Cash flow is always tight when businesses face delays in payments. As of 2025, 92% of SMEs in the UAE accept digital payments. But even with this widespread adoption, most SMEs still operate on delayed cash cycles.
Bank transfers can take one to two business days to settle, and card payments carry added fees and delayed settlements. For a business managing thin margins or short lead times, these gaps limit financial agility.
To address this, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) launched the Instant Payment Platform (IPP), a national infrastructure that allows funds to move between banks within seconds, anytime.
For SMEs, this was more than just a technical change. Real-time payments affect cash flow visibility, working capital, customer expectations, and vendor coordination.
Below are five operational changes SMEs are already seeing with real-time payments and why these payments are moving from an efficiency upgrade to a business standard.
Delayed payments have long created friction in how SMEs operate. Even a one-day wait can interrupt stock purchases, delay salary runs, or push back supplier commitments.
With real-time payments, once a payment is sent, the funds arrive within seconds, regardless of time, day, or bank. This includes weekends and public holidays.
In 2023, the UAE recorded a 53% year-on-year increase in real-time payment transactions, reaching 58 million, with projections rising to 162 million by 2028.
Immediate settlement means fewer follow-up calls, fewer delays in dispatching orders, and more control over day-to-day liquidity. Businesses can act the moment money comes in, without relying on credit lines or internal workarounds.
For cash-heavy businesses, this also opens the door to going digital. If payments are instant and reliable, switching to bank transfers or mobile wallets becomes easier to manage.
Card payments remain a common method for small businesses in the UAE, but they come at a cost.
Typical fees range from 2% to 3% per transaction, and settlement times can stretch up to three days depending on the provider. For businesses with high transaction volumes or narrow profit margins, those costs add up quickly.
Real-time payments offer a more efficient alternative. Customers can transfer funds directly to the business account without going through an acquiring bank or card network. These transactions settle instantly and carry minimal processing cost.
For in-person transactions, many providers now support QR code payment options linked to the Instant Payment Platform (IPP). The customer scans a code using their banking app, and the funds appear in your account before they’ve left the counter.
For online sellers, this reduces reliance on payment gateways or manual confirmations. Businesses can verify payments in real time, without waiting for next-day settlement or worrying about chargebacks.
Replacing card transactions with real-time payments gives SMEs better visibility, stronger control over incoming cash, and lower processing costs at scale
Customers expect quick confirmation when making payments, whether they’re purchasing in-store, online, or through a mobile channel. But with traditional transfers, that experience can be inconsistent.
Payment delays create friction, particularly in time-sensitive industries like delivery, appointments, or service-based businesses.
Real-time payments eliminate this uncertainty.
Transactions are confirmed in seconds, and both parties can verify payment status without follow-ups, screenshots, or manual checks.
This helps in more ways than one:
As real-time payments become more common, speed and clarity will be expected, and not seem like a bonus. For SMEs, meeting that standard can be the difference between one-time buyers and long-term customers.
Running a small business in the UAE often means dealing with tight supply chains, from delivery drivers to wholesale vendors. One small delay in payment can slow everything down.
Real-time payments give you more flexibility. You don’t have to wait for business hours or bank processing times. The money arrives right away. This is especially useful when:
Even small steps, like using QR-based transfers for in-person payments, can improve cash flow and customer experience.
One of the most consistent challenges for SMEs is managing cash flow with incomplete information. When payments take one or two days to settle, it’s harder to track available balances and plan spending accurately.
Real-time payments close that gap. The account balance reflects incoming and outgoing transfers immediately, which means business owners aren’t forced to estimate when funds will clear or rely on spreadsheets to track pending transfers.
This has clear operational benefits:
Many UAE accounting platforms already support same-day reconciliation with real-time bank feeds. This removes the lag between payments and financial visibility, and gives SMEs a tighter grip on working capital.
Instant payments are becoming standard across the UAE’s SME sector.
If you’re still relying on slow, fee-heavy payment infrastructure, now is the time to modernise your setup - before it affects your operations or customer experience.
Here are three steps to start with:
These aren’t major changes, but they make a real difference. Even small steps, like using QR-based transfers for in-person payments, can improve cash flow and customer experience.
At Ripae, we help SMEs integrate real-time payment flows into their existing operations, without adding complexity. Let’s talk about how that could work for your business.
