How Checkout.com Will Boost UAE Fintech Landscape
At Checkout.com’s debut conference in the UAE, it announced its plans to expand card issuing capabilities in the UAE by 2026, pending regulatory approval.
The service will mean businesses can issue branded virtual and physical cards and improve features such as expense management, customer rewards and B2B payouts.
The announcement marks the first investment of its kind by a global digital payments provider in the region.
Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, MENA General Manager at Checkout.com, explains: “As a global business, we focus on bringing products to markets that our customers want and need. Today’s announcement is proof of our commitment to the MENA region and its rising influence in the digital economy,
“The appetite for innovation here is real and we’re proud to be building the infrastructure that powers it.”
Strategic importance to the region
Checkout.com’s announcement will support wider economic transformation goals and boost the MENA region’s digital payments infrastructure.
This investment will directly support Vision 2030 (Saudi Arabia) and the UAE’s 2031 Digital Economy Strategy, both of which focus on encouraging fintech innovation and crafting robust financial systems.
Remo continues to explain: “With bold moves like Saudi’s Vision 2030 and the UAE’s 2031 Agenda, MENA is fast becoming a global standard for digital transformation,
“At Checkout.com, we’re here to support that momentum. Our mission is to help ambitious businesses navigate the complexity of payments, so they can move faster, go further, and make the most of every opportunity. In MENA, performance is personal. It’s local. It’s built on trust. And when payments perform, businesses thrive.”
By introducing domestic card issuing, Checkout.com will encourage local fintech startups to build tailored solutions and reduce reliance on foreign infrastructure. This will craft a more competitive and self-sufficient regional fintech landscape.
The MENA region is experiencing vast growth in on-demand services, mobile and digital payments and gig and creator economies.
This investment will offer these areas with scalable and agile payment solutions that will empower businesses to integrate financial services directly into their platforms.
Recent innovations
Checkout.com has continued to showcase its commitment to advancing the fintech landscape in the MENA region.
The global payments leader was the inaugural payment service provider to bring Mada and Apple Pay to merchants across the UAE and KSA and to obtain a Retail Payment Services license from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
Checkout.com became the first to launch Visa Direct’s Push-to-Card solution in the UAE in February.
It also launched a product that allows shoppers to save their card details once and then be always available for use across Checkout.com’s international network - Flow Remember Me.
Early adopters of this product have been able to cut their checkout time by up to 70%.
In 2025, Checkout.com empowered merchants to send funds directly to third-party cards effectively by expanding its longstanding relationship with Mastercard.
Impact on the MENA fintech landscape
Checkout.com is crafting the foundation for several new fintech offerings, such as gig economy and creator payout tools and expense management platforms, by allowing businesses to issue branded physical and virtual cards.
The announcement will reduce compliance and operational barriers to launching fintech products, offer enterprise-grade capabilities to local startups and empower regional players to compete globally. This will help to accelerate local fintech maturity.
Checkout.com’s move highlights wider global confidence in the region. This will encourage global fintechs to enter or expand in the region, draw more VC investment into MENA fintech startups and boost the credibility of MENA as a fintech hub.
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