Al Etihad Payments and Visa announce co-badging partnership

Al Etihad Payments has announced an agreement to jointly introduce the "Jaywan- Visa" debit and prepaid cards in the UAE. The deal means customers will be able to pay securely in the UAE and at Visa's more than 150 million merchant partners across 200 countries.

Al Etihad Payments is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), which operates the UAE's of the national card switch (UAESWITCH) and the UAE's domestic card scheme "Jaywan", and Visa.

The two entities will work closely with local financial institutions, fintech and merchant partners to issue to their customers co-badged cards carrying a set of benefits and value-added services that meet the market needs.

Domestic transactions will be processed through the national card switch, UAESWITCH, while cross border transactions outside the GCC area will be processed through Visa's global network "VisaNet".

The CBUAE's Assistant Governor for Banking Operations and Support Services and Chairman of Al Etihad Payments, Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, said, "Jaywan is a key step toward strengthening the UAE's financial infrastructure, offering a locally rooted payment solution that supports economic growth and digital transformation. Under this partnership between Al-Etihad Payments and Visa, we are creating a seamless, secure, and efficient card payment ecosystem that aligns with the UAE's vision for innovation and financial empowerment."

Visa's Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for the GCC, Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, said, "With around 30 per cent of payments still made with cash, we look forward to implementing this agreement and continuing our collaboration with industry partners to extend the benefits of digital payments to more consumers and businesses, as well as the wider UAE economy."

She added that the UAE has been at the forefront of digital transformation, and significant opportunities remain to further this progress through industry-wide collaboration. This agreement reaffirms Visa's commitment to providing security, reliability, and innovation to be enjoyed by Visa-Jaywan cardholders and merchants in the UAE and globally.