UAE Banks to Roll
Out Jaywan Debit Cards
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Jaywan in UAE:
Soon, all debit cards to be issued with new payment solution
The cards are to be issued to residents
who have bank accounts or to those who are banking with exchange houses
Banks
and financial institutions in the UAE will start issuing the payment card called
Jaywan from the second quarter of this year, Khaleej Times
can reveal. The process to roll out the scheme — which was announced recently —
will be completed in two years, according to a senior official.
“We
have an aggressive growth plan for Jaywan, hoping to launch
debit cards in Q2 2024 with select partners who are ready to issue. Over the next
few years, the Central Bank of the UAE (will) mandate all banks to issue Jaywan as debit cards to their customers in the UAE,” Andrew
McCormack, chief operating officer at Al Etihad Payments (AEP) said.
Created
in 2023, Al Etihad Payments (AEP) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Central Bank
of the UAE. It was established to develop and operate financial markets infrastructure
for the UAE. The company started operations in all retail systems, including legacy
ones that the Central Bank used to run such as the Wage Protection System and the
UAE Switch.
In
October 2023, AEP and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) of India signed
a partnership to advance the development of the UAE’s first national Domestic Card
Scheme (DCS).
Jaywan, owned and operated by AEP, was announced
during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UAE. Jaywan uses licensed technology from India’s payment operator
NPCI.
As
part of this new payment scheme and strategy, the Jaywan
cards are to be issued to UAE residents who have bank accounts or to those who are
banking with exchange houses.
Jaywan would be useable in India also, once all
the electronic linkages are put in place. According to Global Data, the UAE’s cards
and payment market was estimated to be nearly $120 billion (Dh440.4 billion) by
the end of 2022 and it is expected to grow at a high single-digit growth rate in
the coming years.
Mono-badged,
co-badged
Currently,
the banks issue Visa and Mastercard debit cards.
"Importantly,
they (Jaywan) can be co-badged with Mastercard or Visa
cards. So, there will be two badges on it because a large segment of the UAE travels
extensively, and this will enable them to use it all around the world. So, the reach
of the Jaywan card is the UAE, GCC and India. Beyond that,
we will rely on co-badge partners Mastercard and Visa to extend the reach to the
rest of the world," he said.
McCormack
explained that when banks issue new cards or renew old cards, debit cards will be
either Jaywan debit cards for domestic transactions or
co-badged cards with Mastercard and Visa for international travel.
He
added that Jaywan's relationship now extends into India
and GCC countries and will not rely on Mastercard or Visa systems only when used
in India or Gulf countries.
McCormack
added that Jaywan's credit cards are not on the table
right now. The launch partners for the Jaywan card will
be revealed soon.
Why
Jaywan?
Al
Etihad Payments COO elaborated that there are two primary objectives for introducing
a new domestic payment method.
“Most
countries have developed – some of them did a long time ago – because the importance
of having a national sovereign payment scheme is critical to economic health and
ability to process transactions. Control over the payment system is a priority for
any country. It is not uncommon to have some control over the domestic payment system
because all small and medium businesses depend on their ability to collect payments
from their customers,” he said.
“Secondly,
taking control of it over time allows us to manage the cost of payments as well.
And the ultimate benefit will accrue to consumers and merchants. This is something
we can achieve better if we have a better degree of control,” he added.
McCormack
reasoned that the banks and other financial institutions were given two-year periods
as such projects require time and investment.
“When
new customers are onboarded, they will be issued a new card, and when the existing
cards expire, the new cards will be Jaywan or co-badged
to be issued,” he said.