Huru, the Emirati-owned financial app licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, has signed two strategic partnerships with Paymentology and Bitpanda Enterprise as it accelerates the expansion of its financial ecosystem across payments and digital assets.
The agreements come as Huru enters its next phase of growth, with AED 3 billion in annualised salaries flowing into Huru accounts from more than 24,000 employers. Following the recent push for the Universal Account by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), Huru has also partnered with nine major exchange houses and aims to issue approximately one million Universal Accounts over the next 12 months.
The new partnerships will support the Q4 2026 launch of Huru’s card on Jaywan through Paymentology and enable Huru account holders to access digital assets through Bitpanda’s brokerage infrastructure
At the centre of Huru’s expanding ecosystem is the Universal Account, a digital account held in the individual’s own name with its own IBAN. Unlike traditional salary-card models, the account belongs to the individual and stays with them when they move from one employer to another, creating continuity in how they receive, manage and build on their income.
The Universal Account is designed to turn salary receipt from a monthly transaction into an entry point to broader financial inclusion, enabling customers to send money home, pay bills locally and internationally, recharge mobile numbers, save towards personal goals, use a card they control and, when unexpected expenses arise, access credit through Huru’s Quick Cash offering, all through a digital platform available in seven languages.
Badr Al Ghurair, Founder of Huru, said: “Huru was founded on the belief that access to financial services should create opportunity, not simply facilitate transactions. As we continue to grow, our focus is on building an ecosystem that gives people greater control over their money and the ability to build towards their future. These partnerships are an important step towards taking that vision to greater scale across the UAE. What we are working toward is simple, and it is the promise behind every account we open: Your Dream, Made Real.”
Abhimanyu Girotra, Chief Executive Officer of Huru, said: “We built Huru around a simple question: what does someone actually need to do with their salary after it arrives? Receiving money is only the starting point. People need to be able to manage it, send money home, pay bills, save for the future and have greater control over where their income can take them. These partnerships take that vision further. By bringing together card processing and new financial capabilities around the Universal Account, we are building an ecosystem that can grow with our customers’ needs while expanding access to regulated financial services across the UAE.”
Two partnerships extending the Huru ecosystem
Huru’s partnership with Paymentology will continue to provide the card-processing infrastructure behind its programme, including support for the launch of Huru’s card on Jaywan, the UAE’s domestic card scheme, scheduled to go live in Q4 2026.
Nauman Hassan, Regional Director MENA at Paymentology, said: “Jaywan represents an important step forward for the UAE’s payments ecosystem, creating greater choice for customers while strengthening the country’s domestic payments infrastructure. Our longstanding partnership with Huru has enabled us to support its growth and evolution over time, and we are proud to play a role in this latest milestone. As Huru brings its Jaywan card to market, we look forward to continuing to provide the flexible, scalable processing technology that supports its ambitions and helps deliver secure, locally relevant payment experiences across the UAE.”
The second partnership, with Bitpanda Enterprise, will enable Huru account holders to buy, sell and hold digital assets from within the Huru app through Bitpanda’s infrastructure.
Nadeem Ladki, Global Head of Bitpanda Enterprise, said: “As financial services become increasingly digital, access to new asset classes should be built on intuitive infrastructure. Our partnership with Huru brings Bitpanda’s digital asset infrastructure into a platform already embedded in customers’ everyday financial lives, giving them the choice to access digital assets within a familiar environment. We are pleased to support Huru as it continues to broaden its financial ecosystem in the UAE.”
For employers, the Universal Account has been designed to integrate within existing payroll processes. Huru is integrated with the Wage Protection System (WPS), with salary cycles remaining unaffected and SIF files continuing through the employer’s existing bank, while Huru manages account onboarding and transition support.
The partnerships were signed at Seamless Fintech Middle East 2026, where Huru replaced the conventional exhibition stand with the Huru Bus. Hundreds of visitors travelled through “The Huru Route”, an immersive journey spanning five stages: Salary, Save, Send Home, Quick Cash and Dream Made Real, designed to reflect how financial services can support individuals beyond payday.
The latest agreements mark the next stage in Huru’s evolution from a salary and payments platform into a broader financial ecosystem. By bringing together payments infrastructure and new financial capabilities around the Universal Account, Huru is expanding what financial inclusion can look like in practice, moving beyond access to give individuals greater choice, control and opportunity in how they manage and build on their income.
