Careem Pay expands instant transfers to Türkiye and Saudi Arabia

Careem Pay has expanded its cross-border remittance service to include Türkiye and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, enabling UAE residents to send money directly to bank accounts in both markets as part of its broader regional payments strategy.

The move extends the platform’s reach to more than 35 countries and strengthens its position in a highly competitive remittance landscape across the Middle East. Key corridors already served include India, Pakistan, Europe, the UK, and Egypt—markets characterised by strong expatriate populations and consistent cross-border payment flows.

Transfers to both Türkiye and Saudi Arabia are processed within 5 to 10 minutes, according to the company, with transaction limits set at AED 150,000 for Türkiye and AED 36,000 for Saudi Arabia. The service is designed to support both routine remittances and higher-value transfers, reflecting varied user needs across different corridors.

The expansion also integrates into Careem Networks broader subscription ecosystem, with Careem Plus members receiving zero-fee transfers and preferential exchange rates. This pricing strategy positions remittances as a retention lever within the platform’s wider financial services offering.

Mohammad El Saadi, VP of Careem Pay, said, “These two corridors were natural next steps for us, and each one reflects a different customer need. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, people want to know their money is moving securely and that trust matters as much as the speed. For Türkiye, slow transfers and uncertainty about when the money actually lands has been an issue. We’re solving that with funds arriving in under 10 minutes. At a time when staying connected to family feels more important than ever, we want to make sure that’s one less thing people have to worry about.”

The corridor expansion aligns with structural trends in both markets. Saudi Arabia remains one of the world’s largest remittance hubs, with cross-border flows supported by ongoing financial sector reforms under Saudi Vision 2030, which emphasises digital payments and financial inclusion. Meanwhile, Türkiye’s remittance market is driven in part by a diaspora of approximately 6.5 million citizens globally, with demand centred on faster and more predictable transfers.

For the UAE, a major remittance-sending economy, the addition of these corridors reflects intensifying competition among FinTechs and digital wallets seeking to capture high-frequency, cross-border payment volumes. Speed, pricing transparency, and reliability are increasingly becoming differentiators as providers compete with traditional money transfer operators and banking channels.

Users can access the new service by updating the Careem app and navigating to the Pay feature, as the company continues to scale its financial services suite within the region’s evolving digital payments ecosystem.