In a big regulatory milestone for the Middle Eastern fintech ecosystem, shopper and enterprise monetary platform Ziina has secured its Retail Payment Services Category III license and gained regulatory authorization to conduct Exchange Business Category IV actions from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). With these approvals, Ziina turns into the primary homegrown UAE monetary expertise firm to carry regulatory permissions spanning saved worth amenities, retail fee companies, and digital forex change.
The twin authorization marks the completion of Ziina’s phased licensing trajectory with the CBUAE, offering the corporate with an unbiased regulatory perimeter to function a complete monetary platform. By combining these authorizations right into a unified infrastructure, Ziina can supply an built-in suite of companies—spanning shopper deposits, service provider acceptance, home real-time settlement, and cross-border cash transfers—inside a single proprietary utility layer.
A Unified Three-Pillar Regulatory Architecture
Rather than counting on third-party sponsorship or fragmented middleman partnerships, Ziina’s newly expanded licensing construction provides the corporate direct regulatory oversight throughout three core operational pillars:
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Stored Value Facility (SVF): Originally granted by the CBUAE in June 2024, the SVF license authorizes the agency to carry buyer balances, function digital wallets, and safeguard fiat funds.
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Retail Payment Services (Category III): Expands the platform’s service provider buying, fee aggregation, and home fund switch capabilities. The license gives regulatory authorization for Ziina’s business acceptance instruments, together with on-line fee gateways, customizable fee hyperlinks, QR code transactions, and soft-POS Tap to Pay performance throughout iOS and Android gadgets.
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Exchange Business (Category IV): Formally licensed beneath its SVF framework in August 2026, this permission permits Ziina to facilitate worldwide cash transfers and multi-currency overseas change digitally, enabling customers to remit funds cross-border straight by the Ziina app.
“We’re thankful for the continued support of the Central Bank of the UAE,” said Faisal Toukan, co-founder and CEO of Ziina. “These licenses give us the regulatory framework to build faster and go further. When we launched Ziina in the UAE, we believed that we could build the next generation of financial products from this market, for the region. Today, people use different apps and providers for different parts of their financial lives. We want to bring more financial services into one platform, from spending and holding money to sending it abroad. Our ambition is to take what we build here to enable financial freedom across the Arab world.”
Commercial Scale and SME Market Penetration
Founded in 2020 by Faisal Toukan, Sarah Toukan, and Talal Toukan, Ziina has advanced from a peer-to-peer cellular funds supplier right into a important operational engine for the UAE enterprise sector. The platform presently serves greater than 500,000 energetic retail and enterprise clients yearly and processes over $1.5 billion in annualized transaction quantity.
Significantly, the platform is now utilized by one in ten small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the UAE, supported by its clear pricing mannequin and native service provider options such because the Ziina Card (suitable with Apple Pay and Google Pay) and the Ziina Violet way of life membership providing fee-free overseas transactions.
Capitalizing on UAE Digital Payment Velocity
Ziina’s expanded regulatory standing coincides with speedy development throughout the UAE’s home fee infrastructure. According to the CBUAE’s Annual Report 2025, retail fund transfers executed by the UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) reached AED 9.9 trillion throughout 114.9 million transactions in 2025. This represents an annual enhance of 19.9 per cent in whole transaction worth and 17.8 per cent in transaction quantity, reflecting an accelerating regional migration towards cashless rails and instantaneous digital settlement.
By combining direct regulatory licensing with full-stack service provider and shopper capabilities, Ziina is establishing a scalable blueprint to seize regional market share as digital funds, business buying, and worldwide remittances proceed to consolidate into unified platforms throughout the Arab world.
AI degree 1 of 5: written by Darlyn Ho; AI helped with tone, construction or wording; edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean
