In a market where tap-to-pay and wallet apps were already common, QR codes didn’t seem like the next logical step. But in the UAE, they scaled quickly across sectors, supported by favorable conditions unique to the country.
What made it stick was a mix of infrastructure, behavior, and policy, all lining up at the right time.
This article breaks down what made QR payments grow so quickly in the UAE – not as a payment trend, but as a case study in rapid adoption.
For B2B businesses, there are lessons here in how distribution, behavior, and infrastructure align to accelerate uptake, and how to apply that thinking to your own product.
The UAE has one of the highest smartphone usage rates in the world: more than 90% of the population owns a smartphone, and mobile connectivity is deeply embedded in daily life.
From transportation and delivery apps to e-commerce and loyalty platforms, mobile-first behavior is already the norm. This made it easier for QR payments to integrate into existing routines.
Most local banks support Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the familiarity with these systems made QR-based wallets feel equally intuitive. For many users, scanning to pay became just another extension of behaviors they were already performing.
The widespread availability of QR code payments in the UAE was not driven by consumer demand alone. Banks and fintechs played a direct role in enabling adoption, particularly on the business side, where ease of setup and compliance are often barriers.
Banks like Emirates NBD, ADCB, and FAB introduced QR payment features within their existing mobile banking apps, allowing merchants to generate QR codes directly linked to their accounts. This removed the need for point-of-sale hardware, merchant onboarding cycles, or custom integrations.
Fintech platforms such as PayBy, Careem Pay, and Mamo took this further by targeting segments often underserved by traditional providers, including home-based sellers, freelancers, and independent drivers. These apps allowed merchants to accept payments through a simple QR display with no license, contract, or equipment required.
Some platforms also ran short-term incentives to drive usage. For instance, Careem Pay offered cashback to riders who completed trips using QR payments, a tactic that helped normalize the flow on the consumer side as well.
By simplifying merchant-side adoption and embedding QR features into platforms people already use, banks and fintechs helped convert QR payments from a technical option into a widely supported payment method.
When the pandemic hit, the UAE Central Bank urged businesses to reduce physical contact at checkout. For many SMEs, QR codes offered the fastest path forward, they could be deployed without terminals, contracts, or hardware delays.
COVID-19 sped up adoption, particularly among SMEs that needed fast, low-cost ways to accept payments without physical contact.
Adoption spiked: By mid-2024, around 49% of UAE SMEs had implemented contactless methods to align with both safety guidelines and shifting consumer expectations.
What began as a stopgap quickly became standard. Sectors like F&B, logistics, and home services moved to scan-to-pay during the pandemic, and largely kept it in place after.
For small businesses in the UAE, accepting card payments isn’t simple. POS terminals come with monthly fees, hardware costs, and sometimes long contracts.
QR code payments remove those barriers. A business only needs a smartphone and a printed code without any machines or bank negotiations. Payments go directly into the account, and setup takes minutes.
QR codes give small businesses a way to join the digital economy without the usual cost or complexity.
Now, QR payments are beginning to cross borders, especially between the UAE and key remittance markets like India. In 2023, the UAE and India agreed to link their national payment systems: India’s UPI and the UAE’s Instant Payment Platform.
This allows Indian visitors to pay in dirhams using the same QR apps they already use at home.
It’s a practical solution for the UAE, where Indian tourists and residents form a large part of the population. Instead of exchanging currency or dealing with card fees, users can scan and pay instantly from their local bank accounts.
There’s growing discussion across the GCC about creating shared systems that would let QR payments work between countries. If this happens, businesses in the UAE could accept QR payments from visitors across the Gulf, without needing to handle currency conversion or set up international payment systems.
Cross-border QR is still new, but the early steps clearly show: it’s fast, affordable, and built on systems people already use.
QR payments succeeded because they fit seamlessly into daily behavior and didn’t require cost or education. Customers didn’t need to change their habits, and businesses didn’t need to invest in complex systems.
For UAE fintechs or B2B platforms launching in the Gulf, the lesson isn’t “go build QR.” It’s to ask: does your product match how users already operate? Can your parters distribute it easily? Will the market recognize it as familiar or frictionless?
These are the levers that move the needle fastest in the ecosystem.
At Ripae, we help UAE businesses build payment systems that are simple and secure.
If you’re looking to offer smoother, lower-cost B2B payment experiences, we can help you get there. Contact us today.
