Al Etihad Payments, a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE, has signed co-badging agreements with global card schemes, including Discover, Mastercard, UnionPay, and Visa.
These partnerships aim to enhance Jaywan, the UAE’s Domestic Card Scheme, by enabling international transactions while maintaining an efficient domestic payment network.
The agreements will allow Jaywan cardholders to transact worldwide, tapping into the networks of these international payment providers.
Within the UAE, transactions will continue to be processed through UAESWITCH.
Jaywan will introduce debit and prepaid co-badged cards, which will be used for everyday transactions, salary disbursements, and cross-border payments.
UAE financial institutions are expected to start issuing these co-badged cards from the second half of 2025.
The co-badge cards will offer international acceptance, allowing cardholders to use their cards abroad for cross-border payments.
The move is expected to enhance Jaywan’s usability by extending its reach to international merchants, ATMs, and online payment platforms.
Al Etihad Payments chairman Saif 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.”
Last month, Al Etihad also entered agreement with UnionPay International to introduce co-badge cards in the UAE that feature the logos of both Jaywan and UnionPay.
These cards will operate on Jaywan’s domestic payment network for local transactions while providing access to UnionPay’s global network, which spans over 180 countries and regions.
“Al Etihad Payments enters co-badging agreements on card schemes ” was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand.
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