Al Etihad Payments, the Central Bank of the UAE subsidiary that owns and operates the national card scheme Jaywan, has signed a partnership with Mastercard that includes the launch of a co-badged credit card, new card processing infrastructure, and a Mastercard operations centre on UAE soil.
The Jaywan-Mastercard credit card is positioned as a world first for a co-badged product of this type. Mastercard will serve as the primary international scheme for the Jaywan credit programme, allowing the cards to be accepted globally while remaining anchored to the UAE’s domestic payments network.
Banks, fintechs, and merchants will be able to issue and accept the card, with Mastercard providing switching, processing, fraud prevention, and cybersecurity services.
The new UAE operations centre will become part of Mastercard’s global network and is designed to process both domestic and international card flows.
The partnership also makes the UAE among the first countries to access Mastercard’s next-generation payment infrastructure, covering debit, prepaid, and credit co-badged products.
“This collaboration represents a defining moment for the UAE’s payments ecosystem. By combining national infrastructure with global innovation, we are strengthening sovereignty, resilience and choice, while accelerating the UAE’s journey toward a future-ready financial system,” Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, the CBUAE’s Assistant Governor for Banking Operations and Support Services, and Chairman of Al Etihad Payments said in a statement.
“As Mastercard celebrates forty years in the UAE, this latest milestone with Al Etihad Payments reflects how together we can strengthen the foundation for continued growth in trade, tourism and commerce. We are bringing together trusted technology, global scale and deep local relationships to strengthen domestic resiliency while remaining deeply connected to the global economy,” Dr. Dimitrios Dosis, President, EEMEA, Mastercard added.
The partnership is the latest step in AEP’s effort to connect banks, fintechs, merchants, and global technology partners through a single national payments framework.
