UAE Central Bank Clears Mawarid Finance for MSME Financing With Liabify

The Central Bank of the UAE has issued a no-objection to Mawarid Finance, clearing the lender to provide financing to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises under an arrangement with Liabify. A second no-objection, covering prepaid cards, allows participating employers to offer eligible financing and earned wage access to their staff.

Both services run through LiaPay, which Liabify describes as an AI-powered financial wellness platform. Workers draw on the funds with prepaid Mastercard cards. Regulatory and eligibility rules apply throughout.

Credit attached to the payroll cycle

The design links the money to the salary date rather than to a standalone loan application. LiaPay is built to close the gap between the moment an employee faces an expense and the moment they are paid, and the companies argue that tying financial services to payroll gives workers more room to decide how they use their own funds.

For an employer, the appeal is narrower and more practical: staff can be helped without pulling cash out of the business. The companies present the model as a way for employers to support their people while holding on to the liquidity needed to keep daily operations running. Liabify said its approach rests on putting existing capital to more efficient use, and that responsible financing and risk management sit behind it.

Three parties, three jobs

• Mawarid Finance provides the financing and the prepaid cards, in line with CBUAE rules.
• Liabify supplies the technology platform and takes the lead on engaging employers.
• Mastercard provides the payment network that the cards sit on.

Dr Allan Villegas, co-founder and chief executive officer at Liabify, framed the partnership around the employer's role.

“Together with Mawarid Finance, we aim to help MSMEs support their employees through responsible access to liquidity.”

Protections written into the product

The companies said the initiative will be built around consumer protection, responsible financing and Sharia compliance. Rollout will follow the terms of the no-objection and other applicable rules rather than a single launch date.

Payroll is where this gets decided. A business that signs up is effectively extending its own credit standing to its workforce, because the financing is repaid out of wages and the cards only work for employees the eligibility rules cover. That makes employer participation the real gate. It also explains why the three stated conditions carry weight: Sharia compliance decides whether some employers can sign at all, consumer protection rules govern how repayment is taken from a salary, and responsible lending standards set who qualifies for a limit in the first place. The no-objection gives the structure a regulatory footing. Whether MSMEs hand their payroll data to it is a separate question, and one each employer answers on its own.