The UAE brought in a new set of tax rules that impact businesses in the crypto industry. So, from the 15th next month, crypto is no longer subject to VAT, which, in the UAE, is at 5%. Between July last year, and June, over £23 billion worth of cryptocurrency was traded in the country, making them leaders of the crypto economy in the MENA region. Ripple recently received approval to start business in Dubai, true to the need that has started to arise for crypto-related services.
How Is FinTech For The UAE?
The UAE is one of the top countries for fintech startups in the Middle East and Africa, with over 680 fintech companies. It stands second in the region, just behind Türkiye, which leads with 739 fintech companies. Other countries following close behind include Israel, Nigeria, and South Africa. These companies mainly work in sectors like payments, lending, and wealth management.
The UAE saw a 92% rise in just investments last year. This would make it the first time they’re in the top 10 globally. This rise in funding comes as the UAE has worked to attract international financial companies, especially in crypto and financial services.
Top Fintech Companies In The UAE
These companies stand out as fintech leaders and innovators in the UAE. With a business environment that encourages innovation and supports technology-driven companies this way, the UAE has some interesting businesses:
1. Polytrade
Polytrade has been a trailblazer in the RWA space since 2021, initially focusing on single-asset tokenization and successfully facilitating over $10M in trade finance by tokenizing receivables. Polytrade then evolved into an aggregated RWA Marketplace, becoming the ‘Amazon of RWAs’ – partnering with over 50 RWA protocols, eleven chains, and five embedded finance dApps. This marketplace has become a key entry point for retail users and institutions, amassing over 18,000 early-access users and earning endorsement from Mastercard.
2. NymCard
NymCard is a platform that helps businesses set up payment products, like prepaid cards, multi-currency cards, and Buy Now Pay Later services. Their platform has over 1,000 APIs and takes care of the technical side, so companies can focus on growth.
Being a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, NymCard makes it that businesses stay compliant with the relevant regulations. It supports companies looking to enter new markets, such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Businesses can use NymCard’s ready-made payment infrastructure to suit their specific needs, and can receive support from experienced partners in the financial world.
3. Sarwa
Sarwa is an investment platform in the UAE. Using their app, users can trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies with no hidden costs. Sarwa is a fully regulated service that also has savings accounts with attractive interest rates. Endorsed by investors like the DIFC and Mubadala, Sarwa continues to grow. The platform is made to simplify both active trading and passive investing, so that its more accessible to all types of investors.
4. YouCloudPay
YouCloudPay helps small and medium-sized businesses manage their payments and analytics, focusing on industries like retail and hospitality. Their tools include point-of-sale systems that handle everything from transactions to inventory tracking, all managed from a single dashboard.
YouShop helps retailers stay organised, while YouResto supports restaurants in handling orders, menus, and online food deliveries. Through YouVAS, YouCloudPay brings financial services to underserved areas, helping local businesses connect with more customers and grow effectively.
5. Beehive
Beehive is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects businesses with investors, making it easier for companies to secure funding. Investors lend directly to businesses and can earn returns on their investments.
Beehive focuses on established companies but also works with some newer businesses. It has funded a wide range of projects, from e-commerce startups to established brands. With a strong credit assessment process, Beehive has built a reputation as a trusted source for peer-to-peer lending in the UAE.
6. NOW Money
NOW Money is a payroll and digital banking platform designed for low-income workers in the UAE. It simplifies payroll for businesses while giving workers access to a mobile app where they can manage their money. The app also supports remittances and features a NOW Money Visa card for everyday spending.
The service helps businesses meet payroll regulations while keeping costs low. NOW Money also focuses on improving workers’ financial literacy, giving them more control over their finances and ensuring a smoother payroll process for companies.
7. AvaTrade
Since its inception in 2006, AvaTrade has come a long way, becoming one of the world’s preeminent online trading platforms with 400,000 registered clients. The company offers a variety of trading instruments, including forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and indices.
AvaTrade is a multi-award winning, leading online trading broker. It supports investors of all kinds through a range of platforms, including MT4/5, AvaTrade mobile app, WebTrader, AvaOptions, AvaSocial, DupliTrade, and others. Traders benefit from tight spreads, a personal account manager, multilingual support, 1000+ instruments, and market-leading risk management tools such as AvaProtect, alongside real-time market access and immediate execution. Accounts are fully segregated, and transactions are fully encrypted.
AvaTrade’s Middle East headquarters are located in the UAE, with the company regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) with financial services permission No.190018 in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Including the UAE, AvaTrade is also regulated in the European Union (EU), Japan, Australia, and British Virgin Islands, while holding a strong presence in Canada through a partnership with Friedberg Direct, a member of Canada’s Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation. The company is also proud to be the official trading sponsor of the UAE Football Association.
8. Ozone API
Ozone API empowers banks and financial institutions to adapt and thrive in the new world of open data, by providing the technology to unlock the power of open finance and change the world. The UK-based fintech is the leading standards-based open API platform, supporting all global standards and providing the tools and expertise to help banks and financial institutions create real commercial value.
With a founding team that originally worked at OBL on the development of the UK open banking standards, Ozone API continues to shape global open finance helping regulators, banks and technology platforms to accelerate open finance.
Due to the business’ extensive work in the Middle East, Ozone API has an office in Abu Dhabi and our Co-Founder and CEO Chris Michael is also based in the region.
9. Ding
Ding is a FinTech company founded in 2006 in Ireland but with offices globally, including Dubai, UAE. Ding was founded to improve people’s lives by helping those with less, gain access to more.
Since Ding was founded our aim has been to build & run the safest, simplest, most effective & convenient top-up service, in partnership with the best operators and platforms. We provide more secure top-up, to more countries, through more operators, than anyone else — helping people all around the world to send little bytes of happiness to their loved ones, in the blink of an eye. Our customers have successfully sent over 600 million top-ups — sending little smiles all around the world.
Ding now also offers eGifts, allowing people to send support back home in the form of digital gift cards, adding to the remittance alternatives that are available for customers in UAE and those abroad sending back home.
10. Qubit Capital
Qubit Capital is designed to connect founders with potential investors across industries and geographies. The VC landscape is cyclical and several factors impact deal activity. However, an AI-powered matchmaking platform like Qubit Capital is revolutionising the way founders and investors connect.
Qubit has facilitated close to $215 million in funding for 64+ startups in different industries and locations. By leveraging AI algorithms, machine learning, and data, the founders increase efficiency, diversify networks, and reduce biases.
