UAE: Soon, pay digitally in stores, give pocket money online with Digital Dirham

UAE residents and visitors will soon be able to pay friends, give pocket money to children and shop at commercial outlets completely digitally. The Digital Dirham project, which will be a digital alternative to physical money, will make financial dealings easy and seamless.

This is according to a report published by the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) on the project. Although a date has not been specified as to when the project will be rolled out, the issuance of the Digital Dirham is expected to take place in the last quarter of the year 2025 for the retail sector.

Once launched, the Digital Dirham will be an alternative to physical money and can be used for a wide range of payments, including online, in-store, commercial payments and transactions between people.

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The CBUAE has also developed a comprehensive platform for issuing, trading, and using the digital dirham, including the digital wallet, which enables individuals and businesses to conduct financial transactions.

Use cases

The report highlights that as part of the retail project, the CBUAE tested four digital economy use cases to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the Digital Dirham. These use cases included fractional ownership of tokenised assets, a smart tourist wallet, smart social benefit payments, and a parent-child sub-wallet. 

In the social benefits use case, the Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) distributed food subsidies via programmable Digital Dirham. The MOCD could programme where the amount could be spent and monitor the distribution and usage of government benefits in real time.

The CBUAE created a prototype Digital Dirham App, which allowed users to select their wallet provider, conduct payments, top up their accounts, acquire the currency, redeem it, and carry out specified use cases.

Gradual introduction

The Digital Dirham will be gradually introduced with a detailed implementation plan and policy guidance. This phased rollout will ensure secure adoption and building trust. 

Within the UAE, it will be a non-interest-bearing central bank digital currency (CBDC) and people will be encouraged to use it primarily as a means of payment rather than a substitute for savings. It will be fully fungible with other forms of the dirham like cash and deposits.

The retail Digital Dirham will also support peer-to-peer (P2P), online and in-store payments, business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), and government-to-consumer (G2C) transactions.

As part of the second phase, the CBUAE is exploring developing other cross-border CBDC arrangements. The CBUAE will collaborate with other central banks, foreign and domestic commercial banks, industry partners like exchange houses and international bodies to ensure interoperability and connectivity.

Report

The report further reviews the key achievements of the project to date and gives an analysis of the ongoing research and development, as the CBUAE moves towards officially launching the national CBDC. It highlights the design principles and policy frameworks that have shaped the development of the Digital Dirham.

These steps ensure that the currency remains secure, reliable and easy to use, in line with best practices and standards issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The report outlines the capabilities of Digital Dirham and its role in driving innovation and financial inclusion. It will give access to those who are unbanked and non-residents in the UAE, improving speed of transactions and increasing the efficiency of payment systems through features such as offline usability, smart contracts and cross-border transactions.

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