Lean and Ziina Launch One-Tap Pay by Bank for UAE Wallet Top-Ups

Users connect their bank account once

Lean Technologies and Ziina have introduced a new Pay by Bank experience under the UAE’s Open Finance framework.

Built on Lean’s Deposits solution, the feature allows Ziina users to securely connect a bank account once. They can then initiate future wallet top-ups with a single tap, without entering their banking credentials again or being redirected to a bank portal.

The companies describe the service as the UAE’s first one-tap Pay by Bank experience under Open Finance.

Pay by Bank moves beyond one-time transactions

Pay by Bank services commonly require users to select a bank, authenticate themselves and move between the merchant or wallet application and their bank’s interface.

The Lean and Ziina integration is designed to reduce those steps for returning users. It combines Ziina’s consumer-facing wallet experience with Lean’s account-to-account payment infrastructure.

The development moves Pay by Bank in the UAE from a primarily one-time payment experience towards repeat, lower-friction wallet funding.

The feature relates specifically to user-initiated wallet top-ups. The announcement does not describe it as an automatic subscription payment or an unattended recurring debit service.

Open Finance supports a smoother payment journey

Lean and Ziina previously worked together on a live customer-initiated Open Finance payment experience in the UAE. The latest feature builds on that infrastructure by simplifying subsequent payment journeys for users who have already connected their accounts.

According to the companies, wallet funding is one of the most common actions performed by Ziina users. Reducing the number of authentication and redirection steps is intended to make moving money into the wallet faster and more intuitive.

What it means for merchants and payment platforms

The launch illustrates how account-to-account payments can be designed for repeat use rather than only for individual bank transfers.

For wallets, marketplaces and other platforms that depend on frequent account funding, saved bank connections could help create a more direct payment experience while reducing reliance on repeated manual bank transfers.

The wider opportunity is to make Pay by Bank behave more like a familiar saved payment method without requiring users to re-enter the full payment flow each time.

Lean and Ziina have not disclosed payment conversion, transaction volume or cost-reduction data for the feature. Its commercial impact will therefore depend on user adoption and the broader rollout of Open Finance connectivity across UAE financial institutions.