The UAE’s Digital Dirham is ready and will be rolled out in phases “very soon”, according to a senior executive at the UAE Central Bank.
“Phase one has a number of use-cases that are tailored and aligned with the digital economy,” Paul Kayrouz, chief FinTech officer at the UAE Central Bank told Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
“The Digital Dirham will be provided free of charge for both consumers and SMEs [small and medium enterprises],” he added.
The UAE Central Bank began implementing its digital currency strategy, Digital Dirham, in March 2023.
The Digital Dirham is a digital version of the UAE’s national currency, enabling instant settlements and widespread accessibility with the security and trust of traditional central bank-backed money.
The roll-out of Digital Dirham will also benefit tourists visiting the UAE and help them to make transactions anywhere in the country.
“We will enable tourists that come to the UAE to top up their CBDC [Central bank digital currency] wallet with any account or any wallet they may have, convert any currency to digital, spend the Digital Dirham in the UAE, and then on the way back, convert it to whichever currency they want by the click of a button,” Mr Kayrouz said.
His comments come after the UAE government said last month that it conducted its first national transaction using the Digital Dirham.
The transaction was carried out by the Ministry of Finance and the Dubai Department of Finance, working closely with the UAE Central Bank.
The first pilot transaction was executed in less than two minutes via the mBridge platform, the multi-central bank digital currency settlement system developed by the central bank.
It is a key milestone in the nation’s campaign to embed next-generation financial technology across the public and private sectors.
In a policy paper released in July, the UAE central bank outlined various benefits of Digital Dirham.
This includes reducing payment costs and enabling immediate settlement of retail, wholesale, and cross-border payments in central bank money.
Digital Dirham could also expand access to financial services for unbanked or underbanked individuals and help in remittance flows.
The banking regulator is also working to roll out a number of other projects to help make payment transactions easier, according to Mr Kayrouz.
This includes using biometric data such as facial data or Emirates ID to make payments. It is also working on digitaisation of bank guarantees to help boost “trade finance ecosystem between the UAE and other countries,” Mr Kayrouz said.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
