UAE’s Mashreq has launched a new API-enabled instant payments service for its corporate and Institutional clients, integrated with Central Bank of UAE’s Aani or Instant Payment Platform (IPP).
Mashrq said it is piloting the Instant Payment API to facilitate thousands of daily low-value payments for corporates in real-time via Aani.
The launch makes it one of the first financial institutions in the UAE to successfully provide API-based real-time payment capability to its corporate and Institutional clients for domestic fund transfers, account to account transfers, and bulk transfers.
Acording to a statement, the bank has fully integrated its corporate online banking channels with Aani or IPP platform and aims to gradually expand its Corporate API proposition as part of its new transaction banking digital strategy.
Victor Penna, Head of Global Transaction Banking at Mashreq, said: “The adoption of instant payments will be transformational in the Middle East. We expect to see huge growth in e-commerce following the implementation of instant payments, and we are delighted to play a central role in enabling such transactions for our corporate and Institutional clients. “
With the new service, corporate clients will have accss to instant payments round the clock without a cut-off time and with a payments limits up to AED 50,000, all integrated within CBUAE’s Aani. Aani is an instant payment platform operated by Al Etihad Payments and a Central Bank of the UAE subsidiary, and is a crucial component of CBUAE’s National Payment Systems Strategy (NPSS). It’s development marks a significant step towards creating a digitized, cashless economy in the UAE.
Mashreq, along with seven other financial institutions in the UAE have been driving the first stage of Aani’s implementation. The bank has now fully integrated its corporate online banking channels with the Aani platform and developed an API for instant payments, enabling its corporate clients to make real-time payments
API – Application Programming Interface – refers to the link between the systems that enables communication and transfer data between different applications. It acts like a messenger, taking requests from one application and delivering appropriate responses. By helping organisations to digitise, connect, and innovate new products and services, APIs have become a crucial enabler of digital transformation.
“We are already seeing the power of combining instant payments with APIs, which together look set to transform the payments landscape in the UAE and across the region,” Penna added.
