The UAE has introduced a series of new tax regulations affecting businesses in the cryptocurrency industry. Therefore, from the 15th of next month, cryptocurrencies will no longer be subject to the 5% VAT in the UAE. Between July and June last year, 23 billion pounds worth of cryptocurrencies were traded in the country, making the Middle East and Africa country the leader in the MENA region’s crypto economy. Ripple recently received approval to start operations in Dubai in response to the growing need for crypto-related services.
What’s going on with fintech for the UAE?
The UAE has one of the highest numbers of fintech startups in the Middle East and Africa, with over 680 fintech companies. In the region, it ranks second with 739 fintech companies, behind Turkiye, which ranks first. Israel, Nigeria, South Africa and others will follow suit. These companies primarily operate in areas such as payments, lending, and asset management.
In the UAE, investment alone increased by 92% last year. This marks the first time they have broken into the world’s top 10. This increase in funding comes as the UAE has been working to attract international financial companies, particularly in the cryptocurrency and financial services sectors.
Top fintech companies in UAE
These companies stand out as fintech leaders and innovators in the UAE. With a business environment that fosters innovation and supports technology-driven companies, the UAE is home to some interesting businesses.
1.Polytrade
Polytrade has been a pioneer in the RWA space since 2021, initially focusing on single asset tokenization and successfully facilitating over $10 million in trade finance through accounts receivable tokenization. Polytrade has since evolved into an aggregated RWA marketplace, partnering with over 50 RWA protocols, 11 chains, and 5 embedded financial dApps to become the “Amazon of RWA.” The marketplace has become a key entry point for retail users and institutions, attracting more than 18,000 early access users and gaining support from Mastercard.
2.Nim card
NymCard is a platform that helps businesses set up payment products such as prepaid cards, multicurrency cards, and buy now, pay later services. The company’s platform has over 1,000 APIs and takes care of the technical aspects so businesses can focus on growth.
NymCard is a key member of Visa and Mastercard, allowing businesses to comply with relevant regulations. We support companies looking to enter new markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Businesses can use NymCard’s ready-made payment infrastructure to suit their specific needs and receive support from experienced partners in the financial industry.
3. Salwa
Sarwa is a UAE investment platform. The app allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies with no hidden costs. Sarwa is a fully regulated service and also has savings accounts with attractive interest rates. With support from investors such as DIFC and Mubadala, Salwa continues to grow. The platform is built to simplify both active trading and passive investing, making it more accessible to all types of investors.
4. U Cloud Pay
YouCloudPay helps small and medium-sized businesses manage payments and analytics, especially in industries such as retail and hospitality. The company’s tools include a POS system that manages everything from transactions to inventory tracking in a single dashboard.
YouShop helps retailers organize, and YouResto helps restaurants process orders, menus, and online food delivery. Through YouVAS, YouCloudPay brings financial services to underserved areas, helping local businesses connect with more customers and grow effectively.
5. Beehive
Beehive is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects businesses and investors, making it easier for businesses to raise capital. Investors can lend directly to companies and earn a return on their investment.
Beehive focuses on existing companies, but also works with some new companies. We have funded a wide range of projects, from e-commerce startups to established brands. Beehive has built a reputation as a trusted source for peer-to-peer lending in the UAE with a strong credit assessment process.
6. Current money
NOW Money is a payroll and digital banking platform designed for low-income workers in the UAE. This simplifies payroll for businesses while giving employees access to a mobile app to manage their money. The app also supports money transfers and has a NOW Money Visa card that can be used for everyday expenses.
This service helps businesses meet payroll regulations while keeping costs down. NOW Money also focuses on improving employee financial literacy, strengthening financial management, and making payroll processes smoother for businesses.
7. Avatrade
Since its founding in 2006, AvaTrade has come a long way and has become one of the world’s leading online trading platforms with 400,000 registered clients. The company offers a variety of trading products including forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and indices.
AvaTrade is a leading, award-winning online trading broker. We support all types of investors through a wide range of platforms including MT4/5, AvaTrade mobile app, WebTrader, AvaOptions, AvaSocial, DupliTrade and more. Traders benefit from real-time market access and instant execution, along with tight spreads, a personal account manager, multilingual support, over 1000 products, and market-leading risk management tools such as AvaProtect. Accounts are completely segregated and transactions are fully encrypted.
AvaTrade’s Middle East headquarters are located in the UAE and the company is regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Permit No. 190018. While AvaTrade is regulated in the European Union (EU) including the UAE, Japan, Australia and the British Virgin Islands, AvaTrade also has a strong presence in Canada through its partnership with Friedberg Direct, a member of Canada’s Investment Industry Regulatory Authority. I keep it. The company is also proud to be the official trading sponsor of the UAE Football Association.
8.Ozone API
Ozone API unlocks the power of open finance and delivers world-changing technology, enabling banks and financial institutions to adapt and grow in the new world of open data. The UK-based fintech is the leading standards-based open API platform, supporting all global standards and providing the tools and expertise to help banks and financial institutions create real commercial value. .
With a founding team originally involved in developing the UK Open Banking standard at OBL, Ozone API continues to shape open finance globally, helping regulators, banks and technology platforms accelerate open finance.
Because of its extensive business operations in the Middle East, Ozone API has an office in Abu Dhabi, where co-founder and CEO Chris Michael is also based in the region.
9. Din
Ding is a FinTech company founded in Ireland in 2006 with offices around the world, including Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ding was founded with the purpose of improving the lives of people in poverty by helping them access more things.
Since Ding’s founding, our goal has been to partner with the best operators and platforms to build and run the safest, simplest, most effective and convenient top-up service. We offer more secure top-up in more countries, through more carriers, and more than anyone else, helping people around the world send a little happiness to their loved ones in the blink of an eye. Our customers have successfully sent over 600 million top-ups to date, and continue to send little smiles around the world.
Ding now also offers e-gifts. This will allow people to send support back to their home countries in the form of digital gift cards, adding another remittance alternative available to UAE customers and those sending money to their home countries from abroad.
10. Qubit Capital
Qubit Capital is designed to connect founders and potential investors across industries and geographies. The VC landscape is cyclical and several factors influence trading activity. But AI-powered matching platforms like Qubit Capital are revolutionizing the way founders and investors connect.
Qubit has facilitated nearly $215 million in funding for more than 64 startups across a variety of industries and locations. By leveraging AI algorithms, machine learning, and data, founders increase efficiency, diversify networks, and reduce bias.