Noqodi: Powering the UAE’s cashless future

The UAE is on the fast track towards becoming one of the world’s most advanced digital economies, and its online payment ecosystem is keeping up with this profound transformation. From government services and utility payments to retail, tourism, and small businesses, cashless transactions, once seen as a convenience, are now an essential part of everyday life in the country.

At the heart of this shift is noqodi, a UAE-born payment platform that has quietly built one of the country’s most resilient and trusted financial infrastructures. Thaer Sulieman, general manager of noqodi, outlines the company evolution from a government-focused payments provider into a broader financial services provider that serves individuals, businesses, and underserved segments of society.

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"Noqodi is a UAE-born payment platform, or what I like to say is a complete ecosystem that connects people, government, services, and businesses all together in a reputable, secure, and reliable payment service provider," Sulieman explains.

"In our attempt to provide the solutions that people are looking for in the UAE, we are trying to build an effortless and seamless, secure ecosystem that would really enable the vast majority of the people here in the UAE with the financial services that they really need."

Playing a defining role in its operation is the fact that noqodi is licenced by the Central Bank of the UAE. Holding twin licences, as a Retail Payment Service Provider and a Stored Value Facility, the company provides acquiring services, payment processing, and e-wallet solutions. "We currently have two licences from the Central Bank of the UAE," says Sulieman.

"The first one is Retail Payment Service Provider, and the second is Stored Value Facility. Retail Payment Service allows us to provide acquiring services and payment processing, which we’re currently providing. "For the Stored Value Facility, it’s more or less about the wallet or the e-wallet that we provide, and we have been providing in the country for many years now."

While noqodi has been operating for more than a decade, Sulieman notes that formal regulation under the current central bank framework is relatively recent.

"We’ve been just regulated in the last two or three years under Retail Payment Service and Stored Value Facility," he says, adding that regulation has strengthened both consumer confidence and industry credibility.