Tarabut Bolsters Open Banking Platform with Strategic Acquisition of AI Firm Servable

In a strategic move to accelerate its evolution from open banking pipes to an intelligent financial services hub, Bahrain-based Tarabut has acquired the AI engineering company Servable. The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, aims to deeply integrate Servable's regulatory-focused AI technology into Tarabut's existing platform, offering clients real-time decision-making tools and automated solutions.

The acquisition signals a significant shift in the regional open finance landscape. While open banking has primarily been about data sharing and connectivity, Tarabut is now betting on AI as the next critical layer for value creation. Servable's platform, built specifically for regulated sectors, brings capabilities in synthetic data generation, model training labs, and deployment gateways—all designed with governance and explainability in mind.

"Our vision has always been to build world-class financial infrastructure from this region, for this region," said Abdulla Almoayed, CEO and founder of Tarabut. "Integrating Servable's AI engineering prowess allows us to move beyond infrastructure to intelligent decisioning. Banks and fintechs using our platform will soon be able to deploy auditable AI for credit scoring, fraud prevention, and hyper-personalized products, all within a compliant framework."

Mohamed Alderazi, CEO and founder of Servable, noted that the merger enables a faster path from AI experimentation to production. "We built Servable to help regulated institutions navigate the complexity of AI implementation safely. Now, as part of Tarabut, our technology gets a direct channel to the platforms powering a growing network of financial institutions across the Gulf," he said.

The integration is expected to roll out applications in income verification, compliance automation, and customized financial product development. This comes as Tarabut expands its footprint in key markets like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, having established its regional headquarters in Riyadh last year.

Industry observers see the acquisition as a timely consolidation. "The Middle East's fintech scene is maturing rapidly. Pure-play open banking is becoming a commodity; the differentiator will be who can smartly leverage that data flow," said David Chen, a fintech analyst based in Dubai. "Tarabut's move to bake in AI capabilities directly addresses that need."

Layla Hassan, a venture capitalist focusing on regulatory tech, offered a more measured view: "The promise is substantial—governed, explainable AI for finance is the holy grail. But the real test will be in seamless integration and client adoption. The regulatory hurdles across different Gulf states are non-trivial."

However, not all commentary was optimistic. Marcus Thorne, a former bank compliance officer, reacted sharply: "Another 'AI-powered' acquisition headline. We've seen this movie before: big promises on fraud detection and risk assessment, followed by integration headaches and diluted results. I'll believe it when I see a major bank credibly attributing reduced fraud losses directly to this embedded AI. Until then, it's just strategic buzzword bingo."

For Rana Khalid, a product lead at a regional neobank, the news is practical: "If Tarabut can successfully productize Servable's AI Lab and Gateway, it could significantly shorten our development cycles for features like dynamic credit limits. The key is whether it remains as agile and developer-friendly post-acquisition."

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