Central Bank of Oman (CBO)
Can a fintech access bank APIs in Oman without an open banking licence?
Content reviewed 2026-08-31 · How we check sources
Short answer
Not if the fintech is independently providing regulated Account Information Services or Payment Initiation Services to customers. Those activities fall within the CBO's Open Banking Regulatory Framework and require the relevant authorisation, although a pure technology provider acting for a licensed institution may have a different regulatory position.
What this means
API access by itself is not the regulatory test. The important question is what service the fintech provides using that access: retrieving account information for a customer, initiating a payment on the customer's instruction, or simply supplying technical infrastructure to a regulated institution.
If the fintech is the customer-facing provider of AIS or PIS, it should expect the CBO open-banking licensing perimeter to apply. A vendor that has no independent customer mandate and acts only as an outsourced technical provider requires a separate outsourcing and contractual analysis rather than automatically being treated as an AISP or PISP.
This distinction matters when designing partnerships with Omani banks and PSPs. The API architecture, consent flow and contracts should all reflect which entity is actually providing the regulated service.
Official sources
CBO — Open Banking Regulatory Framework ↗Some source links need review. The content-review date above is separate from link availability.
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Regulatory research, not legal advice. This answer has the scope and review date shown above; your institution decides applicability.