First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, has launched ‘payit’, the country’s first fully-featured digital wallet.

The safe and secure service is available to anyone with a valid Emirates ID, regardless of who they bank with, and the sign-up process takes less than two minutes.

Using ‘payit’, Emiratis and residents can send and receive money instantly, 24/7, make payments through merchant partner apps, websites or by scanning QR codes, which is a first for the UAE, and can split bills with friends and track their spending.

Accounts can be topped up via UAE issued debit and prepaid cards, most FAB Cash Deposit Machines, and transfers from any UAE bank account. ‘payit’ customers can also easily access their money through cardless cash withdrawals at an ATM or by transferring it back to their bank account.

Hana Al Rostamani, group head of the Personal Banking Group, said: “In line with our objectives to become a leader in innovation and customer-centric banking experiences, ‘payit’ is a new mobile wallet solution that allows UAE residents to send and receive payments whenever and wherever they are, instantaneously. ‘payit’ provides an easy and convenient alternative to physical cash, which benefits merchants and customers and is aligned with the UAE’s ambition to become a cashless economy.”

Suvrat Saigal, head of Mass Segments & Products, said: “This aligns with our objective to create market leading solutions for our retail customers and merchants. Current figures show that 75 per cent of payments in the UAE are still made using cash, while at the same time, the UAE is number one in global smartphone penetration, which stands at 81 per cent. There is no doubt that we are moving towards a cash-free future and for financial institutions, this is a huge opportunity to accelerate this transformation. With the launch of ‘payit’, we aim to leverage on the excellent infrastructure of the UAE to minimise cash usage.”

Ramana Kumar, head of Payments, said: “Despite high levels of Point Of Sale (POS)and e-commerce penetration in the UAE, cash is still used for a considerable number of transactions. ‘payit’ allows customers to send money in real-time to anyone in the UAE, split bills in a very effective way, pay their bills in one click, and enables merchants to receive funds instantly. ‘payit’ will become a transformative solution for all customer needs. We are aiming to introduce new services including remittance soon to continuously evolve the app, drive financial inclusion and support the transition towards a cashless economy.” – TradeArabia News Service