Fintechly

Mastercard and Arab Financial Services (AFS) have launched corporate credit and prepaid cards on AFS's business app, AFS Pro, live first in the UAE, with Egypt to follow. It's AFS's first UAE product since securing a Central Bank payment services licence in June, backed by $150 million in funding. Customer numbers, transaction volumes and an Egypt timeline remain undisclosed. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d2BpKpN2 #corporatecards #afs #mastercard #businessapp

Emirates NBD has agreed to acquire HSBC's entire retail banking business in Egypt, branches, ATMs, customers and staff included, in a deal expected to close in the second half of 2027. It's the sixth market HSBC has exited retail banking in since 2021, alongside the US, France, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, while keeping corporate and institutional banking in each. For Emirates NBD, it's the second major international deal this summer, after a ~$2.8 billion stake in India's RBL Bank in June. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dHMbddTA Follow Fintechly for fintech updates. #hsbc #enbd #retailbanking

UAE banks have deferred AED 13.5 billion in loans for 135,031 customers under the Central Bank's Financial Institution Resilience Package, more than double the AED 6.2 billion recorded under the same scheme in May. Large corporates are under 1% of beneficiaries but received roughly two-thirds of the money deferred. Individuals make up 95% of beneficiaries but only about 15% of the value. More details: https://lnkd.in/dVy4NGWQ #loanrepayment #cbuae #deferrals

Emirates has launched Crypto.com Pay for flight bookings, letting eligible UAE residents pay for AED-priced tickets directly from their Crypto.com wallet. The launch follows a memorandum of understanding the two companies signed in July 2025, and is being widely reported as a regional first. What's actually new: Emirates is the first major, full-service Gulf carrier to integrate a global crypto exchange's payment product, rather than a single bank's dirham-pegged stablecoin. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dYsZFMp3 #cryptopayments #digitalassets

Commercial Bank of Dubai has launched CBD Invest, a digital wealth management platform inside the CBD Mobile App for affluent, Elite and Private Banking customers. The platform bundles a consolidated view of a customer's finances, portfolio analytics against global indices, and goal-based investing, starting with US-listed equities and ETFs. Elite and Private Banking clients keep a dedicated relationship manager alongside the digital tools. Full story: https://lnkd.in/dYAnERVn #cbd #cbdinvest #wealthmanagement

Pemo has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for a Stored Value Facilities licence, a step towards holding and managing customer business funds directly rather than solely through a partner bank. The Dubai spend management platform now serves more than 6,000 UAE business customers, up from over 4,000 at its last disclosed funding round in November 2024. It has not published an updated transaction volume to match. Read more: https://lnkd.in/de68EwwY #digitalwallet #pemo #uaepayments

Yalla Financial Solutions has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for a Retail Payment Services Category II licence, the tier that specifically covers cross-border fund transfers. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d6zahSrj Follow Fintechly for fintech updates. #yallafinancialsolution #cbuae #retailpayment

Al Etihad Credit Bureau will start folding Tabby | تابي and Tamara's buy now, pay later data into UAE credit reports from July 2026, covering existing customers and historical transactions, not just new activity. The move follows a 2023 central bank rule that classified BNPL as short-term credit, capping fees at 30% and credit limits at AED 20,000 per borrower. Until now, that repayment history sat outside the file banks actually check before approving a mortgage or a car loan. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dfZVcUcw #creditscore #buynowpaylater #bnpl

Checkout.com has won in-principle approval for a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE, adding card issuing to the acquiring licence it has held in the country since 2023. Once operational, it would let merchants fund cards directly from acquired balances instead of pre-funding separately. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dcmmwu3D #uaepayments #uaefintech

ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market)'s regulator Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has recognised Tether Gold (XAU₮) as an Accepted Spot Commodity, clearing ADGM-licensed firms to trade, custody and settle the token. Each XAU₮ token represents one fine troy ounce of physical gold. Reserves have nearly tripled in a year, from about $826 million to roughly $2.86 billion, and the token gained 3.15% in the 40 hours after the announcement. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d_zf4SSW #tethergold #digitalassets #adgm #fsra