The Abhi UAE expansion moved forward again on 29 September 2026, as the Pakistani embedded finance platform announced a new partnership with NymCard, a leading payments infrastructure provider based in Dubai. Together, they plan to help banks and licensed financial institutions in the UAE deliver faster, simpler credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For Pakistan’s fintech industry, this is another sign that homegrown startups can build real regional presence, not just talk about it.
What Is the Abhi and NymCard Deal?
Abhi and NymCard announced a strategic partnership to enable financial institutions to deliver more efficient credit solutions to SMEs in the UAE. The deal brings together Abhi’s business financial solutions with NymCard’s card and payments infrastructure to support key stages of the SME credit journey, from digital onboarding and origination through to decisioning and disbursement.
Through the combined technology proposition, banks and licensed financial institutions can streamline traditionally fragmented processes, supporting faster onboarding, origination, and credit decisioning, followed by the disbursement of approved funds.
In simple terms: today, when a small business in the UAE wants a loan, it often has to deal with multiple disconnected systems. Abhi and NymCard are packaging this into one clean tech stack that banks can plug into. That means quicker approvals and less paperwork for SME owners.
For financial institutions, the partnership provides a technology foundation for introducing and scaling SME credit propositions without having to build and integrate multiple components independently.
What Both Companies Said
Zain Ali, AVP of Sales and Partnerships at Abhi, said that SMEs need faster and simpler access to financial products, and that technology has an important role to play in helping banks deliver that experience. He added that combining Abhi’s technology with NymCard’s platform will simplify the credit journey and serve SMEs more efficiently.
Shiraz Ali, Chief Business Officer at NymCard, said that by bringing the two companies’ capabilities together, they can give financial institutions the tools to move faster, reduce complexity, and build credit propositions that can scale, while ultimately creating a much better experience for SMEs.
Abhi UAE Expansion: How Big Is It Already?
This deal is not Abhi’s first step into the Gulf. The company has been steadily building its UAE presence for several years. Abhi provides a suite of solutions including Earned Wage Access (EWA) and SME financing through products like AbhiSalary, AbhiPayroll, AbhiKarobar, and AbhiPay. The company now serves over 1 million users and partners with more than 7,000 businesses across Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman.
Abhi has expanded into the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and most recently Oman through a partnership with Daud Group of Companies, as part of its mission to make financial wellness inclusive and accessible across the MENAP region.
Back home, Abhi has also been busy. The company, which expanded its operations to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, launched ABHI Microfinance Bank in collaboration with TPL Corp. That means the fintech is now building regulated banking infrastructure in Pakistan at the same time as it deepens its footprint in the Gulf.
Who Is NymCard and Why Does It Matter?
NymCard is a full-stack payments infrastructure company. It is a principal member of both Visa and Mastercard, operates across 10 markets, and works with more than 60 clients.
Interestingly, NymCard already has a Pakistan connection. In December 2025, NymCard partnered with easypaisa, Pakistan’s first digital bank, to power the country’s first fully digital credit card program. So this is not a stranger to Pakistan’s fintech ecosystem. Pairing with Abhi for UAE SME credit is a natural next step for both sides.
Why This Matters for Pakistan
The UAE is home to roughly 1.6 million Pakistani workers and a large number of Pakistani-owned businesses. When a Pakistani entrepreneur in Dubai or Abu Dhabi tries to get working capital from a bank, slow credit processes are a real barrier. A faster, tech-driven credit journey directly helps that community.
Beyond the diaspora, the Abhi UAE expansion tells a wider story. Pakistani fintech started by solving local problems like salary advances and payroll, but it is now building infrastructure that Gulf banks actually want to use. Since its founding in 2021, Abhi has emerged as one of the Future 100 companies in the UAE and became the first company to receive the Technology Pioneer 2023 Award by the World Economic Forum, making fintech history in the MENAP region.
That kind of international recognition, combined with this new NymCard deal, signals that Pakistan’s digital finance sector is maturing into a real export story, not just a domestic one. For more on how Pakistani tech companies are building regional and global partnerships, see our coverage of Pakistan Single Window joining the ValidAP blockchain trade platform, another example of Pakistani digital infrastructure connecting to the wider world.
What Comes Next for Abhi?
The NymCard partnership is focused on B2B credit infrastructure for now, meaning it helps banks serve SMEs rather than serving SME owners directly. But the roadmap is clear: build the pipes, then let the product flow. The partnership reflects Abhi and NymCard’s shared focus on enabling financial institutions across the UAE to bring digital financial products to market more efficiently through innovative technology.
If this model works in the UAE, there is no reason it cannot be extended to Saudi Arabia or Oman, where Abhi already operates. The bigger question is whether Abhi can bring some of this SME credit innovation back into Pakistan through its newly acquired microfinance bank. That would be the real full-circle moment for a startup that began by helping Pakistani workers access their own salaries a few days early.
You can learn more about Abhi’s products on the official Abhi UAE website and about NymCard’s infrastructure at the NymCard official site.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Abhi and NymCard partnership about?
Abhi, a Pakistani embedded finance platform, and NymCard, a UAE payments infrastructure firm, have partnered to help banks deliver faster SME credit in the UAE. The deal covers the full credit journey: digital onboarding, credit decisioning, and fund disbursement.
How big is Abhi’s UAE presence right now?
Abhi already serves over 1 million users and partners with more than 7,000 businesses across Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. It has also raised significant funding specifically for UAE expansion and holds recognition as one of the UAE’s Future 100 companies.
What is NymCard and does it operate in Pakistan?
NymCard is a full-stack payments infrastructure company that is a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, operating in 10 markets. It already has a Pakistan link, having partnered with easypaisa in late 2025 to launch Pakistan’s first fully digital credit card program.
Why should Pakistani readers care about this UAE deal?
Millions of Pakistanis live and run businesses in the UAE. Faster SME credit processes directly help Pakistani entrepreneurs there. More broadly, it shows Pakistan’s fintech companies are building technology that major Gulf financial institutions want to use, which is good for Pakistan’s tech export story.
