UAE Approves New Digital Bank Wio

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has given the green light to a new digital banking platform backed by state holding company ADQ.

As Reuters reported Friday (Feb. 11), ADQ and investment holding company Alpha Dhabi will own a 65% stake in the bank, known as “Wio.”

Other shareholders include UAE telecom operator Etilasat, which will own 25%, and First Abu Dhabi Bank, which has a 10% stake. Investors have put 2.3 billion dirhams of capital (or $626.2 million) into Wio, along with in-kind contributions.

ADQ tells Reuters the bank will soon launch a beta version, initially targeted to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

See: UAE’s Neobank Debuts Country’s First Digital Banking Platform

Last year saw the launch of YAP, the first digital banking platform in the UAE.

As Reuters notes, some banks in the UAE have in recent began launching digital banking offerings aimed at younger, digitally savvy consumers, such as LIV by Emirates NBD and Mashreq Neo from Mashreq Bank.

Read more: UAE Digital Bank Targets Gen Z

PYMNTS reported on this phenomenon last month in a story on Savii, a UAE-based neobank for teens in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region which recently announced it had launched its services in Bahrain after raising an undisclosed pre-seed.

Founded last year, the fledgling startup has been working together with Gen Z representatives to design a product offering to suit their needs, while outfitting them with tools to help them achieve financial independence.

Following the launch of its first product, a loyalty app which lets teen customers earn cash by recommending the product to their peers, Savii prepared to extend its offering by rolling out a prepaid debit card and digital wallet that allows customers to make purchases online and in-store.