CBUAE FIT Program

What is the CBUAE FIT Program?

The Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Program is a nine-pillar digital transformation plan launched by the CBUAE in 2023 as part of a strategy to accelerate the digital transformation of financial services, with stated goals of driving financial inclusion, achieving a cashless society, and promoting payment innovation.

The program is part of the country’s We the UAE 2031 vision and also links to the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, which aims to double the contribution of the digital economy to non-oil GDP from 11.7% to over 20% within ten years.

It’s worth understanding what the nine pillars mean in practice. These aren’t nine policy papers. There are nine operational systems being built, tested, and deployed, some of which are already redefining how money moves in the country.

Source: UAE Fintechvibes

The Regulatory Layer Underneath — CB Law 2025

The CBUAE FIT Program doesn’t operate in isolation. In September 2025, Federal Decree-Law №6 of 2025 came into effect, a landmark overhaul that consolidates the regulation of banks, payment providers, and insurers under a single framework, introduces new licensing requirements for enabling technology providers, and imposes higher penalty provisions.

The new law brings any person carrying on, offering, issuing, or facilitating, whether directly or indirectly a licensed financial activity, regardless of the medium, technology or form employed under the CBUAE’s regulatory supervision. In plain terms: if you build infrastructure that enables payments or financial services in the UAE, you may now need a license.

Entities newly in scope have until 16 September 2026 to regularise licensing and compliance. That deadline matters for fintechs, API providers, and fintech-adjacent tech companies who may not have historically considered themselves regulated entities.

Why the CBUAE FIT Program Matters for Fintechs

The CBUAE FIT Program was never solely a central bank exercise. It was designed to create infrastructure that private companies can build on.

The UAE’s digital transformation projects aim to attract 260 global fintech companies as part of a strategy to enhance economic opportunities. These initiatives also aim to open new markets, attracting 180 million new customers and 600 million e-commerce customers.

What the program creates, in practical terms, is a leveled playing field with dramatically lower infrastructure costs. A fintech launching in the UAE in 2026 has access to:

• A real-time payment rails (Aani) doesn’t have to build
• A unified eKYC infrastructure that eliminates repetitive onboarding
• An open finance layer with standardized APIs to access financial data
• A sovereign cloud environment with embedded AI tools
• A regulatory framework that, for the first time, also covers tech providers enabling financial services

That combination is genuinely rare. Most markets offer one or two of these elements. The UAE is building all nine simultaneously.

If you are more curious to know about the nine pillars of the FIT program in the UAE, read my full article here.

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