Dubai Launches Cashless Payment Strategy to Drive Digital Economy

Since its announcement in October 2017, Dubai has now launched its ambitious Cashless Payment Strategy that seeks to transition the emirate into a predominantly cashless society. Launched by Digital Dubai, the vision aims at having non-cash transactions make up to 90% of all transactions by 2026 to transform the city as a global digital economic capital.

Economic Growth Potential
It is anticipated that the strategy will contribute to increasing the emirate’s GDP by more than AED 8 billion annually thanks to fintech. Mr Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General of Digital Dubai expressed the significance of cashless payments in their daily activities in the emirate of Dubai and noted that Digital Dubai is continuously working to make the emirate an attractive investment destination through enabling convenient and easy digital customer experience as well as supporting the merchants.

Advanced Financial Ecosystem
Speaking to Dubai’s Department of Finance Director-General Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh said that the city has most of the infrastructure already set up, especially as the city’s financial structure is based on the international standards, which are predominantly digital. In 2023, as it will be noted, 97 percent of Dubai’s government transactions have been digital, showing its preparedness to embrace the strategy of a cashless society.

As much as stated by Helal Saeed Almarri, the Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism the strategy responds to the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) and is critical to realisation of the vision of achieving an electronic registration of three-fourths of all financial transactions by the year 2026.