UAE banks begin rolling out Jaywan debit cards

PHOTO

Banks in the UAE will roll out Jaywan debit cards in stages, a top official has said.

However, the 10 million-plus debit cards that exist in the market will be replaced gradually over the next two-and-a-half years.

“Banks have to launch Jaywan card. We have more than 10 million cards in circulation so replacing these cards will take time…,” said Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, chairman of UAE Banks Federation (UBF) in a media briefing on Tuesday. He added that they agreed to complete it in stages over two and half years. This is so that banks can stop issuing other branded cards and be able to issue Jaywan cards locally.

As reported by Khaleej Times in February 2024, banks and financial institutions in the UAE will start issuing the payment card called Jaywan in the second quarter of this year.

“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), told Khaleej Times earlier.

McCormack said that Jaywan can be co-badged with Mastercard or Visa cards. “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.

“We expect Jaywan will be accepted in the future at the GCC level and then country-to-country agreements with China, India and other countries,” said Al Ghurair.