← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Ziina

“Can Ziina become the default financial OS for SMBs and individuals in the Middle East by layering cards, wallets, open finance, and an embedded API platform on top of its UAE Central Bank SVF licence?”

Founded2020
HQDubai, United Arab Emirates
FoundersFaisal Toukan, Sarah Toukan
Total raised$52.6M
Latest roundSeries A, 2024
IndustryFintech / SMB banking
The story

Founded in 2020 as the UAE's first social P2P payments app, Ziina quickly expanded from consumer money transfers to a full-stack payments platform for micro, small and medium businesses. After securing its UAE Central Bank SVF licence in 2024, Ziina pivoted toward becoming a comprehensive financial services platform — adding a Visa-branded card, a premium 'Violet' membership, embedded wallet APIs for third-party apps, and Open Finance connectivity via Lean. The strategic bet is to own the financial OS for SMBs and individuals in the Middle East.

Last 12 months
2026-03
2026-01
2025-10
2025-07
2025-04
2025-01
Product timeline
2020
Ziina founded in Dubai by Faisal and Sarah Toukan; app launched in the UAE as the region's first social P2P payments app.· pivot
2021
Accepted into Y Combinator (YC W21) and raised $7.5M seed round; launched to 20,000 retail customers.· banking
2022
Launched ZiiBoard, an in-chat payment keyboard, and became official payment partner for Middle East Film & Comic Con 2022.· payments
2023
Launched Ziina Payment Gateway, expanded multi-currency support, and released Ziina in Arabic.· payments
2024
Earned UAE Central Bank Stored Value Facility (SVF) licence — first venture-backed startup to do so — and raised $22M Series A; annualised processing volume surpassed AED 1.35B.· banking
2025
Launched Tap to Pay on iPhone & Android; launched Ziina Card (Visa Platinum, digital) with Apple Pay and Google Pay; partnered with Visa and Dubai CommerCity.· card
2026
Launched Ziina Violet lifestyle membership with zero currency fees; became first in UAE to execute live Open Finance payments with Lean; partnered with Virtuzone.· banking
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Ziina
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
4 layers disclosed in Ziina’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Adyen
Card network
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
4 more providers across 3 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.