AlTareq Framework
CBUAE's Open Finance scheme for consent, data sharing, and payment initiation in the UAE.
AlTareq is the UAE's national Open Finance scheme. The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) licenses the banks and Third-Party Providers (TPPs) that participate. It sets how customer consent is captured, how authentication stays at the customer's bank, and how payment initiation and account information services run across participating institutions.
Spare operates as a TPP under this framework. Merchants and fintechs integrate with Spare. They do not connect to AlTareq directly.
What AlTareq Governs
AlTareq defines the regulatory, technical, and operational rules for Open Finance in the UAE:
- Secure, standardised APIs between licensed banks and licensed TPPs
- Explicit customer consent for every data share or payment
- Authentication and account security remaining with the customer's bank
- Oversight by CBUAE for both scheme participants and TPPs
The CBUAE Open Finance Regulation (2024) requires licensed banks and financial institutions to participate. AlTareq is the scheme and API hub that implements that regulation. The first AlTareq standard was published in August 2024, with an update in December 2024.
Who Participates
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Customer | Approves data access or a payment at their bank |
| Licensed bank (LFI) | Authenticates the customer and holds the account |
| Licensed TPP | Connects merchants to the scheme; Spare is this layer |
| Merchant or fintech | Calls Spare APIs; never calls AlTareq itself |
Banks live on Spare today are listed on Live Banks. Call GET /providers for the machine-readable directory.
Use Cases
Payment initiation (Pay by Bank)
The customer authorizes a payment at their bank. Spare initiates the debit under that consent. This is the path behind Payments, including International Payments.
Typical sequence:
- The customer chooses Pay by Bank
- Spare collects payment consent
- The bank authenticates the customer
- The customer selects an account if you did not pre-supply one
- The bank authorizes the payment and Spare executes it
See Payment flow for the API objects on that path.
Account information
With consent, a licensed TPP can read selected account data from the customer's bank. Spare exposes this as Account Information.
What Is Live Through Spare
| Capability | Status | Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic payment initiation | Live | Payments |
| International payment initiation | Live | International Payments |
| Account information | Live | Account Information |
Market-level status also lives on Coverage.
How This Relates To The API
AlTareq is the scheme. The Spare API is the integration contract you call:
- Payment requests, consents, and mandates: Payments
- Purpose codes required on create: Purpose Codes
- Banks available in the tenant: Live Banks
Continue learning
Further reading on the scheme and the CBUAE framework: AlTareq: enabling Open Finance in the UAE and Central Bank of the UAE's Open Finance framework: what it means in practice. Other product writing is on Spare's blog.