PhonePe wins initial UAE central bank approval for payment licences
PhonePe has secured preliminary approval from the UAE Central Bank for payment licences, a step toward launching local operations and extending its digital-payments footprint beyond India.
What happened
PhonePe has received preliminary approval from the UAE central bank for payment licenses, paving the way for the Indian digital-payments company to begin local
Why this matters
PhonePe’s planned UAE entry raises the strategic value of acquiring or partnering with local banks, merchants, remittance platforms, and compliance providers to accelerate launch.
What to watch
- Final UAE Central Bank licence issuance, including whether PhonePe receives stored-value, payment-token, acquiring, or remittance permissions.
- Announcement of a UAE launch timeline, local executive hires, or a Dubai/Abu Dhabi operating entity.
- Partnerships with major UAE banks, exchange houses, payment processors, e-commerce platforms, or large merchant groups.
- Evidence that PhonePe can support instant India-UAE transfer or UPI-linked acceptance flows.
- Competitor responses from local wallets, banks, remittance fintechs, and Indian payment peers pursuing Gulf expansion.
- Regulatory requirements on customer funds, local data handling, AML controls, and capital that could raise launch costs or slow rollout.
- Seek final UAE Central Bank approvals and clarify the specific licence categories granted.
- Establish a UAE legal entity, compliance team, local leadership, and regulated operating infrastructure.
- Pursue partnerships with UAE banks, card networks, remittance providers, merchant acquirers, and exchange houses.
- Pilot cross-border India-UAE payment, remittance, and merchant acceptance products before broad consumer-wallet deployment.
- Use UAE entry as a platform to evaluate wider GCC expansion, especially corridors with large Indian expatriate populations.
Also reported by
- The Hindu BusinessLine — Same time