Dubai, united Arab Emirates: botim money, botim’s financial services arm serving millions of users in the UAE and beyond, announced a strategic collaboration with Mastercard to expand its global remittance capabilities, powered by Mastercard Move. The integration enables botim money users to send money from the UAE to over 150 countries, with payouts delivered to bank account, mobile wallet, or cash pickup, depending on the market, directly from the botim app.

By integrating Mastercard Move’s innovative money movement capabilities, botim money enables users to make fast, secure, and seamless international money transfers. This feature further strengthens botim's position as a leading fintech-first and AI-native platform in the region, delivering near real-time international money transfers within a platform already trusted by millions of users.

Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Board Member of Astra Tech and CEO of botim, said: “Our collaboration with Mastercard strengthens our mission to unify communication and finance under one smart ecosystem. By embedding global remittances into botim, we’re making money transfer faster, safer, and more inclusive; especially for users who have limited financial access. This collaboration reiterates our commitment to making financial services accessible, intuitive, and empowering for everyone.”

Gina Petersen-Skyrme, Country Manager, UAE & Oman at Mastercard, said:  “Cross-border payments serve as a lifeline between expats in markets like the UAE and their families back home. At Mastercard, we provide communities with fast, convenient, secure, and affordable ways to transfer money internationally. Our collaborations with innovative fintech players such as botim play a key role in promoting financial inclusion by bringing this essential financial service to people’s fingertips.”

This initiative combines Mastercard’s global infrastructure with botim’s expanding financial ecosystems, allowing users across the UAE to transfer funds internationally with just a few taps. By keeping cross-border payments within the botim experience, users can transfer funds without leaving the app or switching between service providers, reducing both time and transaction complexity.

This announcement comes at a pivotal time for the UAE’s fintech sector, which is projected to grow to USD 6.43 billion by 2030. It also supports the UAE government’s vision for a cashless, inclusive digital economy, aligning with initiatives led by the Central Bank of the UAE to enable instant and interoperable payments nationwide.

The collaboration reinforces Mastercard’s commitment to strengthening fintech ecosystems and driving cross-border payment innovation, while enabling botim to advance its mission of connecting communication and finance in a single, regulated, consumer-centric platform.

Mastercard Move is the global technology company’s comprehensive portfolio of money movement capabilities, reaching more than 200 countries and territories and 150+ currencies, with access to more than 95% of the world’s banked population. Mastercard Move offers multiple payout methods, depending on the market, including bank account, mobile wallet, card and cash, giving people the flexibility to choose how they get paid and making it easier to reach those who are unbanked or underbanked.

botim money, licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE as both a Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) provider, continues to expand its portfolio of financial solutions, including international and local remittances, prepaid cards, bill payments, credit, and salary disbursement tools.

About botim  

botim, part of Astra Tech's ecosystem, is the MENA region's leading fintech company headquartered in Abu Dhabi. botim is a fintech-first, AI-native platform offering inclusive, user-centric solutions for financial services. Built on the foundation of being the UAE’s first free VoIP provider, Botim has evolved into a multi-layered ecosystem serving over 157 million users across 155 countries.   

Designed to meet the needs of MENA consumers, businesses, and communities, botim delivers integrated services through botim connect, botim money and botim finance. With innovation, accessibility, and regulatory credibility at its core, botim is building the next generation of everyday finance and connectivity easier, smarter, and more inclusive for everyone.  

About botim money  

botim money, formerly PayBy, is a part of Astra Tech’s ecosystem and powers the financial services layer of botim, the MENA region’s fastest-growing and first AI-native, fintech-first platform. Licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, botim money advances financial inclusion by providing secure, seamless, and user-friendly financial solutions to millions of users across the region. 

botim money holds both the Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (RPSCS) licenses, further solidifying Astra Tech’s position in the financial technology sector. Its full suite of services includes digital wallets, local and international money transfers, lending, remittances, and in-store and online payments. The platform serves as an accessible gateway to simplified financial services built for everyday use. 

botim money business is the platform’s B2B arm, offering an integrated digital payment ecosystem tailored to the needs of regional enterprises. From advanced point-of-sale solutions to Wage Protection System integrations, it empowers businesses to manage transactions with greater efficiency, compliance, and control while driving operational excellence at every touchpoint. 

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

www.mastercard.com