AUSTRIACARD Delivers First Jaywan Cards to Wio Bank as UAE Builds Its Own Payments Infrastructure
The UAE’s push to build more of its payments infrastructure at home has reached another milestone, with AUSTRIACARD HOLDINGS delivering its first batch of Jaywan payment cards to Wio Bank, bringing the country’s domestic card scheme to customers of one of its digital banks.
The development is about more than issuing a new bank card. Jaywan is part of a wider effort to create a domestic payments ecosystem capable of processing more transactions through national infrastructure while reducing reliance on international card networks.
Developed by Al Etihad Payments as part of the Central Bank of the UAE’s national payment systems strategy, Jaywan is designed to strengthen the resilience, efficiency and sovereignty of the country’s payments infrastructure as digital transactions continue to expand.
A domestic card scheme meets a digital bank
Wio gives the rollout an interesting digital dimension.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE, Wio operates a digital banking model serving both individuals and businesses, including entrepreneurs and SMEs. Its activities also extend into Banking-as-a-Service and embedded finance.
The bank is backed by ADQ, Alpha Dhabi Holding, e&, and First Abu Dhabi Bank, placing it at the intersection of banking, technology and the UAE’s broader digital economy.
Adding Jaywan to that model means customers can access payment products issued through a domestic card scheme without moving away from a digital-first banking experience.
For the UAE, that helps demonstrate how a national payments network can sit behind newer banking models rather than being limited to traditional financial institutions.
The cards are being manufactured in Europe
While Jaywan represents domestic payment infrastructure, the physical cards delivered to Wio are being produced at AUSTRIACARD’s manufacturing facility in Bucharest, Romania.
The company specializes in secure payment cards, personalization and digital identity technologies and is increasingly positioning its Gulf operations around the modernization of banking and payment infrastructure.
Its work with Wio also gives AUSTRIACARD a role in the expansion of Jaywan as more UAE financial institutions connect customers to the national scheme.
AUSTRIACARD employs around 2,360 people globally and operates across payment solutions, smart cards, identity, secure data management and digital transformation. The company is listed on both the Athens and Vienna stock exchanges.
Why Jaywan matters beyond the card itself
National card schemes are becoming an increasingly important part of the debate around payment sovereignty.
For countries building rapidly expanding digital economies, controlling more of the underlying payment infrastructure can provide additional resilience and create greater flexibility in how domestic transactions are processed and developed.
That is the larger context surrounding Jaywan.
The scheme is not simply another card brand competing for space in consumers’ wallets. It forms part of an effort to establish a national payments layer that can coexist with the international networks already serving the UAE market.
The arrival of the first AUSTRIACARD-produced Jaywan cards at Wio Bank therefore connects three parts of that transformation: a UAE-owned payment scheme, a digital-native bank and the secure card technology required to put the infrastructure into customers’ hands.