Bengaluru-based payments infrastructure firm Juspay set up in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) only last month, drawn by the emirate’s regulatory clarity and access to large enterprise clients. Fresh after raising USD 50 mn last month, led by WestBridge Capital, the firm has landed in the Middle East with an eye for operational expansion rather than capital, Nakul Kothari, head of Asia-Pacific and Middle East at Juspay, told EnterpriseAM.

Dubai is the region’s financial gateway, where large banks and merchants operate within a single ecosystem and are increasingly investing in payment orchestration layers to modernize legacy banking systems, Kothari said. The DIFC’s fintech-focus, he added, offers Juspay a natural base to serve sectors such as travel, hospitality, e-commerce, and financial services.

Across much of the Gulf banking system, the core still runs on old machinery — mainframes and fragmented payment stacks. “Replacing a mainframe is a risk, so they are investing in payment infrastructure to integrate innovation layers into existing core systems,” Kothari explained. This allows the banks to support multiple payment methods, raise transaction success rates, and roll out embedded finance services without a costly and disruptive overhaul of their legacy systems.

War in the region has sharpened the focus of providers like Juspay, who aim to ensure that stable and distributed systems keep payments moving when everything else slows down. “For payment orchestration and financial infrastructure providers, geopolitical developments mainly reinforce the need for resilient, distributed systems. Our platforms are designed to ensure uninterrupted payment acceptance, intelligent routing, and secure transaction processing even during periods of uncertainty,” Kothari said.

Where the Indian tech players excel

Fintech demand in the UAE is strongest in digital payments, open banking, and embedded finance, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Kothari said. The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) introduced an Open Finance Regulation last year that looks beyond traditional open banking to include loans, ins., investments, and payments, encouraging banks, fintech firms, and payment service providers to team up.

The Emirates’ regulatory edge: The UAE allows faster deployment of enterprise-grade fintech products, particularly when working with licensed banks and regulated entities, Kothari said. While India’s payments sector operates under a centralized regulatory framework led by the Reserve Bank of India, the UAE uses more decentralized, principles-based regulations and specialized jurisdictions like the DIFC and Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Despite the jitters of war, the UAE continues to provide a stable operating environment for financial infrastructure companies, Kothari opined, adding that it continues to stand out globally as one of the most stable and forward-looking financial hubs. He attributed the sustained the confidence of long-term investors and fintechs to the regulatory oversight of the CBUAE and the DIFC ecosystem.

Tags: