Al Etihad Payments partners with NPCI International Payments to develop UAE Domestic Card Scheme

Al Etihad Payments partners with NPCI International Payments to develop UAE Domestic Card Scheme

In the presence of H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), have announced a strategic partnership to advance the development of the UAE’s first national Domestic Card Scheme (DCS).

The agreement was exchanged between Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, Assistant Governor – Strategy, Financial Infrastructure and Digital Transformation at CBUAE, and Dilip Asbe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI, representing NPCI International Payments Limited.

As part of its Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) programme introduced in 2023, CBUAE’s launch of Al Etihad Payments aims to implement an innovative, interoperable, and enabling payments infrastructure allowing licensed financial institutions and payment service providers to further enhance customer experience through advanced payment solutions.

Scheduled to launch in early 2024, the DCS will aim to facilitate the growth of e-commerce and digital transactions in the UAE, bolster financial inclusion, support the nation’s digitisation agenda, increase alternative payment options, reduce the cost of payments, and enhance the UAE’s competitiveness and position as a global digital payments leader.

NIPL was commissioned for this initiative following a comprehensive selection process that gauged the capacity of its solution in meeting the