Visa forms partnership to bring A2A payments to UAE

Visa has formed a partnership with fintech ABHI and Yellow Pepper, a Visa solution, to introduce account-to-account (A2A) payments to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A recent study published by Visa, ‘Money Travels: 2023 Digital Remittances Adoption’, found that approximately 70% of surveyed consumers in UAE are turning to digital apps to send and receive funds internationally, compared to 53% of consumers globally.

Shahebaz Khan, senior vice president and head of commercial and money movement solutions for Visa CEMEA, said: “Visa’s partnership with ABHI will leverage Visa Direct’s capabilities in offering a cutting-edge payment experience, by facilitating an immediate, reliable and cost-effective way for ABHI’s customers to send and receive money.

L-R: Omair Ansari, co-founder and CEO of ABHI and Shahebaz Khan, SVP at Visa, CEMEA.

“A2A transfers use card credentials, all backed by Visa’s multi-layered security and robust risk controls. Customers can transfer money between their own accounts, send remittances, fund savings and top-up their digital wallets using the cards they already have.”

Visa’s solution YellowPepper helps institutions to connect to international and domestic real-time payment solutions through its ‘Yepex’ platform, which enables services such as P2P, cross-border and alias directory.

It also supports domestic payouts in the UAE by enabling Visa Direct.

With this integration, YellowPepper’s technology will allow ABHI customers to move money to Visa cards.

Nat Scheer, regional head AP and CEMEA at YellowPepper, said the partnership aims to expedite the implementation of digital payments solutions in the region.

Scheer added: “Through this partnership, we are dedicated to providing a seamless and robust digital experience that prioritises security, speed and above all, convenience, to consumers in the UAE.”

It marks the first partnership between ABHI, Visa, and YellowPepper in the CEMEA region, by enabling Visa’s first ‘Earned Wage Access’ (EWA) program in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, markets.

ABHI is introducing the EWA product in UAE through payouts to existing eligible Visa cards, as well as payouts to co-branded Visa cards, which will be issued specifically for ABHI customers in the Wage Protection System (WPS) segment.