Start your own digital banking app in Abu Dhabi and take on First Abu Dhabi Bank and Liv
By SendPay Business · · 4 min read
Abu Dhabi is one of the biggest money cities in the UAE. The UAE is one of the world's busiest hubs for sending money home, and its residents expect everything on their phone. Most of it flows through First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, plus apps like Liv and Wio. A brand built for Abu Dhabi, its neighbourhoods, communities and small businesses, can win people the national giants treat as just another account number.
How Abu Dhabi pays today
Abu Dhabi is home to First Abu Dhabi Bank and to ADGM, a financial free zone with its own regulator. Card and phone payments are the norm, and a large community of workers sends money home every month.
That makes it a natural home for a transfer or account brand built for one of those communities.
Who you'd be competing with in Abu Dhabi
The big banks, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, are everywhere in Abu Dhabi. The apps, like Liv and Wio, won people over by being simpler. Your edge is being local: your language, your community, your city's name on the card.
What you can launch under your own brand
An everyday account app with balances and a branded card, a money transfer app, a payment-link product for invoices, a marketplace that pays its sellers, or a membership platform. Each is a template: your name, your colours, your domain, your fees.
How it works, in a few clicks
Pick the template closest to your idea, type your platform name and preview every page before you pay.
- Pick a template.
- Name it and choose your colours. The site changes as you type.
- Preview the finished platform, page by page.
- Verify with a selfie and pay your invoice.
- Go live on your own domain within 24 hours and invite your first users.
You set the fees, you keep them
Charge 1%, 2.9% or nothing: it's your call. On every dirham your users move, your platform earns the fee you set.
Permissions: the honest part
The accounts, cards and payments behind your platform are powered by licensed partners. Depending on what your platform does and who it serves, you may also need your own registration, and serving customers in the UAE can bring local rules from the Central Bank of the UAE. We tell you in writing which permissions apply to your platform before you pay, and introduce specialists who handle them. We are not licensed advisers and don't guarantee outcomes.
Build it
Create your own financial platform.
Pick a template, name it, brand it, preview every page before you pay. Your brand, your users, your fees.
Build my platform →Questions people ask
Can I really compete with First Abu Dhabi Bank in Abu Dhabi?
Not on size on day one. But you can beat any big bank on focus: a platform built for one city, community or kind of customer, with a better experience and fairer fees.
Can I call it a bank?
In most countries, including the UAE, "bank" is a protected word you can only use with a banking licence. Call it an account, an app or a platform.
Is SendPay Business connected to First Abu Dhabi Bank or Liv?
No. We name them only to describe the market. SendPay Business is an independent technology company, not a bank.
Should I put Abu Dhabi in my app's name?
It can help if you only plan to serve Abu Dhabi, because people trust a local name. If you want to grow across the UAE later, pick a name that still works outside the city. The free name generator gives you ideas and opens your favourite straight in the builder.
Payment app name generator →How much could a platform in Abu Dhabi earn?
It depends on how many people in Abu Dhabi use it, how much they move and the fee you set. Put your own numbers into the free calculator.
Platform earnings calculator →Is there a guide for the whole of the UAE?
Yes, the UAE guide covers the national picture.
UAE guide →Is there a step-by-step plan I can follow?
Yes. The free launch checklist takes you from picking your people and naming your app to setting fees, going live and winning your first ten customers. Tick each step off as you go.
Digital bank app launch checklist →How do I start?
Pick a template, name it and preview every page before you pay. Your platform can be live on your own domain within 24 hours of confirmation.
Build my platform →Read next
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. PayPal, Patreon and Substack are named as reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.