PhonePe secures initial UAE central bank approval for two payment licences
PhonePe has received in-principle approval from the UAE central bank for two licences covering retail payment services, card schemes and stored-value facilities, moving it closer to launching locally licensed operations in the market.
What happened
PhonePe received in-principle approval from the UAE central bank for two licenses covering retail payment services, card schemes and stored-value facilities,
Key facts
- Two payment licenses
Why this matters
PhonePe’s UAE regulatory foothold makes it a more credible partner or competitor for banks, merchants, fintechs and wallet providers seeking payment-distribution alliances in the Gulf.
What to watch
- Conversion of in-principle approvals into final authorisations.
- Announcement of a UAE bank, exchange-house, card-network or merchant-acquiring partner.
- Launch of cross-border India-UAE remittance or UPI-linked payment products.
- Merchant acceptance, wallet-user and transaction-volume disclosures.
- Any UAE regulatory requirements for data residency, stored-value customer-fund protection or local capital.
- Competitive responses from Paytm, India’s UPI ecosystem, local wallets, banks and global payment networks.
- Seek final UAE Central Bank licences and satisfy operational, capital and safeguarding requirements.
- Establish UAE legal entity, senior compliance leadership, local banking relationships and AML/KYC infrastructure.
- Pursue partnerships with banks, card schemes, exchange houses, acquirers and major merchant networks.
- Pilot cross-border payment, wallet or merchant-acceptance propositions for India-UAE corridors.
- Use the UAE base to evaluate expansion into other GCC markets.