02Your obligation here
The UAE runs payments and money-services supervision through the Central Bank onshore, with parallel regimes in the two financial free zones. Wherever you sit, the obligation behind the licence is the same in shape: a named compliance officer, a written AML/CFT programme, a documented risk assessment, risk-based customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions and PEP screening, and suspicious-transaction reporting to the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit through goAML.
Onshore (federal)
CBUAE The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates licenses and supervises exchange houses, remittance and payment operators. Register: centralbank.ae/en/our-operations/exchange-business
Abu Dhabi (ADGM)
ADGM FSRA The Financial Services Regulatory Authority authorises payment activity in the ADGM free zone. Register: adgm.com/public-registers/fsra
Dubai (DIFC)
DIFC DFSA The Dubai Financial Services Authority supervises payment firms authorised in the DIFC. Register: dfsa.ae/public-register/firms
Financial-intelligence reporting
UAE FIU The UAE Financial Intelligence Unit receives suspicious-transaction reporting through goAML. Site: uaefiu.gov.ae
Any specific CBUAE, ADGM FSRA or DIFC DFSA rulebook threshold, capital requirement, filing deadline or transition date is confirmed against that regulator's own rulebook before it is stated. The sentence stays generic if unconfirmed.
03What we build in UAE payments
01Licensing & new-regime buildThe AML/CFT programme CBUAE, ADGM FSRA or DIFC DFSA expects behind a payments or MSB authorisation: enterprise risk assessment, policies, the compliance officer function, agent and channel controls, the file that survives the review.Detail →
02RemediationAfter a regulator finding, a deficiency notice or a failed audit: gap analysis against the applicable framework, a fix that closes the finding, and the evidence trail to prove closure at re-inspection.Detail →
03Outsourced & bridge MLRO + FIUA senior compliance officer or bridge MLRO while you recruit, plus a managed FIU: alert triage, investigations, and suspicious-transaction reporting to the UAE FIU via goAML.Detail →
04Independent AML auditThe independent review of your payments programme that the regulator and your board expect, tested against the current framework, with findings you can act on.Detail →
05Sanctions & integrity DDSanctions and screening controls, correspondent and counterparty due diligence, and integrity checks calibrated to a payments operator's cross-border exposure.Detail →
04Why it is urgent now
Standing exposure
Payments and money services in the UAE are already fully supervised. The Central Bank licenses exchange and payment activity onshore, and the ADGM FSRA and DIFC DFSA supervise it in the free zones, each with a public register, so an operator without a defensible AML/CFT programme is exposed at the next inspection, not at some future deadline. Cross-border money movement puts a payments operator squarely in the sanctions-screening line of sight, which is where thin programmes fail first. The pressure is standing, not seasonal.
Tell us what you are trying to license, fix or run in UAE payments.
Fixed scope. No hourly billing. A costed plan within 48 hours.