How Pay10’s UAE fintech push could lift tourism and trade
Why Pay10 matters in the UAE now
The UAE’s digital economy is becoming increasingly dependent on payment tools that work quickly, safely and with minimal friction for both residents and visitors. In that context, Pay10 has been building a notable presence as a regulated payments platform in Dubai, positioning its consumer and merchant products around QR payments, digital wallets, same-day settlement and, crucially, Open Finance infrastructure.
For readers in Egypt, this is more than a niche fintech story. The UAE remains one of the region’s most important business and tourism hubs, attracting Egyptian professionals, entrepreneurs, family travellers and service providers year-round. Any payment platform that helps merchants get paid faster, reduces transaction costs and improves visitor convenience can have a wider effect on hotels, restaurants, tour operators, retailers and small businesses that depend on steady consumer spending.
Pay10 says it is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE, and its UAE website presents the company as a mobile-first alternative payment method platform serving both consumers and businesses. The company’s Dubai base is listed at U-Bora Tower, Business Bay, and its local platform is built around digital wallets, merchant acceptance and domestic payment flows.
What the new Pay10 solution actually includes
Rather than launching a single one-feature app, Pay10’s UAE rollout appears to be a broader fintech stack. On the consumer side, the company has promoted a Pay10 UAE app that supports QR-based in-store payments, bill payments and wallet functionality. On the merchant side, it has launched the Pay10 Biz App, which allows UAE-licensed businesses to onboard digitally, accept QR payments and manage transactions from a mobile device.
According to Pay10’s merchant materials, the Biz App is designed for UAE-based businesses with a registered trade licence and supports AED transactions, QR-code payment acceptance, refunds, fund withdrawals, real-time balance updates and same-day settlement. The company also says onboarding can be completed through the app, which matters for small operators that may not want the cost or complexity of traditional card acceptance hardware.
One of the clearest commercial claims on Pay10’s site is cost efficiency. Its merchant page says the solution can reduce transaction costs by up to 70% per transaction and can turn a phone into a point-of-sale tool. For micro and small businesses, especially seasonal or tourism-facing merchants, that is the sort of promise that could affect day-to-day profitability if it holds true in actual use.
Why this could help tourism in the UAE
Tourism growth depends on more than airlines and hotel inventory. It also depends on how easily people can pay once they arrive. A traveller landing in Dubai or Abu Dhabi may book excursions, dine out, shop in independent stores, hire transport, pay attraction fees and settle last-minute purchases in a very short period. If the payment experience is slow or expensive for merchants, the entire visitor journey suffers.
Pay10’s pitch is relevant here because QR-led acceptance and wallet-based payments can be particularly useful in tourism-heavy environments. Think desert tour providers, kiosks, beach operators, food stalls, local guides, event sellers and boutique retailers. A merchant that can generate a dynamic QR code, receive instant notification and access same-day settlement is in a better position to handle peak visitor demand without investing heavily in payment terminals.
That is especially important in the UAE, where tourism spans luxury malls and global hotel brands but also a large ecosystem of mid-sized and smaller service businesses. A simpler acceptance model can help these businesses serve international footfall more efficiently, while improved cash flow may let them invest more confidently in staffing, stock and customer experience.
Open Finance is the bigger strategic story
The strongest indicator that Pay10 wants to be more than a wallet app is its Open Finance role. On its UAE corporate pages, the company says it received approval as the country’s first licensed Third-Party Provider under the Central Bank of the UAE’s Open Finance framework. It also says that in August 2025 it completed the first live transaction on the Central Bank platform.
That claim is echoed in company posts describing Pay10 as the first licensed TPP to go live on the UAE’s Open Finance framework, with the inaugural transaction completed in partnership with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). Pay10 has framed that milestone as the operational start of a consent-led, interoperable financial system. For a tourism and business economy, that matters because Open Finance can support more seamless account-to-account payments, better payment initiation and new ways to connect financial data and services with customer permission.
In practical terms, this can translate into faster checkout experiences, lower reliance on legacy payment rails and more tailored financial products for merchants and consumers. Over time, such infrastructure could support smarter travel spending tools, more efficient refunds, embedded finance options and easier digital money movement across parts of the visitor economy.
How business growth could benefit
1) Faster settlement for merchants
For hospitality and tourism operators, cash flow is everything. If restaurants, activity providers or transport services can settle faster, they can restock sooner, pay suppliers on time and manage daily operations with less stress. Pay10’s merchant documentation explicitly highlights same-day settlement and real-time transaction visibility.
2) Lower acceptance costs
Many SMEs in visitor-heavy districts work on thin margins. A lower-cost domestic payment method could make a meaningful difference for souvenir shops, cafés, beauty services, travel counters and independent retailers, especially during slower months.
3) Easier onboarding for smaller firms
Pay10 says businesses can self-onboard through the merchant app in minutes, subject to KYC and KYB checks and trade licence verification. That creates a more accessible path for entrepreneurs and newly established operators that want digital acceptance without lengthy setup.
4) Better fit for mobile-first consumers
The UAE is one of the region’s most digitally mature markets. A solution built around QR, wallets and app-based management is aligned with how many residents and visitors already interact with transport, food delivery, ticketing and retail ecosystems.
Why Egyptian readers should pay attention
For Egyptians travelling to or doing business with the UAE, payment innovation there often signals wider regional trends. Gulf markets frequently act as early adopters for licensed payment infrastructure that later influences cross-border trade, remittances, travel services and merchant expectations elsewhere in MENA.
Pay10 also says its UAE platform is aligned with national schemes including Aani, Al Tareq and Jaywan, while its consumer materials promote competitive exchange rates and cross-border remittance features. That combination suggests the company is trying to build not just a checkout tool, but a broader financial utility layer connecting spending, merchant acceptance and regulated money movement.
For Egypt-based SMEs that sell to Gulf travellers, arrange UAE-side services or explore regional expansion, that is the real inspiration angle: not simply another fintech app, but a glimpse of how better payment rails can support commerce in places where tourism, retail and international mobility intersect every day.
The bottom line
Pay10’s new fintech push in the UAE stands out because it targets real operational pain points: merchant costs, settlement speed, app-based onboarding and payment convenience. Its regulated status, merchant wallet model, QR acceptance tools and Open Finance milestone make it a company worth watching in the Gulf’s fast-evolving payments market.
If execution matches ambition, the upside goes beyond fintech branding. The more smoothly visitors can spend, and the more easily businesses can collect and reconcile those payments, the stronger the environment becomes for tourism growth, local entrepreneurship and cross-border commercial activity across the UAE.