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Tarabut Gateway & Visa Aim To Redefine Open Banking In MENA
The partnership will merge the capabilities of both companies as they plan innovative new solutions for the MENA region.
Tarabut Gateway, the MENA region’s leading Open Banking platform, has announced a new strategic partnership with global payment leader Visa.
The companies will use their extensive Open Banking experience to collaborate on new products and solutions, such as credit risk assessments and lending, cross-border payments, and advanced analytical tools.
Tarabut Gateway currently offers various API-based solutions enabling banks, merchants, and fintech startups to build financial apps. Meanwhile, the company’s extensive Open Banking infrastructure continues to expand across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.
The new partnership with Visa aims to enhance customer experiences and foster innovation across the region. It comes after Tarabut Gateway’s recent 32 million USD investment drive, in which Visa was a key participant.
Visa’s investment in Tarabut Gateway follows its recent acquisition of leading Open Banking platform Tink and represents part of a broader MENA strategy.
Abdulla Almoayed, Founder and CEO of Tarabut Gateway, explained his excitement about the collaboration:
“Our existing close relationship, through Visa’s investment in Tarabut Gateway, has paved the way for this collaboration. The progress of open banking in the Middle East in recent years has been remarkable [and] together with Visa, we will leverage our data infrastructure to bring new and improved products to customers”.
Also Read: A Guide To Digital Payment Methods In The Middle East
Meanwhile, Otto Williams, Senior Vice-President and Head of Product, Partnerships, and Digital Solutions for Visa Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, noted:
“The future of financial services is being shaped by next-gen digital innovation, with Open Banking and data sharing serving as a significant driver to help consumers better manage and access their finances. Our shared commitment to next-generation solutions will enable us to transform the financial landscape and offer cutting-edge services to our customers”.
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Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
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