity Platform. The framework allows customers to create a digital financial identity and complete eKYC remotely when accessing banking services. It also sets rules for electronic identity verification, authentication and consent, providing the infrastructure for remote account opening and other digital banking services. The framework gives banks a common way to verify customers remotely instead of relying on separate onboarding processes. This is particularly relevant as Egypt begins licensing digital banks, which need to acquire customers without requiring branch visits. The CBE has not yet disclosed how many banks will use the platform, how many customers will be verified or how much onboarding activity will move online. 3. Saudi Central Bank says banks should apply risk-based controls to cross-border transactions The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) said on 18 August that it does not impose direct restrictions on financial transactions involving specific countries. Instead, banks must assess the risks associated with each transaction, including the customer, transaction type and value, products and services, and the origin and destination of funds. Higher-risk transactions require enhanced due diligence and monitoring under SAMA’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework. The approach leaves banks responsible for deciding how much scrutiny to apply to each transaction. SAMA did not identify the UAE or any other specific country as subject to additional measures, and did not provide data indicating a change in cross-border transaction controls. 4. Central Bank of Egypt holds policy rates at 19%–20% The Central Bank of Egypt's Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates unchanged on 20 August, maintaining the overnight deposit rate at 19%, overnight lending rate at 20%, and main operation and discount rates at 19.5%. The decision followed the committee's assessment of inflation, domestic economic activity and external conditions, leaving the policy stance unchanged after earlier monetary easing. The CBE said the future path of policy rates would depend on the inflation outlook and incoming economic data. The decision keeps interest rates unchanged after earlier cuts, leaving borrowing costs high. For banks, future rate cuts will affect loan and deposit pricing as well as demand for credit. Inflation and the CBE’s next decisions will determine when rates start to fall again. 5. Fintech Galaxy receives in-principle approval to operate as UAE Open Finance provider Fintech Galaxy announced on 19 August that it received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to operate as an Open Finance provider. The approval moves the company closer to providing consent-based financial-data connectivity within the UAE's Open Finance framework. Fintech Galaxy operates FINX Connect, an API-based platform that connects financial institutions and fintechs and supports financial-data access and embedded financial services. The approval is a regulatory step rather than a full market launch. Fintech Galaxy still needs final authorisation, while its use by banks and other financial-service providers will determine how widely its platform is adopted. The company has not disclosed the number of live institutional connections, customers or transactions. 6. Dubai Islamic Bank introduces off-plan home financing Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) launched Shariah-compliant off-plan home financing on 20 August for UAE nationals, residents and eligible non-residents buying freehold properties under construction. Customers can receive financing of up to 50% of the property value, with funds released as construction reaches agreed milestones. During construction, customers pay profit only on the amounts already disbursed. Principal-and-profit payments begin after handover or according to the agreed financing terms. The product links financing to the staged payments used in off-plan property purchases. The announcement does not say how the product differs from DIB’s existing financing for properties under construction or how widely similar products are available from other UAE banks. Its uptake will depend on developer participation, customer demand and loan originations. 7. NBK extends fully digital onboarding to children's accounts National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced on 24 August that parents can open Zeina children's accounts entirely through NBK Mobile Banking without visiting a branch, which the bank says is a first in Kuwait. Parents complete the application digitally, including information verification, required documents and KYC checks. Applications needing additional verification are sent to a specialised team. Zeina accounts are available for children from birth to 13 years old. The service extends digital onboarding to accounts that require parent or guardian verification. It could move more account-opening activity to NBK’s mobile platform and reduce manual processing. NBK has not disclosed how many accounts are being opened digitally or how much the new process reduces turnaround times. 8. ADIB creates chief AI officer role under Vision 2035 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) announced on 19 August the appointment of Pedro Uria-Recio as chief AI officer, creating a dedicated executive position to lead artificial-intelligence strategy and deployment under Vision 2035. He will oversee AI applications across customer experience, risk management, operations and employee capabilities, as well as the governance required for responsible deployment. Uria-Recio previously held senior data and AI leadership positions in banking and technology, bringing experience in scaling AI programmes across financial-services organisations. The change is organisational rather than another individual technology deployment, ADIB has created central executive accountability for AI strategy and implementation across the bank. This becomes relevant as AI moves from isolated use cases towards broader deployment requiring coordinated governance of data, models, risk and regulatory requirements. 9. ADIB provides $36.8 million financing for Glasgow logistics asset Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) announced on 20 August that it provided a five-year AED 133 million ($36.8 million) Shariah-compliant facility to Bahrain-based Blacksand Company B.S.C. to finance a 620,090-square-foot logistics warehouse in Glasgow, Scotland. The property is fully occupied by UK supermarket group Morrisons and serves as one of its regional distribution hubs. It is the third transaction between ADIB and Blacksand, following previous Shariah-compliant UK property financings. The transaction extends an existing financing relationship and adds another UK logistics asset to ADIB’s property-finance portfolio. However, three transactions with one borrower do not show a wider change in ADIB’s international strategy. The bank has not disclosed its total UK property exposure or the value of its recent overseas real-estate financing. 10. Ajman Bank launches AB ONE CORP for corporate and SME customers Ajman Bank launched AB ONE CORP on 24 August as a digital banking platform for corporate and SME customers. The platform combines onboarding with day-to-day banking services through online and mobile channels. It supports bulk and salary payments, multi-level transaction approvals, user and access management, account balances and statements, and reporting. Ajman Bank said it developed the platform after consulting corporate and SME customers. The platform brings several corporate banking functions into one digital environment. However, the announcement does not say how much of this functionality was already available through Ajman Bank’s existing channels. Its impact will depend on customer adoption and whether it reduces the time needed for onboarding and transaction processing. What to watch The Central Bank Payments Conference in Istanbul (31 August–2 September), AIM Congress in Dubai (7–9 September), and the Central Bank of Egypt Monetary Policy Committee meeting (24 September). TAB Middle East Weekly Brief is a regular round-up of developments driving transformation in the Middle East banking sector and what to watch. Subscribe via LinkedIn
