United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi: Visa, the world leader in digital payments, today announced a significant partnership with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates, to expand the Visa B2B Connect network in the region.

The collaboration aims to enhance corporate cross-border payments, allowing businesses in the UAE to conduct secure and efficient transactions worldwide.

The agreement was signed by Sanjay Sethi, Head of Global Transaction Banking at FAB, in the presence of Sara Al Binali, Group Head of Corporate and Commercial Banking at FAB, and Shahebaz Khan, Senior Vice President, Head of Commercial & Money Movement Solutions for Visa B2B Connect, CEMEA. This partnership marks a strategic milestone for both companies, reflecting their shared commitment to innovation and excellence in the financial sector.

Visa B2B Connect is a non-card-based multilateral platform designed to provide predictable, secure, and cost-effective cross-border payments for financial institutions and their corporate clients. The platform simplifies international transactions by reducing the number of intermediaries involved, improving efficiency and transparency.

By leveraging Visa’s cutting-edge technology, FAB aims to enhance its innovative payments offerings and strengthen its position as a leading provider of transaction banking services in the region. With FAB’s extensive market reach and financial expertise, integrating with the Visa B2B Connect network will enhance the capabilities to offer superior payment solutions to corporate clients across the region.

The partnership underscores the value of collaboration in supporting FAB and Visa’s global connectivity while leveraging their combined capabilities to offer innovative solutions for clients. FAB has a global footprint across 20 markets, offering clients a comprehensive range of cutting-edge products that enable regional and international trade. The partnership enhances customer experience and accelerates digital transformation, supporting the UAE in its global integration of businesses.

“We are excited to welcome FAB to the Visa B2B Connect network,” said Vishal Virmani, Head of Visa B2B Connect CEMEA at Visa. “This partnership represents a significant step forward in our mission to provide seamless, secure, and efficient payment solutions for businesses. FAB’s market leadership and extensive network will be instrumental in driving the adoption of our platform across the UAE.”

About Visa B2B Connect

Visa B2B Connect is an innovative non-card-based multilateral platform delivering B2B cross-border payments that are predictable, secure and cost-effective for financial institutions and their corporate clients. Using a one-to-many connection, Visa B2B Connect helps reduce a number of correspondent transfers required to process a payment. This allows for more cost-effective cross-border transactions and provides both corporate finance institutions and their customers transparent view of fees associated with each transaction helping the companies to manage their cash flows. Visa B2B Connect platform can also be used to send payments to out-of-network banks. To learn more about Visa B2B Connect and how to join the platform, please visit www.visa.com/visab2bconnect

About Visa Inc.

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

About FAB 

Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, First Abu Dhabi Bank is one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, with total assets exceeding AED 1.2 trillion (USD 336 billion) as of March 2024. In addition to being the largest bank in the UAE and second-largest bank in the Gulf region, FAB operates in 20 markets globally.  

FAB provides comprehensive financial services, including Investment Banking, Corporate and Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, Private Banking, and Global Markets. Listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), FAB is rated Aa3/AA-/AA- by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch respectively, with a stable outlook.  

A regional leader in sustainability, FAB has an MSCI rating of ‘A’ and ranks among the top 10% of banks globally according to Refinitiv’s ESG scores, leading in the MENA region. The bank also received a regional-best Low ESG Risk evaluation from Sustainalytics, and the highest CDP score among UAE banks. 

For more information, visit: www.bankfab.com. For investor-related queries, please contact the FAB Investor Relations team on ir@bankfab.com; for PR and media-related queries, please contact PRandmedia@bankfab.com. 

Media Contact   
Burson  
Shirin Zemmo | Shirin.Zemmo@bursonglobal.com