UAE Cental Bank to Enable Instant Payments

The Central Bank of the UAE is currently working on initiatives to implement a financial market infrastructure that will enable instant payments in the country.

The Central Bank officials conducted a meeting with bank chief executives during which they discussed plans to enable instant payments in the UAE.

The majority of Middle East consumers are leaning towards digital banking, with 61 per cent in the UAE preferring to transact using online channels, US technology company Entrust said in a March report. More than half of all UAE residents now use digital wallets as online payments increased after the pandemic, payments solutions provider Checkout.com said in a recent report.

Meanwhile, more than half of consumers in the UAE plan to go cashless by 2024, compared with the global average of 41 per cent, a Visa study earlier this year showed.

At the meeting officials also talked about the consumer protection framework in the country, including complaints management, and the planned establishment of an ombudsman unit named Sanadak.

The unit will be a “unique consumer complaint resolution mechanism in the Middle East region that will provide easy access and quick turnaround for resolution of consumer complaints”, the statement said.

The Central Bank also highlighted the progress of Emiratisation initiatives that seek to increase the number of Emiratis employed in the banking sector this year, in line with the UAE national agenda.