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Velmie, a core banking technology provider, said banks in the GCC are entering a new phase of technology investment as regulators expand open finance, payment systems become more connected and artificial intelligence integrates into daily operations. The first wave of digital transformation centred on customer access through mobile applications, remote onboarding and faster payments while core infrastructure remained largely unchanged. That approach produced notable gains in customer experience yet left many institutions handling a rising number of connections among core banking systems, digital channels, payment processors and specialist providers. The next stage will therefore concentrate on simplifying this layered environment.
Velmie noted that GCC banks have achieved considerable progress in digitising the customer interface. “The next investment cycle will address what happens behind that interface: how products are configured, how external services are connected and how the bank maintains control as the technology estate becomes more distributed,” Pavel Shumsky, chief marketing officer at Velmie, said. Open finance frameworks are advancing at varying speeds across the region but share a common direction toward greater collaboration with fintech companies and external platforms.
According to Velmie, Saudi Arabia established an open banking framework that sets business rules, technical standards and defined use cases, with the Saudi Central Bank beginning to license fintech providers in March 2026 after completing a regulatory sandbox phase. The UAE has pursued a wider open finance model through Central Bank regulations that include an API hub, trust framework and shared infrastructure for consented data access and transaction initiation across a broader set of financial products. Bahrain introduced an early open banking framework covering technical standards, security and customer experience, while Qatar incorporated digital transformation, fintech growth and market infrastructure into its national financial sector strategy.
These regulatory steps require banks to adopt a more disciplined technology architecture because each exposed API demands robust authentication, consent management, transaction processing and record keeping. Velmie described open finance as both a distribution opportunity and an architecture issue that necessitates a controlled layer between internal systems and external markets. Without such a layer, every new partnership risks adding independent point-to-point connections that increase maintenance demands.
A P&S Intelligence report projected the GCC digital banking market to expand from $12.7 billion in 2025 to $47.6 billion by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate of 20.8 percent. The Boston Consulting Group assessment found that banks globally direct more than 10 percent of revenues toward technology, with spending expected to rise at a 9 percent compound annual growth rate while more than 60 percent of current outlays support run-the-bank activities rather than innovation. Integration has therefore become a strategic ongoing capability for GCC institutions that combine internal systems with multiple specialist providers for card processing, identity verification, fraud controls and customer communications.
Velmie said changes from any single provider can affect account posting, reconciliation, onboarding and compliance workflows, making middleware and orchestration technology essential for consistent external connections without repeated core system alterations. Its own platform employs API middleware between customer channels, core systems and third-party services so that new offerings can launch while systems of record stay stable. The approach allows progressive modernisation that protects the financial record and shifts product delivery, integrations and customer journeys to a layer built for frequent change.
Regional expansion adds further complexity because licensing, payment infrastructure and onboarding rules differ by jurisdiction even though GCC markets share commercial ties and innovation policies. Velmie explained that its architecture supports a common platform with market-specific adaptations for rules, controls, fees and integrations, with deployment choices spanning public cloud, private cloud and on-premises options. The provider maintains a presence in Dubai to deliver systems integration and digital channel services to regulated institutions across the Middle East and Africa.
