← State of Embedded Finance 2026

Payby

Can PayBy become the default payments and financial services operating system for UAE SMEs and merchants?

HQAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
IndustryFintech / SMB banking
The story

PayBy started as a UAE Central Bank-licensed stored value facility and retail payments provider targeting consumers and merchants in the UAE. It progressively added SME-focused products including QR-code payment acceptance and a payroll account product, repositioning from a pure consumer digital wallet toward an SMB payments and financial services platform. The QR-code SME push signals an embedded-finance expansion aimed at replacing traditional POS infrastructure for small merchants.

Last 12 months
2023-03
Product timeline
2021
Licensed by UAE Central Bank to provide stored value facilities and retail payment services; Terms of Use published December 2021.· banking
2022
Payroll Account product launched with dedicated Terms and Conditions page, enabling payroll-linked payment accounts for merchants and employees.· banking
2023
Launched QR code-based smart payment systems targeting SMEs in the UAE, as reported by IBS Intelligence.· pivot
Regulated entities
Stored Value Facility / Retail Payment Services
UAE (Central Bank)
PayBy Technology Projects LLC
The stack
Payments / PSP
PayBy (self-operated)
Accounting gap: none