1. Version Control

Version	Date	Description of Changes
Bahrain OBF v1.0.0	28th Oct 2020	Initial Release

2. Overview

As part of the Open Banking module, a key element of the Bahrain OBF is to design use cases with customer experience guidelines and technical API specifications to provide direction and baseline implementation standards for all participants. Use cases have been developed by leveraging key insights from global best practices and evaluating business opportunities relevant for Bahrain market.

Each use case broadly includes the following:

Customer experience standards encompassing customer journey, mandatory, conditional and optional CX requirements
API technical specifications encompassing API specifications, UML diagrams, data models, endpoints and usage examples

3. Theme Selection

Three themes have been identified that form the backbone of categorizing and developing the use cases for Bahrain OBF.

4. List of Use Cases

In consultation with the Open Banking participants, a list of use cases have been finalized to be part of Bahrain OBF v1.0.0:

#	Category	Use cases	Description
1	Payment Initiation Services	Single Domestic Payment Account selection @ PISP Account selection @ ASPSP Account selection @ PISP/ASPSP with Supplementary information	Single Domestic Payment allows the user/customer, post his/her consent to the PISP to make a one-time payment for a specific amount to a specific payee immediately, wherein the PISP provides this instruction to the customer’s ASPSP.
2	Payment Initiation Services	Single Future Dated Domestic Payment Single Future Dated Domestic Payment Cancellation of Single Future Dated Domestic Payment @ PISP	Single Future Dated Domestic Payment allows the user/customer, post his/her consent to the PISP to make a one-time payment for a specific amount to a specific payee on a specific future date, wherein the PISP provides this instruction to the customer’s ASPSP.
3	Payment Initiation Services	Single International Payment	Single International Payment allows the user/customer, post his/her consent to the PISP to make an international payment for a specific amount to a specific payee, wherein the PISP provides this instruction to the customer’s ASPSP.
4	Payment Initiation Services	Bulk/Batch Payment	Bulk/Batch Payment allows the user/customer, post his/her consent to the PISPs to initiate multiple payments to one or more beneficiaries in a single transaction, wherein the PISP provides this instruction to the customer’s ASPSP.
5	Account Information Services	Sharing Transaction History/ Account Information	Account Information Sharing allows the user/customer, post his/her consent to the AISP to instruct his/her ASPSP to share the users'/customers’ data. The AISP can access the user/customer data to provide recommendations/ innovative financial products and services as per his/ her needs.
6	Account Information Services	Sharing Product Details	Sharing Product Details allows third party developers (such as AISPs) to request for the ASPSPs products and services details. The ASPSPs accordingly share the requested information through standard APIs.
7	Essentials Services	Consent Management Consent Dashboard and Revocation Access Dashboard and Revocation	Consent Dashboard allows the user/customer to view, refresh and revoke consent that they have given to the AISP to access the users'/ customers’ data Access Dashboard allows the user/customer to view, refresh and revoke access that they have given to that AISP through the ASPSP portal
8	Essentials Services	Notification Event Subscription Real Time Notification Aggregated Polling	Event Subscription allows an AISP and (or) PISP to register with an ASPSP to subscribe to real time and (or) aggregated polling event notifications, specify a list of event types to be notified on and optionally read, update or delete a registered event subscription The Real Time Notification allows the ASPSP to notify an AISP and (or) PISP in real time, that an event has occurred Aggregated Polling allows the AISP and(or) PISP to request the ASPSP for an aggregated set of notifications related to multiple user/customer accounts during a specific period, enabling them to update their records and contact the user/customer

5. Key Elements

Detailed Customer Journey
- A customer journey is a visual representation of every experience the customers will go through for a use case. Bahrain OBF covers all the necessary and important elements of the Open Banking customer journey to be followed by the Open Banking participants
Variations of the Use Cases
- Multiple variations are covered within a use case based on customer journeys, user interfaces and technical API specifications
Additional Supplementary Information
- Supplementary Information should be displayed to the user/customer, having regard to the principle that parity should be maintained between Open Banking journeys and the ASPSPs direct online channel journeys. Additional Information may include fees, charges, warning signs, transaction summary, vulnerable transaction, etc. The ASPSP will decide on this field/information based on the applicability
Sequence Flow
- A sequence flow is the connector between two elements of a process. After an element is visited during process execution, all outgoing sequence flows should be followed
Security and Access Control
- Access control is a security technique that regulates who or what can view or use resources in an open banking ecosystem. Access control systems perform identification, authentication and authorization of the AISP/PISP and the user/customer by evaluating required login credentials
Reusable Components
- APIs are built on principle of reusability where an API can be functionally reused for different applications and provide the filtering according to the requirements of the party involved. This will lead to reduction in development cost and time to market
Endpoints
- When an API interacts with another system, the touchpoints of this communication are considered endpoints. Each endpoint is the location from which APIs can access the resources they need to carry out their function. API performance relies on its ability to communicate effectively with API Endpoints
Data Model, Object Model and Data Dictionary
- Data Model is a logical structure of database which describes its design to reflect entities, attributes, relationship among data, constraints, etc.
- An object model is a logical interface, software or system that is modeled through the use of object-oriented techniques. It enables the creation of an architectural software or system model prior to development or programming
- A data dictionary is a list of key terms and metrics with definitions, a business glossary. Data Model and Data Dictionary facilitates better understanding of APIs and related endpoints
Usage Examples
- Each use case has been provided with multiple JSON examples to make the API specification easily understandable for all the stakeholders