This week's TAB Middle East Weekly Brief covers Emirates NBD's partnership with startup accelerator Techstars to accelerate AI adoption, while Tabby expands beyond buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) services with the launch of its digital banking platform. Elsewhere, Deutsche Bank expanded its regional presence through developments in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while Remitly and Taptap Send secured Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) licences, highlighting the country's continued growth as a hub for digital payments. Read more on the week’s key developments: 1. Emirates NBD partners with Techstars to accelerate AI and fintech adoption Emirates NBD announced a partnership with global startup accelerator Techstars on July 6, connecting selected AI and fintech companies with the bank’s business units across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region. The initiative will focus on identifying technologies that can address operational and customer-facing challenges and be tested within the bank’s existing infrastructure. The partnership reflects Emirates NBD’s broader strategy of integrating external innovation into its digital transformation programme rather than relying solely on in-house development. By giving startups access to banking expertise, commercial use cases and potential deployment opportunities, the programme could accelerate the adoption of solutions in areas such as AI customer experience, compliance, risk management and operational efficiency. 2. Tabby expands into digital banking with launch of Tabby Money App The UAE's fintech landscape continues to evolve beyond standalone payment solutions, with Tabby announcing the launch of the Tabby Money App, marking its expansion from buy now, pay later (BNPL) into a broader digital financial services platform. The app introduces a Tabby Card for everyday payments, a spending account offering up to 4% annual returns, instant transfers and integrated personal finance tools, enabling customers to track spending and access Tabby's financial products from one platform. The launch reflects a growing trend among regional fintechs to evolve into comprehensive financial ecosystems, positioning Tabby to compete more directly with digital banks and neobanks by offering a wider range of everyday banking services while diversifying its business beyond BNPL. 3. Deutsche Bank deepens Gulf footprint with Saudi and Qatar expansion Deutsche Bank continues to expand its Middle East presence, receiving a Regional Headquarters (RHQ) licence from the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to establish its regional headquarters in Riyadh. The move reinforces the bank's long-term commitment to the Kingdom, supports Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 ambitions to attract multinational investment, and strengthens Riyadh's position as a regional financial centre. Separately, Deutsche Bank has established a Research Centre of Excellence in Doha to support product development, strengthen analytical capabilities and advance artificial intelligence initiatives as part of its Global Hausbank strategy. The two initiatives deepen Deutsche Bank's regional footprint, enhancing its ability to serve Middle Eastern clients while supporting the Gulf's growing role as a global financial and innovation hub. 4. Remitly secures CBUAE licence to expand digital financial services in the UAE The UAE continues to strengthen its position as a global hub for regulated fintech innovation, with Remitly receiving a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) and Exchange Business Category IV licence from CBUAE. The licence enables the digital remittance provider to expand beyond its existing money transfer services and develop new regulated financial products tailored to customers in the UAE, one of the world's largest remittance markets. The approval follows Remitly's investment in establishing a local presence, including opening an Abu Dhabi office and building relationships with regulators and partners. The milestone reflects the UAE's continued commitment to fostering a regulated digital payments ecosystem and further intensifies competition among international fintech firms expanding their presence in the country's cross-border payments market. 5. Oman-based Mamun expands Hong Kong presence to strengthen GCC–Asia trade finance Fintech firms in the Gulf are increasingly targeting cross-border trade flows with Asia, with Oman-based Mamun expanding its operations in Hong Kong. The company is developing a two-way financing corridor that will support GCC companies purchasing goods from Hong Kong while enabling Hong Kong businesses and financial institutions to participate in trade opportunities across Gulf markets. Hong Kong-based institutions and businesses already account for approximately 40% of Mamun’s trade-finance settlements, which are executed through Murabaha structures for GCC customers. The expansion highlights the growing role of fintech platforms in connecting Islamic financing structures with international trade corridors and could support stronger commercial links between the GCC and China’s Greater Bay Area. 6. Spare and Xsquare bring Pay by Bank to UAE business payments The UAE’s Open Finance ecosystem continues to support new account-to-account payment services, with open finance infrastructure provider Spare partnering with B2B payments company Xsquare. Spare, founded in Riyadh in 2019, raised $5 million in a pre-Series A funding round in September 2025. The collaboration will embed Pay by Bank capabilities into Xsquare’s platform, allowing businesses to initiate payments directly from bank accounts rather than relying on cards or manual bank transfers. The partnership could help merchants lower payment acceptance costs, which the companies say run 2-3% per card transaction, and accelerate settlement through regulated banking infrastructure. It also demonstrates how the UAE’s Open Finance framework is beginning to move from infrastructure development into commercial applications, with fintech providers using bank connectivity to create alternatives to established card-payment networks. 7. Taptap Send secures three CBUAE licences to expand UAE payments offering The UAE continues to attract international payment companies seeking to establish locally regulated operations, with Taptap Send securing three licences from CBUAE. According to the company, Taptap Send moves billions of dollars annually through its platform. The approvals enable the company to expand beyond cross-border remittances into domestic payment services, digital wallets and card-based payment solutions, broadening its regulated payments offering in the UAE. The licences mark an important step in Taptap Send's expansion into a broader payments platform and reflect the UAE's continued efforts to attract international fintech firms under a regulated framework. 8. du Pay and GCash launch instant wallet transfers between the UAE and the Philippines Digital financial services providers in the UAE continue to expand their role in the international remittance market, particularly across high-volume expatriate corridors. du Pay, the financial services arm of UAE telecommunications operator du, has partnered with Philippine mobile wallet provider GCash to introduce instant wallet-to-wallet transfers for Filipino residents in the UAE. The service allows customers to send funds directly from the du Pay application to a recipient’s GCash wallet in the Philippines. According to GCash, the platform serves more than 100 million registered users in the Philippines. The partnership expands du Pay's cross-border payments offering while reflecting growing interoperability between digital wallets as providers seek faster, mobile-first alternatives to traditional remittance channels. 9. Policybazaar and Tabby introduce instalment payments for insurance premiums Embedded finance continues to expand into the UAE’s insurance sector, with Policybazaar.ae partnering with Tabby to allow customers to divide insurance premiums into instalments. The integration enables eligible customers purchasing insurance through the comparison platform, which works with more than 20 insurance providers in the UAE, to spread their payments over time. The partnership extends BNPL functionality into insurance, a financial product that has traditionally required upfront payments. It also reflects the broader adoption of embedded payment options across insurance and other service platforms. 10. stc pay Bahrain introduces Mastercard Click to Pay to simplify online payments stc pay Bahrain has introduced Mastercard Click to Pay for eligible cardholders, enabling customers to complete online purchases using biometric authentication or passkeys instead of manually entering card details. According to Mastercard, the launch makes stc pay Bahrain among the first providers in the Kingdom to enable Click to Pay as a default feature on eligible cards. The launch reinforces stc pay's strategy to expand secure digital payment solutions while supporting Bahrain's transition towards a cashless economy. It also highlights continued collaboration between fintech providers and global payment networks to improve security and convenience for digital commerce. What to watch Al Rajhi Bank Q2 results (21 July), Mashreq Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Q2 results (22 July), Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Q2 results (24 July). Other UAE banks, including Dubai Islamic Bank, RAKBANK and Commercial Bank of Dubai, are also expected to announce their Q2 2026 results in the second half of July. TAB Middle East Weekly Brief is a regular round-up of developments driving transformation in the Middle East banking sector and what to watch.
