UAE's Ziina secures central bank approvals for retail payments and exchange services

The UAE-based fintech platform, Ziina, has obtained crucial regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for its retail payments and exchange services. Ziina's acquisition of a Retail Payment Services Category III license and Exchange Business Category IV authorization under its existing Stored Value Facility license makes it the first homegrown fintech company in the UAE to hold regulatory authorizations for all three activities.

Ziina's licenses now cover merchant acquiring, payment aggregation, domestic fund transfers, and international money transfers via digital channels. This achievement follows Ziina's 2024 receipt of its Stored Value Facility license, which allowed the company to launch its digital wallet. Ziina CEO Faisal Toukan expressed gratitude for the CBUAE's support, stating that the new licenses provide the regulatory framework necessary for Ziina to expand and innovate.

Ziina serves over 500,000 customers annually, processing more than $1.5 billion in annualized payment volume and being used by one in ten UAE SMEs. The local market for digital financial services is growing rapidly, with retail transfers processed through the UAE Funds Transfer System reaching AED 9.9 trillion in 2025, reflecting a 19.9% growth in transaction value and a 17.8% increase in transaction volume year-on-year.

Ziina's ambition is to bring comprehensive financial services onto one platform, initially within the UAE and subsequently across the Arab world, to enable financial freedom for every individual in the region.