Astra Tech subsidiary PayBy has been granted licences by the Central Bank of the UAE to conduct Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) operations.
The fintech innovator will now be able to offer international money transfers, seamless payment solutions, wallet top-ups, and more on Astra Tech’s upcoming app to be launched in the coming months.
The licenses represent some of the UAE’s highest levels of financial services approvals and enable Astra Tech’s PayBy to altering the national fintech landscape with its payment solutions.
Founder and CEO of Astra Tech, Abdallah Abu Sheikh, said: “We are honoured to have secured the license from UAE’s Central Bank which marks a huge milestone achievement for both Astra Tech and PayBy.
“We’re excited to launch our secure payment solutions to customers and merchants in the UAE to enable smoother digital transactions and make everyday commerce friction-free.
“We have always aligned with the UAE’s vision of creating a cashless ecosystem and are thankful to the Central Bank for trusting us with our secure technology.
“Astra Tech will stay true to its mission of offering a more robust value proposition to customers and merchants by eliminating the burden of unfavourable and compounded commission structures that are usually passed on to suppliers, partners, and consumers by today’s super apps.”
Astra Tech ambitions
The firm aims to raise $500m (AED1.8bn) through strategic investment as it looks to launch its fintech app.
PayBy is one of the largest fintech companies in the region, with more than AED600m in transactions as of May 2022, and aims to build an all-in-one mobile payment ecosystem in the UAE and GCC, offering a safe and contactless payment solution.
The acquisition of PayBy follows the company’s recent acquisition of Rizek, a platform for on-demand personal and home services.
G42, a leading AI and cloud computing group, will be taking the role of lead investor in Astra Tech’s latest funding round.
Backed by prominent investors, the round is meant to equip Astra Tech with the resources to expand its portfolio of smart solutions across e- commerce, communications and fintech.
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