Botim launches a Jaywan prepaid card for workers paid through its payroll
Botim is the first fintech firm to issue a card on Jaywan, the UAE's national card scheme. It goes first to more than 200,000 workers whose salaries arrive through Botim.
Botim, the app many UAE residents first used for free calls home, has launched the Botim One Jaywan Prepaid Card. It is the first prepaid card issued by a fintech company on Jaywan, the UAE's own card scheme, which is run by Al Etihad Payments, part of the Central Bank of the UAE.
The card is aimed at workers whose salaries are paid digitally through Botim. The company is licensed by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation to handle salary payments under the Wages Protection System (WPS), the system employers use to pay staff. Under the new arrangement, a worker paid through Botim can spend that salary in shops and online with the card, instead of withdrawing it all in cash on payday.
Botim says the first phase will reach more than 200,000 workers, through employers that already use its payroll service and through partnerships with exchange houses. Over time it wants to offer the card to up to four million workers. The company says it has more than 8.5 million users in the UAE, and that about 65% of its fintech customers are blue-collar workers and another 31% work in grey-collar jobs.
Jaywan cards work at payment terminals and on shopping websites, and the transactions are processed inside the country. The scheme has been growing this year: Emirates began accepting Jaywan cards for fares in September, and more banks have been issuing them. Al Etihad Payments said that more banks, fintech firms and regulated companies issuing Jaywan products means the scheme reaches more people.
The card comes with Botim's other services in the same app: money transfers to more than 170 countries, offers at more than 125 restaurants, travel and lifestyle brands, gold and silver investment from Dh10, and loans for those who qualify.
If your salary is paid through Botim, ask your employer or HR team whether your company is in the first phase. Botim says sign-up is digital and available in several languages, with no minimum salary and no minimum balance. If you are paid through an exchange house, ask at your branch whether it is one of Botim's partners. Fees for the card were not announced, so check them in the app before you start using it.