The Best Payment Gateways in UAE to Power Your Payments

Are you a business owner looking to power online payments in UAE and tap into a thriving start-up culture with strong consumer purchasing power?

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most popular payment gateways in the UAE and run through some of their global reach, features, and pricing plans. Stay tuned to discover which one is the best fit for your budding enterprise.

Top Payment Gateways for the UAE Market

1. Telr

Established in 2014, Telr, the UAE-based award-winning payment gateway, offers a unique platform that enables handling payments in over 120 currencies & 30 languages with the highest level of security in The UAE & KSA. Through a single integration, Telr grants access to every payment method it offers. Telr extended its services even further, offering a complete solution for the eCommerce world, covering a wide range of financial & business services including social commerce, QR Codes, digital invoicing, Telr BNPL, Telr Finance a merchant financing program, & Telr Shops the easy-to-use tool for creating an online store in minutes.

Supported by large platforms including WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, and Magento, it is a great choice for eCommerce businesses that want to collect payments in this region.

Reach

Boasting a global reach of 120 countries, an account can be set up by simply by visiting their website with no associated setup fees.

Payment Methods

Payment options include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Mada, Sadad, STC pay, Apple Pay, Net Banking (Indian banks), and SADAD (Saudi Arabian banks), and are ever-growing.

Pricing Structure

Pricing plans are split into three tiers: Entry, Small and Medium and associated with a monthly fee. All payment gateway features are included in all plans, but each plan differs in its transaction fee which is based on monthly transaction volumes. This makes it highly accessible to startups and SMEs.

The following table summarizes their current pricing, in 2023.

2. Stripe

Stripe is an Irish-American payment service provider that is headquartered in California. It is one of the most popular payment gateways the world over, including in UAE.

Utilized by online retailers, SaaS companies, subscription businesses, and retailers in brick-and-mortar stores alike, it allows you to accept payments and send payouts globally, with a stunning historical uptime of 99.999%.

The platform is particularly popular for its innovative suite of features including tools for fraud prevention, billing and invoicing, financial management, and much more.

Reach:

Stripe has a global reach in 47+ countries with local acquiring.

Payment Methods:

Stripe supports 135+ currencies and payment methods including cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, UnionPay etc.), digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), bank transfers (ACH, Bacs Direct Debit), Buy Now, Pay Later (Klarna, AfterPay), and many more.

Stripe supports dozens of local payment methods as well that include SEPA Direct Debit (Europe), AliPay (China), iDEAL (The Netherlands), Multibanco (Portugal), etc. each with their own associated transaction fee rate.

Pricing Structure:

Stripe has an integrated per-transaction pricing plan with over 100 features included. With no setup or monthly fees, the per transaction fee is 1.5% +20p in the UK and 2.5% +20p for EU cards.

For international cards, as in the case of the UAE market, the transaction fee is 3.25% +20p. International payments have an additional fee of 1%+ £0.3 and an added 2% for currency conversion. Stripe also offers custom pricing plans for enterprise clients.

3. PayTabs

PayTabs is a payment gateway catering especially to e-commerce businesses. PayTabs also offers advanced fraud detection and prevention tools that use machine-learning algorithms to protect businesses from chargebacks and data breaches.

Reach:

PayTabs is currently available in 17 countries including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc.

Payment Methods:

With PayTabs, businesses can accept payments using a variety of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, net banking, digital wallets, and more. The availability of payment methods varies depending on the country.

Pricing Structure:

PayTabs also has a tiered pricing plan summarized in the following table.

4. 2Checkout

2Checkout is a global payment gateway that offers a range of payment processing solutions for businesses of all sizes and enjoys popularity in the UAE. With 2Checkout, businesses can easily accept payments from customers all around the world, and integrate with 120+ carts.

Reach:

The solution supports transactions from 200 countries, in 15 languages, and 87 currencies.

Payment Methods:

One of the key reasons for 2Checkout’s popularity is its support for 45 different payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers.

Pricing Structure:

There is no setup fee or monthly maintenance fee. There are three pricing plans and custom pricing for enterprise clients. The transaction fees are 3.5% +$0.35, 4.5% +$0.45 and 6.0%+$0.60 against 2sell, 2susbcribe and 2monetize plans.

5. Checkout.com

Checkout is another global payment gateway that is very popular in the UAE. This solution is famous for exceptional user experience, verified payment integration methods, and simple setup.

Reach:

The London-based company has a global reach powering payments in more than 150 countries.

Payment Methods:

It offers a range of payment solutions, including credit and debit cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and many alternative payment methods.

Pricing Structure:

There is no setup fee or monthly maintenance fee. Checkout.com offers custom pricing based on your business profile and risk category. The transaction fee is typically 0.75 to 2.75 % of the total volume being processed.

Comparative Analysis

All the mentioned payment gateways are popular choices for businesses powering online payments in the UAE. Which is the best fit for your business will depend on your business needs and budget.

Telr and PayTabs will have greater local expertise but limited global reach. Stripe is highly developer friendly and globally recognized. Some smaller payment service providers provide fewer features but can securely power payments at a better price.

If you need a developer-friendly platform with easy integrations, Stripe may be the right choice. However, Stripe’s pricing structure can be complex, with separate fees for different services and additional charges for certain features that may not be suited to small businesses.

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