UAE’s Al Ansari Financial Services to launch ‘digital wallet’ service, targets ‘unbanked’ residents

UAE’s Al Ansari Financial Services to launch ‘digital wallet’ service, targets ‘unbanked’ residents

The company behind biggest currency exchange house in the UAE, Al Ansari Financial Services, is doubling down on digital payment channels.

Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News







Dubai: Al Ansari Financial Services – which operates the UAE’s biggest remittance network – has won regulator approval to launch a ‘digital wallet’ service. The company, listed on DFM, has been making a determined push into digital services when it comes to financial transactions, and the digital wallet launch fits in with that.



The launch, scheduled for Q2-2024, is targeted at extending financial services to the ‘unbanked’.







This follows Al Ansari Digital Pay, a subsidiary, receiving initial approval for a ‘Store Value Facilities’ and ‘Retail Payment Service Provider’ license from the UAE Central Bank.



As the name suggests, digital wallets are an online storage for funds and which can be used to make payments. Since Covid, the payments market in the UAE and the Gulf have taken to digital payment methods in lieu of cash. But their usage has largely been the domain of digital 'natives' and those who are well aware of the cross-connection between financial services and technology.



Now,