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  • 1. Introduction

    • 1.2. Applicability

      Unless otherwise noted, this guidance applies to all natural and legal persons, which are licensed and/or supervised by the CBUAE, in the following categories:
       
       National banks, branches of foreign banks, exchange houses, finance companies; and
       Stored value facilities, retail payment service providers, and card schemes.
       
    • 1.4. Acronyms and Definitions

      Card Scheme: a single set of rules, practices and standards that enable a holder of a payment instrument to effect the execution of card-based payment transactions within the UAE which is separated from any infrastructure of payment system that supports its operation, and includes the card scheme governing body. For the avoidance of doubt, a card scheme may be operated by a private or public sector entity.

      Correspondent Banking Relationship: the relationship between a correspondent financial institution and a respondent one through a current account or any other type of account(s) or through a service related to such an account and includes a corresponding relationship established for the purpose of securities transactions or transfer of funds.

      Nesting: defined by the FATF as the use of a bank’s correspondent relationship by a number of respondent banks through their relationships with the bank’s direct respondent bank to conduct transactions and obtain access to other financial services.

      New Payment Products and Services (NPPS): defined by the FATF as new and innovative payment products and services that offer an alternative to traditional financial services.

      Payment Sector: refers to different forms of payment that are transmitted and exchanged across various delivery channels, frequently utilizing digital platforms, systems, services and products.

      PPS: Payment Products and Services.

      Retail Payment Services: any of the following services: payment account issuance; payment instrument issuance; merchant acquiring; payment aggregation; domestic fund transfer; cross-border fund transfer; payment token; payment initiation; and payment account information.

      Stored Value Facility (SVF): a facility (other than cash) for or in relation to which a customer, or another person on the customer’s behalf, pays a sum of money (including money’s worth such as values, reward points, crypto-assets or virtual assets) to the issuer, whether directly or indirectly, in exchange for: (a) the storage of the value of that money (including money’s worth such as values, reward points, crypto-assets or virtual assets) whether in whole or in part, on the facility; and (b) the relevant undertaking. SVF includes device based SVF and non-device based SVF.