Botim Cardholders Get Mastercard One Credential for Prepaid-Credit Switching

Botim cardholders in the UAE can now shift between prepaid balances and credit through Mastercard One Credential, a product that lets eligible users choose how to fund payments within one digital interface. The launch makes Botim, a fintech owned by Astra Tech, the first partner to roll out the credential in the UAE and the wider EEMEA region. Mastercard had previously named Wio Bank as an original global launch partner when the product debuted in February 2025.

One Credential does not require a user to hold separate prepaid and credit products. Instead, a cardholder carries one credential and selects the funding source when they pay. The design is meant to simplify the choice: users can keep spending from an existing prepaid balance, then move to credit for a larger purchase or when instalments make sense. Botim users can convert purchases into instalments, access funds in multiple currencies, and see transactions with clearer visibility. Mastercard has positioned the feature set as especially useful for first-time credit users, and it cites research showing 83% of surveyed UAE consumers would use card instalments through One Credential.

The product arrives at a point of rapid expansion for Botim. The company started as a UAE-based voice and video calling app before Astra Tech turned it into a financial ultra-app through acquisitions, including the purchase of fintech firm PayBy in 2023. Botim reports more than 150 million users globally, and its finance arm holds a full Finance Company License from the Central Bank of the UAE. That license means credit products such as One Credential can sit inside an app already licensed and supervised for financial services.

Mastercard's Gina Petersen-Skyrme, Senior Vice President and Country Manager for the UAE and Oman, said the partnership demonstrates that One Credential can be implemented quickly and efficiently in markets and supports partners' efforts to launch new solutions. Astra Tech Board Member and Botim CEO H.E. Dr. Tariq BinHendi said the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to choice, transparency, and confidence in digital payments, and that the launch aims to support long-term financial participation for Botim's users.

Both companies describe the launch as the first milestone in a broader roadmap, with additional Botim card products and payment use cases planned.

For Mastercard, the regional debut is a direct answer to Visa's Flexible Credential, a competing product that lets cardholders switch payment methods in real time. For Botim, the launch turns a calling-based super-app into a more serious credit provider. One Credential is a practical product rather than a distant ambition, and it puts the issuing relationship ahead of the banking relationship for millions of users. That may be the bigger signal: Mastercard is treating an app, not a bank, as the front door to first-time credit in the UAE.