Nium and Emirates NBD Expand Real-Time Cross-Border Payments Across the Middle East

Nium, the leading global infrastructure for real-time cross-border payments, and Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT) region, announced significant progress in their strategic partnership first unveiled in 2024.

Since its inception, the collaboration has empowered Emirates NBD customers with seamless, cost-effective and reliable international transfers. The service has now been extended across Emirates NBD Group in the UAE, further broadening access to real-time payouts across the region. Emirates NBD is also exploring to expand this offering to its customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through Emirates NBD KSA.

“Over the past year, our partnership with Emirates NBD has continued to scale, enabling real-time money movement from the Middle East to the world,” said Anupam Pahuja, Chief Revenue Officer at Nium. “With the extension of the service across the wider Emirates NBD Group in the UAE and preparations in Saudi Arabia, we are delivering on our vision to make global payments instantaneous, accessible and cost-efficient for all.”

Yousuf Saeed Mohd, Group Head of Priority and Personal Banking and Retail Banking Sales at Emirates NBD, commented: “Emirates NBD has always embraced innovation to enhance customer experience. Our deepening collaboration with Nium strengthens our ability to provide fast, secure and affordable remittance services across multiple markets. Extending the partnership to the wider Emirates NBD Group in the UAE and soon to Saudi Arabia reflects our commitment to leading the next chapter of cross-border payments in the region.”

The UAE continues to be one of the world’s largest remittance hubs, with outbound flows surpassing USD 50 billion in 2023 according to the World Bank. With expatriates making up nearly 90% of the UAE population, demand for faster and more affordable international transfers continues to rise.

Nium’s white paper, Payments in the Middle East: The Next Frontier, highlights the region’s increasing reliance on strategic collaborations between banks and Fintechs to unlock efficiency, inclusion and growth. This expansion of the Emirates NBD–Nium partnership embodies that vision, paving the way for innovation and harmonized regulation across MENAT.

The update is being made live from Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, where Nium is showcasing the latest developments in its global payment’s infrastructure.