Canadian fintech company Nuvei has received in-principle approval for a Retail Services Category II License from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking an expansion into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Nuvei Secures Retail Services License in UAE, Expanding Middle East Presence

The license will allow Nuvei to offer its full suite of payment technologies to businesses operating in the UAE, including direct local acquiring, payment aggregation services, and domestic and cross-border fund transfers. This move comes as the UAE's eCommerce sector is projected to exceed $10 billion in revenue by 2029, with an annual growth rate of approximately 9%.

“Expanding our global licenses portfolio has been a key focus, and we can now offer the full power of our payment platform to support the growth aspirations of businesses operating in the UAE,” Philip Fayer, Nuvei's Chair and CEO, commented.

The company expects that direct local acquiring will provide greater control over the payment lifecycle, potentially leading to improved payment acceptance rates and lower processing costs for its customers.

“Our mission is to connect our customers to their customers more deeply through payments , wherever those customers are and however they want to pay,” added Fayer.

This month, Nuvei also partnered with ViaPlus, a US-based transport company, to enhance consumer payment methods for mobility services. Through this partnership, the companies plan to introduce over 700 new payment methods to improve convenience and flexibility for users across multiple countries.

Building Global Reach

This expansion builds on Nuvei's existing commercial presence and partnerships in the MENA region. It follows recent moves to strengthen the company's global reach, including securing a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore and becoming the first global payments company to offer local direct acquiring in Colombia.

Three weeks ago, Nuvei partnered with Visa in the Colombian market to introduce Visa Direct in the country.

Nuvei's technology currently enables businesses to accept payments in over 200 markets, with local acquiring in 50 markets, supporting 150 currencies and 700 alternative payment methods.

As the company awaits final approval from the UAE Central Bank, Fayer expressed gratitude for the opportunity, stating, "We're thrilled to be on the cusp of launching our best-in-class services, including direct local acquiring, in such a fast-growing digital eCommerce market."

Nuvei is currently a publicly traded company, but this is about to change. In April, the company announced its intention to go private in a $6.3 billion deal with Advent International. Final court approval for this matter was issued last week, and the arrangement is set to be finalized between 2024 and 2025.