“Can the UAE's largest bank become the region's dominant embedded-finance rail — issuing, acquiring, and payouts — through a carved-out payments subsidiary and API-first distribution?”
FAB was created in 2017 by merging FGB (consumer/cards) and NBAD (wholesale/capital markets) to form the UAE's largest bank. Since 2020 it has been aggressively rewiring itself around embedded payments infrastructure — carving out its payments business into a subsidiary (Magnati), launching a merchant 'payment as a platform', and building an API-first developer portal (FABeAccess) to embed FAB rails into fintechs and corporates. The 2025 Thunes partnership extends that thesis into cross-border payouts.
First Abu Dhabi Bank discloses First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Unit as its banking providers, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
First Abu Dhabi Bank does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Unit.
First Abu Dhabi Bank processes payments through Magnati (in-house) and FAB Payment as a Platform (self-operated).
First Abu Dhabi Bank's cards are issued through First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Magnati (in-house) on the Mastercard network.
First Abu Dhabi Bank's lending and capital products are provided by First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Mastercard Installments Program.
First Abu Dhabi Bank uses Thunes and SWIFT for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 8 layers in First Abu Dhabi Bank's stack: Payments / PSP (Magnati (in-house) and FAB Payment as a Platform (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Unit); Card issuing (First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Magnati (in-house)); Card network (Mastercard); Lending (First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house) and Mastercard Installments Program); Unified APIs (Thunes); FX & payouts (Thunes and SWIFT); Treasury (First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC (in-house)).
First Abu Dhabi Bank is founded in 2017 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against First Abu Dhabi Bank 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.