In this post, you’ll learn how the program works, why it matters for the UAE banking ecosystem, and what fintechs need to do if they want to get involved. The goal is simple: create a repeatable way for banks and fintechs to work together in a sandbox environment, shorten the path from idea to proof of concept, and make innovation more scalable across the financial services sector.

The banking industry is moving quickly, especially in markets like the UAE and wider Gulf region, where digital transformation and AI adoption are accelerating. But the process banks typically use to evaluate and adopt fintech solutions has not kept up. Mark Rothwell-Brooks, who works at VerityX, explained that banks often face a fragmented ecosystem. Each institution may have its own preferred fintech partners, its own evaluation methods, and its own procurement process. That creates friction at every step. In practice, this means a bank first has to define the problem, then identify possible providers, then onboard them, then test the solution in a controlled environment. By the time all that is done, the need may have evolved. That slow cycle is a major issue for both sides:

The Outcomes for Banks program is designed to reduce that friction. Instead of a 9 to 12 month cycle, the ambition is to compress the process into 90 days from ideation to proof of concept.

At its core, the program connects banks with innovation challenges to fintechs that can solve them. But this is not just a loose networking initiative.

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