Jaywan cards gain a new route to UAE checkouts through Visa

Businesses in the United Arab Emirates that use the Visa Acceptance Platform can now offer eligible Jaywan cards as an online payment option. The update covers debit, credit and prepaid cards. Merchants can access the option through the platform, as can participating acquirers and payment service providers serving those merchants.

Al Etihad Payments operates Jaywan, the country’s domestic card scheme. An earlier agreement between Al Etihad Payments and Visa concerned debit and prepaid cards carrying both Jaywan and Visa marks. This update is about merchant acceptance: it gives businesses on Visa’s platform a way to take eligible Jaywan cards online.

For a business already using the platform, adding a domestic card option can matter more than adding a separate payments connection. The next step goes beyond a one-off purchase. Visa says its Token Management Service will support network tokens for stored Jaywan cards. A token can stand in for a card number when a customer returns or a subscription comes due.

The confirmed change covers eligible cards, online transactions in the UAE and participants on the platform. The announcement does not identify how many shops have enabled Jaywan, give prices or describe a timetable for every stored-card and recurring-payment feature. Buyers should look for the option at the checkout they are using.

The release describes domestic online acceptance. It does not announce new in-store or cross-border acceptance through this integration. Whether a shop can take a card online is a different question from where a card can be used while travelling.

A merchant considering the option can ask its provider which cards it will accept, how the method appears at checkout and when tokenised repeat billing is available for its setup. An initial payment and a later renewal test different parts of the service. The clearest sign of wider adoption would be merchants enabling both and sharing how those payments perform.