Vista Equity Partners has established a new regional base in the UAE, receiving full regulatory authorisation to operate its new Abu Dhabi office. The firm’s regional entity, VEPM Middle East Limited, received approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to advise on and arrange investments across the Middle East from its base in the ADGM. Vignesh Vijayakumar has been appointed to lead the Al Maryah Island office as Licensed Director and Senior Executive Officer. The expansion supports the Abu Dhabi Investment Office’s push to build a globally connected hub for next-generation financial services and digital innovation, under its FIDA…

Mashreq has introduced Money Insights, a personal financial management tool integrated into its NEO mobile banking app. The feature is available to the bank’s 1.5 million UAE customers, providing them with greater visibility over their spending and cash flow. It includes an activity tracker that automatically sorts transactions into more than 40 categories. Users can view up to six months of historical data, track month-on-month comparisons, and detect duplicate charges. The product also features a subscription tracker that consolidates all recurring payments into a single dashboard. This function helps customers identify forgotten or overlapping subscriptions and calculate their total monthly…

Fintech News UAE had an in-depth conversation with serial entrepreneur and investor Yefim Oks. In the interview, we discussed what shapes the fintech of tomorrow, from AI to the role of regulation, the convergence of tradfi and defi, and the vision behind his latest venture. Nowadays, Yefim says, the fintech market is experiencing the biggest shift since the emergence of online banking. “We’ve entered a phase where traditional financial institutions either evolve or fall by the wayside. The reason is simple: the user demands speed, transparency, globality, and maximum control over their assets.” At the same time, technologies require extreme…

Adyen is expanding its partnership with SAP to launch SAP Unified Payment, a natively embedded solution that connects digital storefronts directly to the financial backbone of the enterprise via SAP Commerce Cloud. The integration replaces fragmented third-party gateways with a single financial stack. It targets the operational complexities brands face when managing multiple local banks and disparate payment processors. Built on Adyen’s global platform, SAP Unified Payment uses artificial intelligence trained on over a trillion dollars in global transactions. This enables the system to optimise authorisation routing and proactively block fraud. It also uses dynamic identification to recognise loyal customers…

Financial infrastructure provider Stitch has raised US$25 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The investment marks the venture capital firm’s first investment in the GCC and brings the total capital raised by the startup to US$35 million. Stitch provides a cloud-native technology stack that covers lending, cards, payments, and ledgers. The platform enables institutions to modernise core infrastructure module by module without ripping out existing systems overnight. The technology is positioned as a foundational layer for AI adoption in financial institutions. “Financial institutions globally run on fragmented, legacy infrastructure that should have been left behind 20…

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has launched the Payit Universal Account, a multi-service mobile account targeting individuals earning up to AED 5,000 to help employers transition away from legacy salary card models. The initiative aligns with the Central Bank of the UAE’s (CBUAE) financial inclusion goals and operates under its Universal Accounts framework. In addition, users can complete a fully digital onboarding process for the Payit Universal Account with no minimum balance requirement. The product provides an IBAN-enabled digital account, granting users access to local and international money transfers, bill payments, merchant transactions, and cash withdrawals or deposits through FAB…

Checkout.com has released its latest report, MENA Digital Commerce 2026: The New Era of AI in Payments, revealing that while consumers increasingly expect “invisible” payments, security concerns remain the primary driver of cart abandonment in the region. The report found that 97% of regional consumers value payments that occur without manual credential entry or page redirections. However, 62% identified a safe and secure payment process as the most important factor in online shopping, placing it ahead of speedy delivery. Friction in the payment process carries immediate penalties for merchants. According to the data, 62% of consumers abandon a purchase following…

ADI Foundation and SettleMint have partnered to build digital securities infrastructure on the ADI Chain, supporting the issuance and management of tokenised assets under the ADGM regulatory framework. The collaboration combines ADI Foundation’s Layer-2 blockchain, which serves as the settlement ledger, with SettleMint’s Digital Asset Lifecycle Platform. Using the ERC-3643 standard, the platform supports token creation, on-chain recording, post-trade servicing, and lifecycle management. The companies said the architecture addresses a key barrier to institutional adoption by connecting issuance, trading, settlement, and custody across multiple jurisdictions and regulatory regimes. The system records every transaction simultaneously on the ADI blockchain. While the…

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has announced a US$1.69 billion financial relief package to support individuals, SMEs, and large corporates facing recent economic pressures. The initiative has reached 60,559 individuals, 4,335 SMEs, and 485 large corporates, with targeted support directed toward sectors under strain, including transport (361 firms), hospitality (173), and entertainment (134). Under the programme, eligible borrowers can defer loan repayments for up to six months without being classified as in default. The package also includes suspensions on interest and fee payments for affected facilities, alongside continued access to bank financing. All corporations, SMEs, and individuals impacted…

Egypt-born proptech startup Byit has expanded its operations into the UAE, launching a suite of AI tools designed to facilitate cross-border property transactions. The company has established a new entity, Byit Ventures, to connect Egyptian real estate supply with international demand. The expansion specifically targets investors based in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Byit’s platform uses AI to match clients with relevant properties through data-driven recommendations. The new tools provide real-time market analysis, client lifecycle management, and performance optimisation features. They are designed to help brokers process transactions more efficiently. The expansion follows a recent strategic funding round. A15, Beltone…

Mawarid Finance has launched a financial management platform called Lynq, entering the UAE corporate spend market through a partnership with payment processor NymCard. The Islamic finance group designed the system to consolidate corporate cards, spend management, and global supplier payments for small and medium businesses. Users receive a dedicated virtual IBAN to fund their accounts and manage company spending from a single dashboard. By integrating NymCard’s processing engine, Mawarid Finance can issue both physical and virtual Mastercard products. The platform also includes tools for finance teams to set spending limits and monitor transactions in real time, alongside cross-border payment rails…

Crypto.com has secured a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The license, granted to the company’s local entity Foris DAX Middle East FZE, activates a partnership with the Dubai Department of Finance. The agreement allows UAE residents to pay government fees using virtual assets through the exchange’s platform. To comply with the central bank’s regulatory framework, the system will process all financial settlements for these government services exclusively in UAE dirhams or CBUAE-approved dirham-backed stablecoins. Users must onboard through Crypto.com’s existing platform, which Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) already regulates, to access…

Regulation in the CFD and forex industry is continuously evolving in response to changing market dynamics and technology advancements. New rules can reshape leverage, transparency, and how trading platforms operate, directly affecting both service providers and retail traders. Understanding current regulatory updates is crucial for anyone involved in online trading or overseeing compliance within finance. The rapid pace of change in CFD and forex trading regulation stems from a combination of product complexity and the widespread adoption of online trading platforms. With these changes, financial authorities seek to address risks associated with leveraged trading and market accessibility. For readers monitoring…

Codebase Technologies has partnered with Ovanti to support the launch of an Agentic Digital Asset Bank aimed at enabling AI-driven orchestration of digital asset portfolios for both retail and institutional customers. The collaboration will see Ovanti’s technology arm, Datamorph, integrate its proprietary Web3 infrastructure and autonomous AI capabilities into Codebase Technologies’ Digibanc platform. This integration reduces the need for complex core infrastructure development and allows Ovanti to deploy the solution within its broader digital ecosystem. The partnership aligns with rising industry demand for AI adoption, with Accenture noting that nine out of ten organisations plan to increase AI spending in…

Telr has partnered with Geidea to integrate its digital payment gateway with Geidea’s physical point-of-sale terminals for merchants in the UAE. The collaboration connects Telr’s e-commerce acquiring infrastructure with Geidea’s retail hardware, allowing businesses to manage online and in-store transactions through a single setup. Telr operates as a licensed payments acquirer regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The company provides a proprietary payment gateway that processes digital transactions across multiple channels. The partnership aims to simplify payment acceptance for retail businesses. Merchants can access a unified commerce experience across online and physical retail environments. “Our proprietary technology…

AE Coin, the AED-backed stablecoin, has onboarded Nephos Group to accept stablecoin payments, marking a shift from retail use cases into mainstream business services. The move is said to signal a broader transformation in how regulated digital currencies are being used across the UAE, with stablecoins moving beyond trading exchanges and remittances into everyday commercial use. Through the AEC Wallet, Nephos Group clients could now settle their invoices within seconds using the AE Coin. The AEC Wallet enables users to send, receive, and pay using the UAE AE Coin, and is fully backed on a 1:1 ratio by the UAE…

Despite significant conflict and instability in the Middle East, fintech investment stayed resilient in Q1 2026, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerging as one of the strongest fintech funding markets globally, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The UAE attracted US$486 million in fintech funding in Q1 2026, securing its position as the third-largest recipient globally for the quarter. This places the country behind only the US with US$5.46 billion, and the UK with US$1.09 billion. The UAE fintech funding landscape was dominated by large-scale rounds directed toward established ventures expanding across borders, infrastructure platform providers, and high-growth verticals…

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has launched a suite of API-driven services that allow brokers and banks to embed direct market access into their platforms, streamlining account funding for ADX trading. The exchange introduced ADX Managed Services during the Make it in the Emirates forum in Abu Dhabi on May 5. Brokerage firm International Securities signed an initial agreement to be the first partner to deploy the system. The first product in the rollout is a Certified Cash Transfer service. It integrates directly with the Central Bank of the UAE payment infrastructure to process real-time fund transfers from bank…

du has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to provide advisory and consultancy services aimed at supporting enterprises in their digital transformation efforts. The agreement, announced at the Make it in the Emirates forum, will see du Tech guide companies through structured innovation and implementation journeys from concept to execution. The initiative aims to connect advanced technology adoption with scalable deployment strategies aligned with the UAE’s broader economic and industrial goals. Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du, said: “This partnership reflects our role in shaping the future of the UAE’s innovation ecosystem, where advanced technology capabilities and structured…

Mastercard and Yellow Card are launching a strategic partnership to develop stablecoin payment products across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with the UAE named as an initial focus market. The collaboration will test stablecoin use cases across four areas. These include cross-border remittances, business-to-business settlements, digital loyalty programmes, and treasury management. Both companies will work with banks and regulatory bodies to pilot compliant stablecoin solutions designed to improve payment efficiency and reduce transaction costs. Yellow Card operates as a licensed stablecoin infrastructure provider, focusing primarily on emerging markets where traditional banking infrastructure can be fragmented. The alliance will…