https://arab.news/6z2jq
- New initiative lets UAE Wages Protection System customers access up to 50 percent of earned income
- Fintech-exchange partnership aims to promote financial inclusion for underbanked expat workers
KARACHI: Pakistan-origin fintech ABHI has partnered with the UAE’s Al Fardan Exchange to launch a salary-advance service that allows migrant workers to access up to half of their earned income before payday in a move designed to improve cash-flow flexibility for millions of expatriates, the companies said on Tuesday.
The collaboration, the first of its kind between a Pakistani fintech and a UAE exchange house, seeks to boost financial inclusion across the Gulf by offering underbanked and unbanked workers digital access to short-term liquidity. The service, available through AlfaPay, Al Fardan Exchange’s app and its network of more than 90 branches, combines ABHI’s earned-wage-access technology with Al Fardan’s long-established remittance infrastructure.
ABHI, founded in 2021 and backed by Hub71 and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), operates across the GCC and has processed more than $500 million in transactions through partnerships with over 5,000 companies.
“The launch of Salary Advance is a milestone in our mission to champion financial inclusion and deliver solutions that truly make a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Hasan Fardan Al Fardan, CEO of Al Fardan Exchange. “By giving customers the ability to access their wages early, we are empowering them with financial flexibility and the means to support their families anytime.”
Omar Ansari, Co-founder and CEO of Abhi Middle East Limited, added: “This partnership with Al Fardan Exchange is not just a partnership but a transformation in how workers experience financial autonomy. By becoming the first exchange in the UAE to go live with ABHI’s earned-wage-access, we are redefining the way income and remittances work for millions of expatriates.”
Together, the two companies say the initiative will reshape how low-income earners manage wages and remittances, strengthening household resilience and setting a benchmark for inclusive, technology-driven financial services across the region.
With around 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates living and working in the UAE — one of the largest expat communities in the Gulf — the new salary advance program could bring significant benefits.
Many of these workers are employed in low- and middle-income sectors and rely on monthly remittances to support families back home. By giving them access to earned wages before payday, the initiative is expected to reduce reliance on informal borrowing, prevent debt cycles, and enable more timely remittances to Pakistan, where foreign inflows from overseas workers are a crucial source of national income.