The UAE's central-bank-owned Jaywan card scheme has signed its first strategic deal with Mastercard — a three-part partnership that puts a world-first co-badged credit card, next-generation payment infrastructure and a UAE-based Mastercard operations hub on the table in a single announcement.
What was announced
Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE, and Mastercard unveiled the deal on 21 July 2026 — one day after Jaywan was formally inaugurated as the UAE's national card scheme.
According to Al Etihad Payments, the partnership has three components. First: the world's first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card. Second: next-generation infrastructure for switching and processing card payments, covering Jaywan debit, prepaid and credit co-badge products. Third: a new Mastercard operations centre based in the UAE and wired into Mastercard's global network — a hub built to process both domestic and international transaction flows out of the Emirates.
Mastercard becomes the prime international scheme for the Jaywan credit-card programme. The infrastructure ships with Mastercard's global cybersecurity, fraud-prevention and threat-intelligence layer. The UAE, per AEP, will be among the first countries to benefit from Mastercard's newest technology and services.
"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, CBUAE Assistant Governor for Banking Operations and Support Services and Chairman of Al Etihad Payments
What it means for UAE business
For UAE-based merchants, corporates and payment acquirers, the deal turns a domestic-only card scheme into a dual-network product with global reach — without ripping out existing terminals.
The mechanics matter. Merchants already accepting Mastercard don't need new hardware for the international side of the co-badged card. On the Jaywan side, domestic acceptance keeps expanding through Network International and other acquirers. A single plastic clears through two networks, and the acquirer chooses where each transaction routes.
For a business owner running a UAE company — especially anyone in the middle of opening a corporate bank account in the UAE — the practical consequences are three-fold. Cross-border payments to and from overseas clients can ride Mastercard rails. Domestic B2C flows can settle on Jaywan and keep more of the transaction economics inside the country. And the whole stack now sits under Mastercard's threat-intelligence and fraud-prevention layer, which raises the security floor without extra integration work on the merchant side.
For the finance function, the new UAE-based operations centre is quietly significant. Card operations that used to sit in regional hubs abroad will run out of the Emirates — with capacity to process international flows for the wider Mastercard network. That shortens escalation paths for local acquirers and issuers when something breaks.
What it means for expats and cardholders
Expats holding a Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card will pay through the UAE's national rails inside the country and through Mastercard's international network everywhere else. One card. Two schemes.
The dual-network model isn't new — co-badge cards run in several other markets. What's new here: this is the world's first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badge, and the first on a credit product rather than debit or prepaid.
AEP has not disclosed which UAE banks will issue the credit card first, or when. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and Network International were first movers on Jaywan debit, prepaid and online acceptance respectively; the credit product will follow through UAE issuers that opt in.
For a UAE-resident cardholder — expat or citizen — the practical value is at the till. A local coffee run settles domestically. A hotel booking in Paris clears through Mastercard's global network. The user experience is a single card in the wallet.
Context: from Jaywan launch to global acceptance
Jaywan was formally inaugurated on 20 July 2026 by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed — one day before the Mastercard announcement.
The rollout has moved fast. FAB put out Jaywan debit cards on day one. CBD issued the first Jaywan prepaid card. Network International — the region's largest acquirer — enabled online acceptance across the merchant base. The Mastercard partnership adds the missing pieces: the first credit-card product on the scheme, plus a global acceptance footprint that stretches well past the Gulf.
That timing matters for anyone tracking business regulation in the UAE in 2026. A sovereign card scheme with global rails is a policy tool as much as a payments product — it keeps clearing on domestic infrastructure while staying open to international commerce.
"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
Sources
- Al Etihad Payments — aep.ae
- Central Bank of the UAE — centralbank.ae
- Zawya (full press release) — zawya.com
- Mastercard MEA newsroom — newsroom.mastercard.com/mea
