Virtually Everything | Series 3, Episode 3 | Open Finance

In this episode of the Virtually Everything podcast, hosts Lucy Nash and Vyasna Mahadevey are joined by Barkha Doshi, a new Senior Associate in our Financial Services Regulatory team. With deep expertise in fintech, virtual assets and payments, Barkha shares her insights on the UAE’s newly issued Open Finance Regulations and what they mean for the region’s fast-evolving digital payments landscape.

The discussion explores how Open Finance is shifting control of financial data to consumers, enabling smarter, more personalised services through secure data sharing and payment initiation. Barkha breaks down the key concepts, including how APIs underpin this ecosystem, the difference between Open Banking and Open Finance, and what institutions need to do to remain compliant.

Barkha also reflects on why a clear regulatory framework is so essential in regions like the UAE. With the country positioning itself as a leading global fintech hub, regulation provides the necessary guardrails for safe and sustainable growth. It offers protections for consumers, opens the door for innovation, and strengthens the UAE’s position on the international fintech stage.

Continuing a tradition of closing each episode with a buzzword, Barkha picks “API” – short for Application Programming Interface – as the key term of the day. APIs act as the bridge between banks and third-party applications, enabling secure and seamless data exchanges and payment processes, and serving as the underlying technology making Open Finance a reality.

This episode kicks off a two-part series on the future of payments in the UAE, with part two set to focus on payment token regulations. If you’d like to learn more about Open Finance or how these changes could impact your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.

This podcast forms part of the Virtually Everything podcast series. To find out more about the topics discussed in the series, please visit our dedicated Digital Assets and Blockchain page.