DafinchiThe Central Bank of the UAE through its subsidiary, Al Etihad Payments is partnering with Mastercard to build the switching technology in the UAE for the next phase of the country's domestic payments infrastructure.
MA2026 Q2Financial Services
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Mastercard Incorporated 2026 Q2: UAE switching partnership and modular switch architecture expansion
UAE switching partnership and modular switch architecture expansion
- Mastercard stated switching penetration reached 72% and emphasized network architecture flexibility to meet market needs while driving the virtuous cycle.
- The Central Bank of the UAE subsidiary Al Etihad Payments is partnering with Mastercard to build UAE switching technology for the next phase of domestic payments infrastructure.
- Mastercard will serve as the prime international scheme for co-badged credit cards with the domestic scheme named Jaywan.
- Mastercard will provide switching services behind domestic debit and Jaywan Mastercard co-badged credit transactions in the UAE, described as incremental to global switch processing.
- Management said Mastercard will also provide value-add services including fraud prevention and cybersecurity, while direct relationships with ecosystem customers continue as today.