UAE fintech Alaan is moving deeper into regulated financial infrastructure after receiving in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for Stored Value Facilities (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) Category II licences. Subject to final approvals, the spend-management platform will be able to hold customer funds, facilitate cross-border payments and issue corporate cards under the central bank’s regulatory framework.

Alaan Moves Beyond Spend Management With UAE Payments Licences

For Alaan, the regulatory approval could mark a shift from being primarily a business spend-management platform to operating more of the financial infrastructure behind corporate payments.

The company said it has received in-principle approval from the CBUAE for SVF and RPS Category II licences. The approval is not yet a full licence, meaning Alaan must still satisfy the regulator’s requirements before the services can operate under the new permissions.

If those approvals are finalized, Alaan will gain the ability to hold customer funds, execute cross-border payments and issue corporate cards within the UAE’s regulated payments framework.

That distinction matters in fintech. Spend-management platforms have increasingly expanded beyond expense tracking and reimbursement into cards, accounts, payments and embedded financial services. But providing those services at scale can require a regulated infrastructure layer, particularly when customer funds are held directly or payments move across borders.

Alaan’s regulatory path therefore gives the company an opportunity to control more of the payment stack rather than relying entirely on third-party financial institutions for core payment functions.

The company launched in 2022 and has since built a business-spend platform aimed at finance teams across the Middle East. Earlier in 2026, it introduced a cross-border payments product and an AI-native business account, according to the company.

The latest regulatory development extends that product strategy.

An SVF licence is particularly relevant to Alaan’s ambition because stored-value infrastructure can support the holding and movement of customer money within regulated parameters. The RPS approval, meanwhile, provides a regulatory route for offering payment services.

Together, the permissions could allow Alaan to bring more elements of corporate financial operations into a single platform.

For finance teams, the attraction is straightforward: instead of managing corporate cards, employee spending, accounts and international payments across multiple providers, companies can potentially consolidate more of those workflows in one system.

But consolidation also raises the stakes around compliance, safeguarding, transaction monitoring, cybersecurity and operational resilience.

Regulation Becomes Part of the Product

The UAE has spent the past several years building out a formal regulatory framework for fintech and digital payments. The CBUAE’s licensing regime covers payment activities and stored-value facilities, placing regulated providers under requirements designed to protect users and maintain the stability of the payments ecosystem.

For fintech companies, that means regulatory authorization is increasingly becoming an important part of the infrastructure equation.

Alaan’s development reflects this broader transition. The company began as a spend-management provider, but its product roadmap now touches several regulated financial activities.

That creates a different competitive landscape from conventional expense-management software.

Platforms such as SAP, Oracle and Microsoft can provide enterprise finance and workflow software, while payment specialists and fintech infrastructure companies provide cards, accounts and payment rails. Alaan is attempting to combine these categories around the specific requirements of Middle Eastern businesses.

The model also resembles the broader evolution of embedded finance, where financial capabilities are integrated directly into software rather than requiring users to switch between separate banking and business applications.

That trend is particularly relevant for corporate payments. Finance departments increasingly expect spend controls, card issuance, expense management, reconciliation and payment execution to work together.

Alaan’s regulatory approval could give it greater control over that integration.

Cross-Border Payments Are a Key Test

Cross-border payments could become one of the most consequential parts of the company’s expansion.

Businesses operating across the Middle East regularly deal with multiple currencies, suppliers, subsidiaries and international employees. Payment fragmentation can add foreign-exchange costs, reconciliation work and operational complexity.

A platform that combines spend controls with cross-border payment functionality could therefore compete on more than transaction fees. It could make the surrounding finance workflow easier to manage.

The challenge is that cross-border payments are also operationally and regulatorily complex. Anti-money-laundering controls, sanctions screening, customer due diligence, foreign-exchange exposure and transaction monitoring all become increasingly important as payment volumes grow.

For enterprise customers, the question will ultimately be whether Alaan can combine the convenience of a software platform with the controls expected from a regulated financial institution.

AI Adds Another Layer to Corporate Finance

Alaan’s earlier launch of an AI-native business account also points toward where spend management may be heading.

AI can potentially automate categorization, identify unusual spending patterns, assist with reconciliation and surface financial insights to finance teams. However, AI does not replace the regulatory obligations surrounding payments.

That distinction will matter as fintech platforms incorporate increasingly autonomous functionality.

The emerging model is less about AI replacing finance departments and more about embedding intelligence into the workflows that finance teams already use.

For Alaan, combining those capabilities with regulated payment infrastructure could create a more integrated corporate-finance platform.

The company’s current customer base includes more than 3,000 finance teams, according to its announcement, with customers including G42, Careem, Tabby, McDonald’s and Lulu Group. It also says it has raised more than $55 million, including a $48 million Series A led by Peak XV Partners.

Those commercial milestones provide context, but the regulatory approval is the more consequential development for the company’s infrastructure strategy.

Once final approvals are secured, Alaan will have to demonstrate that it can operate those regulated services with the governance, security and controls expected by the CBUAE.

That makes the next phase less about adding another fintech feature and more about proving that a software-led spend-management company can operate reliably inside the regulated payments ecosystem.

Market Landscape

The global fintech sector is increasingly moving toward integrated financial infrastructure rather than standalone applications. McKinsey estimates that fintech generated approximately $650 billion in revenue in 2025, with payments remaining one of the industry’s major revenue pools.

The shift is particularly visible in business finance, where corporate cards, expense management, accounts payable, foreign-exchange services and payment processing are converging into unified platforms.

The UAE is positioning itself as a regional hub for this transition. CBUAE regulation gives fintech providers a formal pathway to offer payment services and stored-value products while establishing requirements around consumer protection, governance and financial stability.

Alaan’s move sits at the intersection of those trends: B2B spend management, embedded finance, corporate cards and regulated digital payments.

The competitive opportunity is significant, but so is the regulatory burden. As fintech platforms take custody of funds and move money directly, compliance becomes a core product capability rather than a back-office function.

Top Insights

• Alaan received in-principle CBUAE approval for SVF and RPS Category II licences, potentially expanding its role from spend management into regulated payments infrastructure.
• Final approval could allow Alaan to hold customer funds, facilitate cross-border payments and issue corporate cards directly within the UAE regulatory framework.
• The move reflects fintech’s broader convergence of expense management, corporate cards, accounts and payment services into integrated business-finance platforms.
• Cross-border payments could become a major growth opportunity, but transaction monitoring, AML compliance, cybersecurity and operational resilience will become increasingly important.
• Alaan’s AI-native business account adds an automation layer as the company expands toward a more comprehensive digital financial platform for businesses.

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