Over the past 18 months, the UAE Central Bank has issued a set of regulatory requirements that directly affect how payments move between institutions.
These include mandatory participation in Aani (the national instant payment platform), rollout of the Jaywan card scheme, new open finance standards, and a licensing framework for payment providers.
The new rules are already being enforced, and they’re now influencing how financial institutions plan products, structure integrations, and model operational risk.
In this article, we look at how each layer of regulation contributes to building an interoperable payment system and what financial institutions must plan for in response.
The Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) initiative, launched in 2023, lays out how UAE financial systems are expected to work together. It includes nine national programs aimed at upgrading payments, compliance, and data-sharing.
Five of these directly shape how institutions must design for interoperability:
These programs are being developed with shared protocols, formats, and regulatory standards. Participating in one means building for compatibility with others.
That’s why interoperability is a baseline requirement. Institutions must now design systems that meet unified national standards for how payments move, how data is accessed, and how compliance is tracked.
Beyond infrastructure, the Central Bank has introduced new regulations that directly affect how payment systems are built and approved.
The Open Finance Regulation, which came into effect in 2024, requires banks, insurers, and investment providers to enable secure, API-based access to customer data. It also allows licensed third-parties to initiate payments directly, provided they meet security, consent, and audit requirements.
At the same time, the Central Bank has clarified licensing requirements for PSPs, EMIs, and digital wallet operators. These include specific expectations for technical readiness, platform security, and integration with national infrastructure.
The result: interoperability is now a licensing requirement. It must be addressed early – at the system architecture and product planning stage, not after launch.
The UAE’s push for interoperability is most visible in its two national payment platforms: Aani for instant payments and Jaywan for card transactions.
Both are structured to ensure that banks, wallets, and fintechs can connect through shared rails – using unified protocols for access, settlement, and compliance.
Participation in either system requires adherence to common protocols. Custom-built or isolated setups no longer meet the bar.
This unified approach reduces fragmentation and allows all providers to operate on compatible rails with fewer integration gaps.
The UAE is laying the groundwork for cross-border interoperability, with central bank digital currency (CBDC) at the core of its strategy.
Both initiatives are supervised directly by central banks. Their goal is to eliminate reliance on legacy chains and intermediaries, while ensuring security, speed, and transparency.
For financial institutions operating across corridors, this marks a shift in both technical integration and regulatory expectations – and preparation needs to start now.
In the UAE, interoperability has moved from policy discussions to operational expectations.
Mandates like FIT, Open Finance, scheme participation rules, and cross-border pilots are all converging around the same principle: financial systems must be designed to work across providers, platforms, and use cases.
This shift requires deeper collaboration between product, compliance, and technology teams – not after launch, but from day one. Compatibility with national systems can’t be an afterthought. It has to be embedded into infrastructure design and delivery.
At Ripae, we work with institutions building systems that meet UAE regulatory standards, and are flexible enough to adapt to what’s next.
If your team is preparing for cross-platform, multi-rail payment operations, let’s talk.
