“Can a Shariah-compliant bank become the digital-first Islamic banking leader in the UAE through a parent-group platform and fintech ecosystem partnerships?”
Emirates Islamic is a UAE Shariah-compliant retail and corporate bank, subsidiary of Emirates NBD Group, founded in 2004. The bank has pursued an aggressive digital transformation strategy (chairman cites 98% of transactions as digital post-COVID), launching the EI+ mobile app, businessONLINE platform for corporates, and a Plug and Play-powered Future Lab fintech accelerator focused on Islamic SME finance, trade finance and financial wellbeing. Recent strategy emphasizes product firsts (UAE's first Shariah CD program) and ESG-linked corporate facilities.
Emirates Islamic discloses Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Emirates Islamic does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house).
Emirates Islamic processes payments through Emirates Islamic Payments (in-house), Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet.
Emirates Islamic's cards are issued through Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house).
Emirates Islamic's lending and capital products are provided by Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house).
Emirates Islamic runs its ledger on unknown.
Emirates Islamic uses Emirates Islamic QuickRemit (in-house) for FX and cross-border payouts.
Emirates Islamic's payroll is powered by Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 8 layers in Emirates Islamic's stack: Payments / PSP (Emirates Islamic Payments (in-house), Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet); Banking / BaaS (Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house)); Card issuing (Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house)); Ledger (unknown); Lending (Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house), Murabaha, Ijarah, Istisna and 9 others); Payroll (Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC (in-house)); FX & payouts (Emirates Islamic QuickRemit (in-house)); Spend / AP (Emirates Islamic Corporate Cards (in-house) and Mastercard Smart Data (Online Smart Data Solutions)).
Emirates Islamic is founded in 2004 and headquartered in Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Emirates Islamic and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.