Checkout.com has secured in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for a stored value facilities licence, the London-based payments firm announced Monday. The provisional clearance allows Checkout.com to move toward offering issuing services alongside its existing UAE acquiring operations, though no launch date has been provided. In-principle approval represents only the first stage of the regulator’s two-step licensing process and does not yet permit operations.
The firm is pitching merchants on funding cards directly from acquired payment balances, potentially eliminating pre-funding requirements for card programs. Checkout.com already operates as an acquirer in the UAE through partnerships including a February deal with CFD broker Equiti Group. The company is trailing competitors in the licensing timeline—Revolut converted similar provisional approval into full licences within nine months last year, while Remitly has also obtained full stored value facilities authorization from the CBUAE.
FXnCO Insight
Checkout.com’s provisional status puts it months behind fully licensed rivals Revolut and Remitly in the competitive UAE payments market, creating immediate operational disadvantages for client acquisition.
Source: Finance Magnates