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  • Saudi Arabia

Tawakkalna monthly transactions reach 4.4 billion as Saudi app expands

Tawakkalna monthly transactions averaged more than 4.4 billion over the past six months, a figure that shows how deeply the platform now

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Yalla payment services approval
  • Digital Payments

The Yalla payment services approval moves a growing fintech one step closer to serving customers across the UAE. On Monday, Yalla Financial Solutions said the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) had granted it an In-Principle Approval for a Retail Payment Services Category II License. The nod falls under the CBUAE Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation. This is not the final license yet. It signals the company has cleared an early, serious gate.

What the Yalla payment services approval means for you

For anyone who taps a phone to pay for coffee or sends money home at the end of the month, licensing like this matters more than it sounds. A Category II License lets a firm handle regulated payment activity under close supervision. Behind the paperwork sits a simple promise. Your money should move safely, and someone should answer for it if something goes wrong.

The Yalla payment services approval signals that the company met the CBUAE’s early conditions. Full authorisation still depends on finishing the remaining requirements. Once that happens, Yalla can build out its payment capabilities inside one of the most active digital finance markets anywhere.

A milestone in Yalla’s journey

Waleed Sadek, CEO and Founder of Yalla Financial Solutions, framed the moment plainly. He said receiving the In-Principle Approval reflects the company’s commitment to building trusted, secure, and innovative payment infrastructure in one of the world’s most advanced digital economies. Sadek added that the UAE has become a global hub for financial innovation through a forward-looking regulatory environment and a clear vision for digital transformation.

“We are proud to be part of this journey and look forward to working closely with the Central Bank of the UAE to complete the remaining regulatory requirements and obtain the final Retail Payment Services Category II License,” Sadek said.

Why the timing fits

The Yalla payment services approval lands as the country pushes hard toward cashless living. Dubai’s Cashless Strategy targets 90 percent of transactions going digital, according to Digital Dubai, and analysts at Mordor Intelligence value the UAE fintech market at about 52 billion dollars in 2026. Numbers like these describe a shift you can feel at the checkout counter, in the taxi, at the corner shop.

More UAE digital payments flow through licensed players each year. That growth pulls in global names and homegrown firms alike. Earlier this year, Revolut secured its own In-Principle Approval for the same Category II license, a sign of how crowded and serious this space has become.

What comes next for Yalla

The road from In-Principle Approval to a live service runs through compliance, testing, and final sign-off. As a payment service provider, Yalla must satisfy the CBUAE on safeguards for customer funds, risk controls, and reporting. None of that is quick. All of it protects the person on the other side of the transaction.

The Yalla payment services approval is a beginning, not a finish line. If the company clears the final steps, everyday users could gain another trusted way to pay, send, and receive. For a market racing toward a cashless future, one more supervised option is welcome news.

  • 3 min read
UAE's first domestic card scheme
  • Digital Payments

Jaywan, the UAE’s first domestic card scheme, will carry a Mastercard badge on a new credit card under a partnership announced by Al Etihad Payments. AEP owns and operates the country’s national card switch and the Jaywan scheme, and it is a wholly owned unit of the Central Bank of the UAE. Both sides describe the deal as a first-of-its-kind arrangement. At its centre sits the world’s first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card.

A co-badged card runs on two payment networks at once. One network clears payments inside the country. The other clears payments abroad. On these products, Jaywan handles domestic transactions, and Mastercard handles international ones. That split lets a single Jaywan card work at home and across Mastercard’s global network. Credit adds a borrowing line that earlier Jaywan debit and prepaid cards did not offer.

New infrastructure inside Mastercard’s network

The agreement goes past a logo on plastic. AEP and Mastercard will build advanced systems for switching and processing card payments. They will also open a new operations centre in the UAE. This centre becomes a node in Mastercard’s global network, built to process both domestic and international payment flows. Mastercard will act as the prime international scheme for the Jaywan credit card program. The UAE will be among the earliest markets to run Mastercard’s latest technology and services.

Security built into UAE digital payments

Mastercard will deploy next-generation payment technology that powers Jaywan debit, prepaid and credit co-badge products. The package covers switching, processing and value-added services. It also brings Mastercard‘s cybersecurity, fraud prevention and threat intelligence tools into UAE digital payments. Threat intelligence means tracking known attack methods so a network can block them before they spread. These systems scan transactions for patterns that signal fraud, such as odd amounts or locations.

What it means for banks and merchants

The partnership reaches past cardholders. AEP wants banks, fintechs and merchants on shared, modern rails. Mastercard’s system gives these players more functions to serve customers and run their businesses. The operations centre will serve local and regional markets, not the UAE alone. That regional role could route more payment traffic through the country and support local innovation.

Why the UAE’s first domestic card scheme matters

The UAE’s first domestic card scheme was built to reduce reliance on foreign networks and to keep payment data inside the country. Adding Mastercard gives Jaywan cardholders reach beyond national borders without giving up local control. Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, the Central Bank’s Assistant Governor for Banking Operations and Support Services and Chairman of Al Etihad Payments, called the collaboration a defining moment for the country’s payments ecosystem. He said pairing national infrastructure with global innovation strengthens sovereignty, resilience and choice.

Dr. Dimitrios Dosis, President for EEMEA at Mastercard, said the company marks forty years in the UAE this year. He tied the partnership to growth in trade, tourism and commerce. Jaywan became the UAE’s first domestic card scheme after development with earlier partners, and nationwide card issuance moved ahead in 2026. AEP has since signed co-badge deals with Visa, Mastercard, Discover and UnionPay. The new credit card extends earlier Jaywan-Mastercard debit and prepaid products.

For now, the UAE’s first domestic card scheme adds a credit product built to work well beyond national borders.

  • 3 min read
NBQ's 2026 half-year profit
  • UAE

NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit came in at AED271 million for the six months to 30 June. Behind that figure sit the depositors, borrowers and staff who keep the lender running. The National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain results point to steady footing at a small bank that families and businesses in the northern emirates lean on for everyday needs.

What NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit shows

The bank credited its first-half showing to a wider mix of income and a broader balance sheet, paired with tight cost control. Total interest income reached AED503 million over the period. Net interest income held about flat at AED310 million, against AED309 million a year earlier. That flat line matters more than it looks. Interest rates fell over the year, so keeping core income steady took real work on both pricing and funding.

For a customer, this shows up in small ways. Your deposit stays safe. Loan terms stay predictable. A bank that earns steadily can keep the lights on for the people who bank with it.

Balance sheet growth and deposits

NBQ total assets rose to AED24.1 billion by the end of June, up 5 percent from December and 20 percent from a year earlier. Customer deposits did much of the heavy lifting. They climbed 29 percent to AED17.1 billion, a sign that more people trusted the bank with their money. Net loans and advances grew 4 percent over the year to AED8.7 billion. Shareholders’ equity reached AED6.4 billion, up 3 percent from June 2025.

Deposit growth on that scale tells a human story. When savers move money into a bank, they place a bet on its stability. That trust gives the lender room to fund loans for homes, shops and small firms across the emirate.

Capital strength and asset quality

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 31 percent, well above the floor the Central Bank of the UAE sets under Basel III rules. Put simply, the bank holds a thick cushion against shocks. The non-performing loans ratio came in at 0.4 percent, up slightly from 0.3 percent at the end of 2025 but far below the 2.2 percent seen a year earlier. Fewer bad loans mean fewer customers in distress and a cleaner book. NBQ net profit after tax landed at AED271 million on the back of these numbers.

Adnan Al Awadhi, Chief Executive Officer of NBQ, said the bank delivered solid results despite geopolitical uncertainty and lower interest rates. He pointed to a diversified model, careful balance sheet management and a focus on lasting growth. Al Awadhi said the bank kept strong capital and liquidity while supporting customers and the wider economy through prudent risk management and better asset quality.

He added that NBQ kept investing in digital tools to improve the customer experience and to make its platforms safer and more reliable. Partnerships would widen its services further, he said. Al Awadhi also restated the bank’s pledge to Emiratisation, leadership development, sustainability and community work.

Why NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit matters to customers

Numbers like these can feel far from daily life. Yet a stable bank shapes real choices for real people. NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit gives the lender the means to keep lending, keep hiring and keep serving the towns it calls home. For anyone who banks there, that steadiness is the point.

  • 3 min read
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