Jaywan at One: How the UAE's National Card Scheme Has Progressed Since Launch

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One year after its 2025 launch, Jaywan - the UAE's national card scheme - has partnered with Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay and activated 60,000 merchants. Here is where it stands.

Jaywan launched in February 2025 as the UAE's first domestic card payment scheme, operated by Al Etihad Payments, a Central Bank of the UAE subsidiary.
Network International activated Jaywan acceptance across approximately 60,000 UAE merchants ahead of the broader consumer roll-out.
AEP signed co-badged card agreements with Visa, Mastercard, Discover and UnionPay International, enabling global usability for cardholders.
Emirates NBD became an early Tier-1 bank issuer, while Mbank was the first to complete Jaywan's full IT infrastructure.
The scheme covers debit and prepaid cards today, with credit cards planned subject to market demand.
Key adoption metrics - including total cards issued and domestic transaction share - remain undisclosed one year on.

Al Etihad Payments and the UAE's Drive for Payment Sovereignty

Jaywan sits at the centre of a payment sovereignty agenda backed by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). Al Etihad Payments (AEP), the scheme's operator and a wholly owned CBUAE subsidiary, was established to localise card processing, retain more transaction fee revenue within the UAE economy, and reduce structural dependence on foreign card networks. The February 2025 launch placed the UAE alongside India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as countries that have built homegrown domestic card schemes.

A year on, progress has been real but measured. Co-badged payment cards - which pair the Jaywan domestic rail with a global network such as Visa or Mastercard - have emerged as the primary product format. Network International, the UAE's largest acquirer, activated Jaywan acceptance across its merchant estate quickly, giving the scheme a meaningful point-of-sale footprint from day one. However, key adoption metrics remain undisclosed, and the scheme is still in the early stages of consumer penetration.

A Phased Roll-out That Put Merchants First

The formal launch in February 2025 prioritised infrastructure readiness over immediate mass issuance to consumers. AEP chief executive Jan Pilbauer confirmed that acquirer activation - ensuring merchants could accept Jaywan - would come first, with customer issuance following and e-commerce acceptance scheduled later in 2025. This sequencing reflects a standard approach for new card schemes: acceptance must be in place before consumers have a reason to switch behaviour.

Network International moved swiftly under this strategy, activating Jaywan across its portfolio of approximately 60,000 UAE merchants. Coverage spans retail, hospitality, electronics, jewellery and hypermarkets. In January 2025, Network International also disclosed it was powering the first Jaywan cards for Emirates NBD, signalling early participation from a Tier-1 bank and demonstrating that processing infrastructure was ready for large-scale issuance.

Co-badging with Global Networks: The Core Strategy

Rather than asking consumers to abandon Visa or Mastercard, AEP chose a co-badged model from the outset. A co-badge card carries both the Jaywan logo and that of a global scheme on a single piece of plastic. Domestic UAE transactions route over Jaywan rails - keeping processing inside the country and potentially lowering costs for merchants and issuers - while international transactions continue via the global partner network.

By March 2025, AEP had signed formal agreements with Visa, Mastercard, Discover and UnionPay International. A specific "UnionPay-Jaywan" co-badge product was also confirmed, targeting the UAE's Chinese-speaking community and visitors. For banks, the co-badge model reduces migration risk considerably: institutions can move portfolios onto Jaywan without reducing cardholder usability abroad, which makes the business case for participation more straightforward.

Who Is Issuing Jaywan Cards?

Al Maryah Community Bank - trading as Mbank - claims to be the first UAE bank to complete Jaywan's full IT infrastructure stack and begin issuing Jaywan debit cards. Mbank has also made its infrastructure available to other banks seeking to join the scheme, a step that could accelerate industry-wide adoption by lowering the technical barriers for smaller institutions. Emirates NBD, via Network International's processing platform, represents early major-bank participation.

AEP has confirmed that all licensed financial institutions in the UAE are eligible to issue Jaywan cards - including banks, exchange houses and other regulated entities. The inclusion of exchange houses is strategically significant. These institutions serve a large portion of the UAE's workforce and are already trusted channels for financial services. Issuing prepaid Jaywan cards through exchange houses could extend the scheme's reach into segments underserved by traditional retail banking.

Product Features and Technology

Jaywan currently supports debit and prepaid card products. Credit cards are planned by AEP, subject to sufficient market demand. All cards use EMV chip technology - the global standard for card security - and tokenisation, which replaces sensitive card data with a unique digital token during transactions. The scheme supports NFC (near-field communication) tap-to-pay for in-store use and is designed for integration with mobile digital wallets.

AEP signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Gulf Electronics to enable Jaywan cards in Samsung Pay, bringing the scheme into the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) digital wallet ecosystem alongside existing Visa and Mastercard credentials. This integration matters because contactless and wallet-based payments are now the dominant mode for everyday consumer transactions in the UAE.

What One Year Has - and Has Not - Revealed

One year on, the public record confirms encouraging foundations: global co-badge partnerships are in place, a major acquirer has activated its merchant network, Tier-1 banks are issuing, and the core infrastructure is operational. What the public record does not yet show is how many Jaywan cards are in circulation, what share of domestic card transactions now run over Jaywan rails, or whether consumers are actively choosing Jaywan-co-badged products over pure Visa or Mastercard alternatives.

AEP launched a consumer awareness campaign in April 2025 - a recognition that building brand recognition takes time when internationally trusted alternatives already dominate. Market research covering the UAE cards market identifies Jaywan as a structural factor in the 2025-2029 forecast period, particularly for prepaid cards and digital wallets. The co-badge strategy is highlighted in early 2026 industry intelligence as a key growth opportunity, especially within regulated super-app and digital wallet platforms.

Mbank's 2024 communications referenced an ambition for Jaywan to become a material addition to the UAE's existing 10-million-plus debit card base by roughly late 2026-2027. Whether that timeline is met will depend on how quickly licensed financial institutions migrate or dual-badge their card portfolios - and whether consumers see tangible reasons to prefer a card bearing the Jaywan mark.

What Clients are Asking their Advisors

What is Jaywan and how is it different from Visa or Mastercard?

Jaywan is the UAE's national domestic card payment scheme, operated by Al Etihad Payments, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE. Unlike Visa or Mastercard, which are US-headquartered global networks, Jaywan is designed to keep card transaction processing and data within the UAE, reducing costs for merchants and issuers while supporting national payment sovereignty.

Can I use a Jaywan card to make payments outside the UAE?

Yes, if your card is co-badged - meaning it carries both Jaywan and an international scheme such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover or UnionPay. International transactions route via the global network partner, while UAE domestic transactions use Jaywan rails. Cards issued without a co-badge have more limited cross-border acceptance.

Which UAE banks are currently issuing Jaywan cards?

Mbank (Al Maryah Community Bank) was the first UAE bank to complete Jaywan's full IT infrastructure and begin issuing debit cards under the scheme. Emirates NBD joined as an early Tier-1 issuer, with Network International providing the processing layer. All UAE-licensed financial institutions, including exchange houses, are eligible to participate.

Does Jaywan reduce card payment costs for UAE businesses?

Al Etihad Payments positions Jaywan as a more cost-effective acceptance option than relying solely on global schemes, because domestic transaction processing is kept within the UAE. Smaller merchants are a stated priority, with lower acceptance costs intended to encourage digital payments and reduce cash dependency across the economy.