 Innovating Finance in the GCC: Open Banking, Metaverse, and Lessons from the Insha CaseZhamal Nanaeva ()
Chapter 3 in Digital Finance and Transformation in the Gulf, 2026, pp 57-79 from Springer Abstract: Abstract The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries position themselves as leaders of global digital transformation, actively deploying financial technologies and innovations to advance the economic goals of their ambitious national strategies. To drive this transformation GCC countries employ open banking as a disruptive regulatory and technological framework that enables secure financial data-sharing. Open sharing of customer financial data allows fintech companies to integrate into traditional financial systems, delivering customized, diverse, and inclusive financial services. This paper critically assesses the opportunities and challenges of implementing open banking in the GCC and evaluates its potential to transform financial systems, increase financial inclusion, and stimulate innovation. While open banking is still in its early stages across most GCC states, the global experience of its implementation can offer them valuable lessons. Employing secondary research and data synthesis, the paper outlines the main concepts of open banking and evaluates existing open banking regulations. To illustrate this analysis, the study presents the case of Insha, a German Islamic fintech that launched on Solaris’ banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform. As one of the first digital Islamic banks in Europe, Insha has been a successful story of engaging the Shariah-compliant fintech into conventional financial platforms. However, despite its promising start, Insha discontinued its operations, while providing us with significant insights into challenges and obstacles associated with the BaaS model. The case of Insha offers important lessons on the regulatory and strategic requirements for the long-term performance of the fintech start-up. Furthermore, the Shariah-compliant fintech Insha presented an additional perspective demonstrating difficulties faced by Islamic financial institutions operating within the conventional system. Given that Islamic finance plays a significant role in the GCC, it holds special value for the region. Additionally, the paper examines the intersection of open banking and the emerging metaverse ecosystem. The metaverse introduces new opportunities for the financial sector by integrating blockchain, virtual assets, and immersive digital environments. GCC countries need to capitalize on the novel financial opportunities to engage younger, tech-savvy customers and deliver next-generation financial products. The novelty of this research lies in uniting these three fields into a single analysis, demonstrating how open banking serves as a transition between Shariah-based fintech solutions and the advancement of virtual financial systems. The study suggests an integrated view of the possible progression of GCC financial systems from their current digital transformation into fully interoperable virtual financial systems. This study contributes to ongoing academic and policy discussions by offering an integrated analysis of open banking perspectives in the GCC and actionable insights for all stakeholders to navigate its adoption. Keywords: Fintech; Open banking; Insha; GCC (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-92-1588-1_3 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-981-92-1588-1_3 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Springer Books from Springer |
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