UAE central bank licenses Ziina for merchant acquiring, payment aggregation and transfers

UAE fintech Ziina said on 23 October 2026 that it has received a Retail Payment Services Category III licence and an Exchange Business Category IV authorisation from the Central Bank of the UAE. The company already held a Stored Value Facility licence, granted in June 2024, which allowed it to launch its digital wallet. The new licence covers merchant acquiring, payment aggregation and domestic fund transfers, and it brings Ziina's merchant tools under direct supervision. Those tools include payment links, QR code payments, Tap to Pay on a phone and an online payment gateway. The exchange authorisation lets Ziina offer international money transfers through its app and other digital channels. Ziina reports more than 500,000 annual customers and over USD 1.5 billion in annualised payment volume, and says one in ten UAE small and medium-sized businesses use it. Chief executive Faisal Toukan said the company intends to take its offering beyond the UAE into the wider Arab world. The licence adds another regulated acquirer aimed at small merchants in a market where online and social commerce sellers often rely on payment links rather than full checkout integrations. More licensed competitors can mean more choice on pricing and payout speed for UAE merchants, and fewer intermediaries between the merchant and the card schemes.