The UAE did not inherit its instant rail and card scheme — it commissioned them. Under the CBUAE's Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme, Aani, Jaywan and a world-first Open Finance regulation all landed inside two years.
The UAE's modern payments stack is the output of a single programme: the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) programme, launched by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) in 2023. FIT is a set of nine initiatives, and three of them define the day-to-day reality for anyone in payments: the Aani instant payment platform, the Jaywan domestic card scheme, and the Open Finance regulation.
Operationally, the rails are run by Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a CBUAE subsidiary. The pattern rhymes with Saudi Arabia — central bank as architect, a state-owned operator running national infrastructure — but the UAE leaned harder into open finance, issuing what it describes as the world's first comprehensive Open Finance regulation.
The Central Bank set the FIT programme and writes the regulation; Al Etihad Payments operates the rails.
Real-time, alias-addressed transfers (mobile / email / QR) with an instant ceiling around AED 50,000.
Built with NPCI International — domestic routing, domestic data, lower reliance on global schemes.
Covers data sharing and payment initiation across the wider financial sector, not just current accounts.
Aani (launched October 2023) is the instant payment platform: 24/7, real-time transfers addressed by mobile number, email or QR, with an instant transaction ceiling around AED 50,000. It is the consumer-facing front end to the UAE's real-time rail. Jaywan is the domestic card scheme, built in collaboration with India's NPCI International — the same lineage as RuPay — designed to keep domestic card economics and data inside the country and reduce reliance on global schemes.
Open Finance goes wider than open banking. It was mandated under Circular 7 of 2023, updated by Circular 3 of 2025, with the regulation coming into force on 10 July 2025. It establishes licensing, supervision and an operational framework for data sharing and payment initiation across the financial sector — not just banks, but insurance and other financial products too.
| Initiative | Type | Operator / partner | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Aani | Instant payments | Al Etihad Payments | 24/7 real-time transfers by mobile / email / QR |
Jaywan | Domestic card scheme | AEP + NPCI International | Domestic card routing & acceptance |
| Open Finance | Regulatory framework | CBUAE | Licensed data sharing & payment initiation |
| FIT | Umbrella programme | CBUAE | Nine initiatives modernising the financial system |
If you are a PSP or acquirer, Jaywan changes the routing calculus the same way mada does in Saudi Arabia: plan for domestic-scheme acceptance and co-badging, not a global-scheme-only book. The economics move toward Jaywan over time as issuance grows.
If you are a fintech, the UAE Open Finance regime is genuinely ahead of most of the world — but "ahead" means licensed and supervised, not open season. Confirm where you sit in the CBUAE licensing perimeter before you build against the APIs, and treat the July 2025 in-force date and Circular 3 of 2025 as the live baseline. Aani is the cleanest instant rail to build consumer flows on.
The honest read: the UAE has built fast and built well, but the surface area is regulated end to end. The competitive edge here is not finding gaps — it is being licensed cleanly and shipping on rails the regulator actively wants used. Compare the playbook directly with Saudi Arabia; the two markets are converging on the same model from different starting points.