Mastercard collaborates with Emirates NBD to accelerate digital payment adoption

Mastercard has entered a strategic alliance with Emirates NBD to accelerate digital payment adoption through the integration of Mastercard Gateway within the bank's Emirates NBD Pay merchant acceptance platform.

The partnership will enhance Emirates NBD Pay's capabilities by deploying Mastercard Gateway's payment processing technology, enabling the bank's merchant clients to accept a wider range of payment methods through a more robust and reliable platform. Mastercard Gateway supports more than 35 payment methods and processes billions of transactions globally.

Emirates NBD Pay provides payment acceptance solutions to businesses across the UAE, and the Mastercard Gateway integration strengthens the platform's technical foundation. The upgrade is expected to improve transaction approval rates, reduce processing latency, and expand the range of payment options available to merchants.

The collaboration addresses the UAE's push to increase digital payment penetration across the economy. While large retailers and e-commerce platforms have broadly adopted digital payments, there remains significant opportunity to expand acceptance among smaller businesses and service providers.

For Emirates NBD, the partnership deepens its relationship with Mastercard and reinforces its position in the UAE's competitive merchant acquiring market. The bank faces competition from specialist payment companies including Geidea and Network International, as well as other banks building their own merchant payment platforms.

Mastercard's partnership with Emirates NBD follows its earlier agreement with Geidea in the UAE, reflecting the payment network's strategy of working with multiple acquiring partners to maximise its coverage of the Emirates' merchant ecosystem.