PhonePe secures in-principle UAE approvals for payments and wallet licences

PhonePe has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for payment-services and stored-value wallet licences, marking progress toward its first international market entry. A commercial launch remains subject to final approval, with local bank and technology partnerships planned.

— FiledWed, 23 Sept, 2026, 07:31 IST·First seen Wed, 23 Sept, 2026, 07:31 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

PhonePe received UAE central bank in-principle approval for payment-services and wallet licences, advancing its first overseas market entry. Following final

Key facts

  • Two in-principle licences: RPSCS and SVF
  • More than 720 million registered users in India as of August
  • Over 50 million merchants in its India payments acceptance network
  • Aani unveiled in 2023
  • Jaywan launched in 2024

Why this matters

PhonePe’s planned UAE entry makes it a potential partner or competitor for regional banks, wallets and merchants seeking India-UAE payment corridor scale.

What to watch

  • Final UAE licence issuance and any disclosed operating restrictions or capital/safeguarding conditions.
  • Named partnerships with UAE banks, payment processors, exchange houses, merchant acquirers or major retailers.
  • A confirmed commercial launch date, app availability and initial product scope.
  • UPI, RuPay or India-UAE remittance interoperability announcements.
  • Merchant acceptance footprint, wallet-user targets and introductory pricing or cashback offers.
  • Competitive responses from e&, Careem Pay, Noon Payments, Alipay+, local banks and exchange houses.
  • Regulatory developments on digital wallets, cross-border payments, customer-data residency and AML compliance in the UAE.
  • Secure final Central Bank of the UAE payment-services and stored-value facility licences.
  • Announce a UAE legal entity, local leadership team and regulated bank, exchange-house and technology partners.
  • Prioritize Indian diaspora corridors, UPI-linked acceptance and India-UAE remittances as launch use cases.
  • Recruit UAE merchants through acquirers in grocery, food service, travel, telecom and value retail.
  • Use wallet offers, merchant-funded rewards and travel-linked promotions to seed transaction frequency.
  • Assess whether UAE transaction data and partnerships can support future SME payments, loyalty or embedded-finance products.

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