To be specific, these licences from the UAE Central Bank will allow PayBy to conduct Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) operations while providing access to customers and merchants to fast and secure services, such as international money transfers, seamless payment solutions, and wallet top-ups.
Astra Tech officials emphasised in the company press release that obtaining these licences represents a big milestone achievement for both Astra Tech and PayBy. They also revealed that the next step for the company is to launch secure payment solutions for customers and merchants in the UAE to enable smoother digital transactions and make everyday commerce friction-free.
These goals are in line with UAE’s vision of creating a cashless ecosystem, and in order to support this vision, Astra Tech aims to provide a robust value proposition to customers and merchants by eliminating the burden of unfavourable and compounded commission structures that are passed on to suppliers, partners, and consumers by today’s super apps.
Astra Tech acquired PayBy in August 2022 in order to power the upcoming Ultra Platform and its fintech capabilities. This acquisition followed the company’s buyout of Rizek, a platform for on-demand, personal, and home services.
According to panfinance.net, Astra Tech’s new platform aims to change how people live their lives by enabling them to significantly reduce the amount of time they spend on necessary daily tasks like payments, transfers, and transactions. In order to achieve this goal, Astra plans to further acquire, repurpose, and combine already established and sector-leading platforms.
According to the company, the upcoming platform will ensure seamless connectivity between consumers and businesses, allowing users to access home, ecommerce, and fintech services within one place.
In June 2022, PayBy has partnered with UnionPay to build a cashless ecosystem and promote financial inclusion in the UAE. Following this partnership, PayBy users could use their UnionPay virtual cards located within the app at over 222,000 merchant terminals that accept QR Code and NFC contactless services in the UAE. Local residents could also use UnionPay cards to complete daily transactions, such as shopping in supermarkets and paying taxi fares.
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