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UAE Payment Licences: 38 Retail Payment Firms, 23 E-Wallets
The Central Bank of the UAE's register of licensed financial institutions, as of September 2026, lists 38 retail payment services licences and 23 stored value facilities, against none and three in January 2022. Fifteen carry 2026 in their identification numbers, including Revolut, Adyen's Middle East unit, Remitly and Ziina, whose Category 3 licence was reported on 23 October.
Key takeaways 6
- The CBUAE register lists 38 retail payment services licences and 23 stored value facilities.
- In January 2022 it listed no retail payment services licences and three stored value facilities.
- 15 of the 61 licences carry 2026 in their IDs, including Revolut, Adyen MEA, Remitly and Ziina.
- Ziina's Category 3 retail payment services licence is number 37 of 38.
- 31 of the 38 retail payment licence holders are recorded in Dubai.
- Three companies hold licences to issue dirham payment tokens.
The Central Bank of the UAE now lists 38 companies licensed for retail payment services and 23 licensed to run stored value facilities, the UAE's licence for e-wallets. In its register of January 2022 there were no retail payment services licences and three stored value facilities.
Ziina, a Dubai fintech whose Category 3 retail payment services licence was reported on 23 October, is number 37 of the 38 in the latest register. It already held a stored value facility licence from 2024.
Revolut, Adyen and Remitly in 2026
Fifteen of the 61 stored value and retail payment licences carry 2026 in their CBUAE identification numbers. They went to 11 companies, including Revolut, which holds both licences, Adyen's Middle East unit, Remitly, Ziina and Foris DAX Middle East.
The busiest year was 2024, with six stored value facilities and 11 retail payment services licences.
Mostly Dubai, mostly Category 2
Of the 38 retail payment services licences, one is Category 1, held by Network International, 24 are Category 2 and 13 Category 3. Thirty-one of the 38 licence holders are recorded in Dubai and seven in Abu Dhabi.
Eighteen companies hold both a stored value facility and a retail payment services licence, so 43 companies hold at least one. Tabby, Noon Digital Pay and Remitly hold only a stored value facility.
The register also has a section for payment tokens. Three companies are licensed to issue dirham payment tokens: AED StableCoin, Zand Trust and AEDC Stable Coin.
Why this matters
For merchants and platforms selling in the UAE, the register is the list to check before choosing a wallet, acquirer or payment aggregator. It has grown from three stored value and retail payment licences in early 2022 to 61, and global firms such as Adyen and Revolut now sit on it next to local wallets.
What this does not show
The register gives no licence dates, so years are read from identification numbers. It does not describe what each category permits, how much each firm processes, or why a firm leaves; Emirates Digital Wallet, listed in 2022, is no longer on it. HaiPay did not contact the CBUAE or the companies named.
What to watch
Whether 2026 overtakes 2024 as the busiest year for new payment licences.
How many of the 23 stored value facility holders also add retail payment services licences.
And whether more dirham payment token issuers are licensed.
Data highlight
38 licences
Retail payment services licences on the Central Bank of the UAE's register of licensed financial institutions
Register as of September 2026, published 22 October 2026
HaiPay count of the Central Bank of the UAE's register as of September 2026 (file last modified 22 October 2026): 38 retail payment services licences (one Category 1, 24 Category 2, 13 Category 3), 23 stored value facility licences and three dirham payment token issuance licences. The January 2022 register listed three stored value facilities and no retail payment services licences. Years are read from the identification numbers; the register gives no licence dates.
Data as of 22 October 2026 · UTC
Methodology and limitations
Compiled by HaiPay on 26 October 2026 from the Central Bank of the UAE's register of licensed financial institutions, 'CB Register as of September 2026', downloaded from centralbank.ae, where the file was last modified on 22 October 2026, and from the register as of January 2022. Text was extracted from the PDF files; institution names and identification numbers were read from the stored value facility, retail payment services and payment token services sections. The September 2026 register lists 23 stored value facility licences, 38 retail payment services licences, three dirham payment token issuance licences and one licence each for payment token conversion and payment token custody and transfer, held by the same company. The January 2022 register lists three stored value facility licences and has no retail payment services or payment token sections. Each identification number contains a four-digit year and an emirate code; HaiPay uses the year as the licence year, consistent with Ziina's stored value facility licence of June 2024 carrying 2024. By that year, stored value facility licences number one in 2019, one in 2021, one in 2022, three in 2023, six in 2024, four in 2025 and seven in 2026; retail payment services licences number two in 2022, ten in 2023, 11 in 2024, seven in 2025 and eight in 2026. Retail payment services categories are taken from the register's category column: one Category 1, 24 Category 2 and 13 Category 3. Eighteen companies hold both a stored value facility and a retail payment services licence, so 43 companies hold at least one of the two. Of the three stored value facilities on the January 2022 register, Emirates Digital Wallet is not on the September 2026 register. The register does not state licence dates, permitted activities by category or reasons for removals. HaiPay did not contact the CBUAE or any company named here.
Data and research materials
- UAE payment licences on the CBUAE register, September 2026: stored value, retail payment and payment token licences (HaiPay) ↓CSV · 6 KB
Every licence in the stored value facility, retail payment services and payment token services sections of the Central Bank of the UAE's register as of September 2026 (file last modified 22 October 2026): institution, register section, CBUAE identification number, retail payment services category, the year and emirate code read from the identification number. 66 rows.
HaiPay's charts and the CSV table on this page may be reused with attribution to HaiPay and a link to this article. The underlying register is published by the Central Bank of the UAE; reuse of the source material is governed by the CBUAE's terms, not by HaiPay.
Term definition
- Stored value facility
- The CBUAE licence for holding customer funds as stored value, such as e-wallet balances. 23 companies held one on the September 2026 register.
- Retail payment services
- A CBUAE licence for payment services offered to consumers and merchants, issued in numbered categories. 38 companies held one on the September 2026 register.
- Dirham payment token
- A payment token referencing the UAE dirham, issued under a CBUAE licence. Three issuers were licensed in September 2026.
4 sources
- Central Bank of the UAE
CB Register as of September 2026
The current register: 23 stored value facility licences, 38 retail payment services licences by category, three dirham payment token issuance licences and one payment token conversion and custody licence, each with an identification number that includes a year.
Accessed 26 October 2026 · UTC
- Central Bank of the UAE
CB Register as of January 2022
The January 2022 register: three stored value facility licences and no retail payment services or payment token sections.
Accessed 26 October 2026 · UTC
- Central Bank of the UAE
The CBUAE licensing page from which both registers are downloaded.
Accessed 26 October 2026 · UTC
- The Paypers
Ziina secures CBUAE retail payment services licence
Report of 23 October 2026 on Ziina's Category 3 retail payment services licence; Ziina's stored value facility licence dates from June 2024.
Accessed 26 October 2026 · UTC
How to cite
HaiPay News, "UAE Payment Licences: 38 Retail Payment Firms, 23 E-Wallets", https://www.haipay.net/news/uae-cbuae-payment-licences-register-ziina-revolut-adyen, 26 October 2026
