UAE and Turkish central banks ‘deepen’ payments and fintech connections
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) and Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) have signed three agreements as they look to ‘deepen’ cooperation in fields including financial technology.
Two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been signed: one to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions and another to interlink their payment and financial messaging systems.
The MoUs are in addition to a bilateral currency swap agreement between the UAE’s dirham and Turkey’s lira.
The central banks’ shared overall objective is to ‘promote financial and economic collaboration and strengthen bilateral trade,’ according to press announcements from both parties (CBUAE and CBRT).
Both central banks have been pursuing central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives – to create, respectively, a digital dirham and digital Turkish lira – and the second MoU also ‘encourages the exchange of expertise in developing CBDC platforms for individuals and institutions.’
Two MoUs and one currency swap
The first MoU aims to establish a framework for promoting the use of UAE dirham and Turkish lira in settling cross-border transactions.
It endeavours to develop the foreign exchange market, facilitate trade and foreign remittances, boost investment, as well as ‘accelerate economic growth and financial stability in both nations’, according to the announcement.
The MoU specifically includes ‘establishing a local currency settlement scope to expand the use of both currencies in all current and capital accounts transactions, and deepening the exchange of information and experience to achieve shared goals.’
The second MoU aims to facilitate cross-border payment transactions and promote the use of domestic payment cards. It also outlines the integration of the UAE’s instant payment platform (Aani), which launched in 2023, with Türkiye’s FAST (Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds) system, which launched in 2021, to ‘enhance the efficiency of cross-border financial transactions.’
The nominal size of the swap agreement is mutually AED 18 billion (about £3.7bn/$4.9bn) and TRY 198 billion (about £3.5bn/$4.7bn). It is designed to ‘promote bilateral trade with the aim of further strengthening financial cooperation between the two countries through providing local currency liquidity to financial markets, enabling more effective and efficient settlement of cross-border financial and commercial transactions.’
Shared commitments
CBUAE governor H.E.
RELATED ARTICLE Turkish central bank calls for companies to ‘enrich’ digital currency explorations – a news story (3 September 2025) on a ‘call for participation’ for companies to ‘enrich’ its ongoing explorations into a potential CBDC
Shared commitments
CBUAE governor H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama and Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye governor Fatih Karahan signed the agreements in the presence of assistant governors and senior officials.
“The agreements signed reflect the commitment of the Central Bank of the UAE and the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye to work together in supporting the efforts of both nations to further strengthen their strategic partnership to new heights – particularly in the areas of finance, financial technology and cross-border digital payments,” said Balama in the announcement (2 October).
“The use of local currencies in cross-border financial and commercial transactions contributes to reducing costs and settlement time, while also helping to develop the exchange market for both currencies. This, in turn, boosts trade volumes and financial remittances,” he added.
“These agreements reflect the shared commitment of both parties to advancing financial cooperation and fostering bilateral trade using local currencies, in support of broader economic relations and sustainable development goals,” said Karahan.
“The agreements open up new opportunities to facilitate trade and investment relations between stakeholders in both countries,” he added. “We look forward to exchanging expertise and experiences in payments and financial technology, and to accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies in the financial sector, including artificial intelligence, in ways that serve the economic and financial interests of both countries.”
*** Separately, the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have announced (28 October) an MoU aimed at ‘enhancing audit oversight and fostering greater regulatory cooperation between the two organisations.’
