ArabPay is a cross-border RegTech advisory enabling 1-to-1 corridor build-up between Arab-region banks and financial institutions and their counterparties inside and outside the region — anchored on national switches, domestic payment schemes and sovereign digital rails.
The GCC and select North African nations are executing a sovereign digital pivot — transitioning from passive rentier models to data-driven fiscal states. ArabPay is built to advise both sides of a corridor: the regulators who architect these rails, and the banks that settle across them.
Cashless retail, e-invoicing and giga-project settlement infrastructure anchored on Mada and Sarie.
Sovereign AI, cloud adoption and Jaywan — the UAE’s domestic card scheme — underpinning Aani’s P2P/B rails.
Meeza card scheme, Instant Payment Network (IPN) and aggressive SME formalisation through the Central Bank.
Real-time VAT reporting, CliQ/Fawri rails and the region’s most mature regulatory sandbox environments.
Central banks in the region have evolved from traditional lenders of last resort into the primary architects of the digital transition — designing systems that maximise domestic resource mobilisation and formalise the shadow economy.
ArabPay’s advisory translates these mandates into specific corridor designs: which national switch to integrate, which scheme to settle in, which clearing hub to route through, and which wholesale CBDC unit to use.
A corridor is not a connection. It is a full regulatory, operational and settlement build-up between two institutions.
Every corridor ArabPay builds connects one regulated institution inside the region with one counterparty outside — and wires the regulatory, technical and settlement plumbing between them.
Cross-border flows in the region have historically relied on correspondent banking chains with opaque FX, fragmented compliance and little audit trail. A 1-to-1 corridor collapses that chain into a single, regulated, auditable lane.
ArabPay designs each corridor against the receiving jurisdiction’s national switch, AML/CFT perimeter, sanctions posture, data localisation rules and settlement currency — then stands it up through the relevant national subsidiary on the ground.
Domestic card schemes and instant payment systems localise data, reduce dependence on foreign networks and give central banks real-time visibility over the money supply.
Mandatory domestic card scheme settled through SAMA; Sarie handles real-time interbank transfers and has become the default settlement rail for giga-project supply chains.
Jaywan gives the CBUAE a sovereign card rail; Aani operates the instant retail layer with alias-based addressing and full integration into bank mobile apps.
Meeza is the CBE’s national card scheme, while the Instant Payment Network delivers 24/7 account-to-account transfers used for government disbursement and SME collections.
Central Bank of Jordan operates the national switch; CliQ is the consumer-facing instant transfer brand, increasingly used for payroll and government-to-person flows.
BENEFIT clears cards, ATMs and e-commerce, and Fawri+ delivers near-instant interbank transfers — making Bahrain one of the most mature real-time rails per capita.
Early-stage national switches, regulatory sandboxes and targeted corridor pilots — where ArabPay’s local subsidiaries are embedded with the central bank from day one.
ArabPay operates on rails designed specifically to reduce reliance on legacy correspondent banking and the US-dollar-only messaging stack — while preserving full sanctions and AML integrity.
Arab Monetary Fund’s multi-currency cross-border payment system — settles in regional currencies alongside USD and EUR, cutting FX hops in intra-Arab trade.
Real-time GCC payment system enabling direct settlement between GCC central bank members without intermediated USD legs.
Dual-issued wholesale unit from CBUAE and SAMA on DLT — a settlement primitive for both domestic and cross-border commercial bank transactions.
This is not a private-capital story. The rails ArabPay builds on are underwritten by national programmes — Vision 2030, NEOM, the UAE’s decadal digital strategy and Egypt’s infrastructure plan.
Figures reflect announced national programme envelopes, not single-year expenditure. ArabPay is commercially aligned to the digital-rail workstream within each programme.
Digitalisation of fiscal infrastructure — e-invoicing, wage protection, digital ID — is measurably formalising the economy and lifting sustained non-oil growth across the region.
| Country | Projected GDP Growth | Non-Oil Sector Resilience | Digital Transformation Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 4.8% | High (Fintech & Tourism) | Sovereign AI & Cloud Adoption |
| Saudi Arabia | 3.8% | High (Vision 2030 Projects) | Cashless Retail & E-Invoicing |
| Bahrain | 3.5% | Strong (Financial Hub) | Real-time VAT Reporting |
| Oman | 3.1% | Gaining Pace | Tax Administration Modernization |
| Qatar | 2.8% | Robust (LNG Expansion) | Digital Identity & GovTech |
| Kuwait | 2.7% | Positive | Liquidity & Digital Banking |
Typical range observed across clusters adopting digital compliance measures; selected jurisdictions have exceeded 40%.
Simplified reporting or state-funded software prevents micro-firms from being driven back into the informal economy.
Digital portals replace face-to-face friction with deterministic records that deter collusive and unilateral evasion.
From regulatory architecture through to live settlement, ArabPay delivers the full stack through its national subsidiaries.
Drafting of submissions and regulatory dialogue with SAMA, CBUAE, CBE, CBJ, CBB and national switch operators — including Mada, Jaywan, Meeza and JoMoPay onboarding.
Sanctions, AML/CFT, data-localisation and settlement-currency design for each paired bank — with BUNA, AFAQ or bilateral rails underneath.
Sarie, Aani, IPN, CliQ and Fawri+ integrations; WPS build-out through Mudad-style platforms to formalise expatriate payroll.
Advisory on Project Aber-style wholesale tokens, corridor-specific DvP/PvP constructs and reserve posture for dual-issued settlement units.
FATOORA-class e-invoicing rollouts, VAT digital reporting and SME dual-track compliance — aligned to ArabPay’s DIAMOND maturity framework.
Data-quality management prerequisite work so that ML-based risk profiling avoids false negatives and does not unfairly target compliant taxpayers.
Technology alone is not a solution. DIAMOND — Development Implementation and Monitoring Directives — is ArabPay’s structured framework for assessing readiness and sequencing the build.
Ad-hoc, informal, and fragmented. Functional silos with low visibility and mostly manual, paper-based approvals.
Formalised and controlled. Clear roles and established enforcement mechanisms; information is digital but often unstructured.
Integrated and strategic. Consistent policies with performance management; deterministic systems covering all core functions.
Intelligent and optimised. Continuous innovation and ML-driven risk profiling — contingent on high-quality standardised data.
ArabPay operates through eight regulated national subsidiaries — each led by founders and operators who sit inside the regulatory perimeter of their jurisdiction.
The people who will sit across the table from regulators, central banks and partner institutions in every jurisdiction ArabPay operates.
ArabPay is the regional implementation partner for the Digital Local Currency programme — bringing sovereign-grade digital currency design into domestic rails and cross-border corridors.
If you are a regulator, a central bank, a regional bank or a foreign counterparty looking to open a clean, auditable, 1-to-1 corridor into the Arab region — ArabPay will walk you through the build from regulatory submission to first settlement.
