NymCard Receives In-Principle Approval for UAE Stored Value Facility Licence

NymCard has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for a Stored Value Facility licence. This is the third time the payments company has gone through the CBUAE licensing process. The approval is a stage in that process, not the full licence. NymCard still has to satisfy the central bank's conditions before the complete licence is granted.

NymCard already holds two CBUAE licences. One is the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (RPSCS) Category II licence. The other is an Open Finance licence. Each licence covers a different set of activities, and neither gives NymCard the right to operate a stored value facility. The SVF application has therefore had to move through the same authorisation route as the earlier permissions. The SVF approval is an addition to those permissions, not a replacement.

The licensing work has involved more than submitting documents. NymCard has built the governance, risk, compliance and operational frameworks the central bank requires, and it has done so while expanding its business in the UAE. This is also the third time the CBUAE has examined NymCard, so the decision on stored value follows two earlier rounds in which the regulator already approved the company's systems. NymCard said the in-principle approval strengthens its regulatory foundation in the UAE.

Omar Onsi, the founder and chief executive, said the milestone reflects the trust NymCard has built with the CBUAE. Onsi said the company is committed to operating to the highest regulatory standards. He expressed pride in NymCard's progress and gratitude to the central bank.

NymCard continues to invest in payments infrastructure built for the region. It says it will operate within the scope of its regulatory permissions, in line with UAE laws and CBUAE requirements, as it moves toward the full stored value licence. That keeps the immediate use of the approval inside the boundaries the regulator has already accepted.

Stored value facilities are the category for prepaid products, where customers load funds before spending them. A completed licence would make stored value a regulated activity alongside NymCard's retail payments, card scheme and open finance permissions, all under one central bank. The approvals have come sequentially, and each one has added a layer to NymCard's compliance position in the UAE. The SVF clearance is the latest such layer rather than an isolated event.