What Is Aani? The UAE Instant Payment System Explained
Aani is the UAE's instant payment platform, operated by Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). It lets customers send and receive money in real time, around the clock, using a mobile number, QR code or Request to Pay — without sharing full IBAN details each time.
- Operator: Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a CBUAE subsidiary. Source: aep.ae
- What it is: a domestic, real-time (24/7) account-to-account payment system for the UAE.
- Core features: proxy payments (mobile number), QR-code payments, Request to Pay and split payments. Source: aep.ae
- Sibling schemes: Jaywan (national card scheme) and UAEDDS (Direct Debit), also run by AEP.
- Government use: Aani and Jaywan were adopted for federal fees and fines from August 2026.
What is the UAE's payments backdrop?
The UAE is a cash-light, mobile-first market with a large expat majority who send money frequently — to family accounts, landlords, split bills and small merchants. Salary flows already move through banks under the Wage Protection System (WPS), and nearly every resident holds an Emirates ID and, increasingly, a UAE Pass digital identity. Aani sits on top of this infrastructure, giving the country a single, CBUAE-backed rail for instant, low-friction transfers that works the same way across every participating bank.
What is Aani, exactly?
Aani is an instant payment system that moves money between UAE bank accounts in seconds, every day of the year. Instead of copying a 23-character IBAN (AE followed by 21 digits) for each transfer, a customer can pay someone using only their registered mobile number — this is called a proxy payment. Because AEP operates Aani as a CBUAE subsidiary, it is a national utility rather than a single bank's app, so a payment initiated in one bank's app settles instantly into another bank's account.
How does Aani work for a customer?
In practice, a customer enrols in Aani through their own bank's mobile app and links a mobile number (the proxy) to an account. From there, the everyday flows are simple:
- Send by mobile number: pick a contact, enter an amount, confirm — no IBAN needed.
- Request to Pay: ask another person or a customer to pay you, and they approve the request in their own banking app.
- QR payments: scan a merchant or peer QR code to pay.
- Split payments: divide a bill across several people in one flow.
Settlement is real time, so funds are available to the recipient immediately rather than on the next working day.
How is Aani different from a normal bank transfer?
Traditional UAE fund-transfer rails move money reliably, but the experience differs from an instant, proxy-based system. The table below contrasts a typical account-to-account transfer with an Aani payment.
Dimension | Standard bank transfer | Aani |
|---|---|---|
Identifier needed | Full IBAN (AE + 21 digits) | Mobile number, QR or IBAN |
Availability | Often business hours / working days | 24/7, every day |
Speed | Same-day to next-day settlement | Real-time settlement |
Request money | Not native | Request to Pay built in |
Operator | Individual banks over shared rails | Al Etihad Payments (CBUAE subsidiary) |
Both approaches remain regulated by the CBUAE; Aani simply adds an instant, mobile-first layer designed for everyday, lower-value payments.
Where does Aani sit alongside Jaywan and UAEDDS?
AEP runs a small family of domestic schemes. Aani handles instant account-to-account payments, Jaywan is the UAE's national card scheme for card-based transactions, and UAEDDS (the Direct Debit System) handles recurring, pull-based collections such as instalments and subscriptions. Together they give the UAE home-grown alternatives across the main payment types. From August 2026, Aani and Jaywan were extended to federal fees and fines, signalling wider public-sector adoption of these national rails.
How AI helps banks operationalise Aani
Launching an instant rail is only half the work; banks still need to onboard customers, resolve disputes and answer a wave of "how do I pay by mobile number?" queries — at any hour, in Arabic and English. The YuVerse Suite brings voice, messaging and document-AI capabilities together so a bank can support Aani enrolment, Request to Pay guidance and failed-payment queries around the clock, in both languages, without a linear increase in agent headcount. The practical outcome is faster query resolution and consistent, compliant customer communication as instant-payment volumes climb.
FAQ
Is Aani free to use in the UAE? Fees are set by each participating bank, so check your bank's schedule of charges. Aani itself is designed as a low-friction national rail for everyday payments.
Do I need the recipient's IBAN to send money on Aani? No. You can pay using a registered mobile number as a proxy, a QR code, or a Request to Pay, though IBAN-based payments are still supported.
Who operates Aani? Aani is operated by Al Etihad Payments (AEP), a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE, which also runs the Jaywan card scheme and the UAEDDS Direct Debit system.
Can I use Aani 24/7? Yes. Aani is built for real-time transfers on a round-the-clock basis, so payments settle instantly rather than waiting for the next working day.
How do I sign up for Aani? Enrolment happens inside your own bank's mobile app, where you link a mobile number to an account. Availability depends on your bank's rollout.
Can I use Aani to pay government fees? From August 2026, Aani and Jaywan were adopted for federal fees and fines, expanding how residents can settle government charges.
Building instant-payment support, collections or onboarding journeys for the UAE market? Explore the YuVerse UAE hub for BFSI-ready AI tools.
References
- Al Etihad Payments — Aani, Jaywan and domestic payment schemes. https://aep.ae/en/
- Central Bank of the UAE — Rulebook. https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/
