Checkout.com strengthens UAE offering with in-principle Stored Value Facilities licence
With in-principle approval by the Central Bank of the UAE, Checkout.com is set to bring acquiring and issuing together on a unified platform for merchants in the UAE.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – July 27th, 2026 – Checkout.com, a leading global digital payments company, today announced that it has been granted in-principle approval for a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The regulatory milestone will allow Checkout.com to introduce issuing capabilities alongside its existing acquiring services in the UAE on a single platform built for performance.
With complex payments flows often operating across borders, enterprise merchants increasingly require the ability to accept funds and manage new payment experiences for customers, partners and their own teams.
Checkout.com offers acquiring and issuing as modular solutions, so merchants can adopt either one independently based on their needs. For those that choose both, bringing acquiring and issuing together will provide a more connected way to manage the movement of money across their businesses, with shared data, simpler operations and greater opportunities to improve performance.
Through Checkout.com’s unified platform, businesses will be able to link acquiring, issuing and business account capabilities, so they can fund cards directly from acquired balances. This removes the operational burden of pre-funding card programmes, improves liquidity and provides businesses with greater visibility and control over their funds.
Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, comments: “The UAE has firmly established itself as a leading global fintech hub, with a high level of digital adoption and a forward-looking regulatory environment that makes it an exceptional place for businesses to innovate and grow. On behalf of Checkout.com, I would like to thank the Central Bank of the UAE for its continued support and close collaboration throughout this process.
“This milestone moves us closer to providing UAE merchants with a truly unified payments platform, bringing acquiring and issuing together with performance at the centre of the equation. Once operational, this connected approach will help merchants reduce complexity, improve liquidity and create new payment experiences for their customers, partners and teams.”
Checkout.com has built significant momentum across the MENA region, with total processing volume growing 62% year-on-year between 2024 and 2025. For Checkout.com, today’s announcement aligns with the UAE’s FinTech Strategy, implemented by CBUAE, and is a significant step towards delivering the full breadth of its global payments proposition to merchants in the country.