Emirates NBD rolls out card-based brokerage funding via Visa

By Vriti Gothi

Emirates NBD has onboarded International Securities LLC onto its Emirates NBD Pay platform using Visa’s Account Funding Transaction (AFT) model, marking a step toward integrating real-time payment capabilities into brokerage funding flows.

The integration enables investors to fund trading accounts through card-to-account transfers with near real-time processing, reducing reliance on traditional interbank transfer mechanisms that typically involve longer settlement cycles. Clients of International Securities can now top up their brokerage accounts directly via the broker’s platform using debit cards, improving speed of access to trading opportunities.

The move positions International Securities as the first broker to go live on Emirates NBD Pay under the AFT framework, establishing a use case for card-based funding within capital markets infrastructure in the UAE. For Emirates NBD, the deployment creates a scalable model that can be extended to additional brokers and adjacent investment or wallet-based applications.

The adoption of AFT reflects a broader shift in financial services toward embedding faster payment rails into investment ecosystems. As retail participation in capital markets increases, the ability to move funds instantly between bank accounts and brokerage platforms is becoming a competitive differentiator, particularly in markets where trading opportunities are time-sensitive.

Anith Daniel, Group Head of Transaction Banking Services at Emirates NBD, said the integration aligns with the bank’s strategy to modernise payment infrastructure for investment use cases. “By enabling near real-time, card-based funding for brokerage accounts, we continue to support faster market participation while ensuring secure, scalable processing, aligned with global payment standards,” he said.

The development underscores how banks and payment networks are extending card rails beyond traditional retail payments into capital markets, blurring the lines between payments and investment infrastructure. As institutions invest in more responsive and interoperable systems, such integrations are likely to play a key role in shaping the next phase of digital trading and investor experience.