Wio Bank selects Pine Labs to scale digital payments

By Vriti Gothi

Dubai-based digital lender Wio Bank has partnered with global FinTech firm Pine Labs to modernise its merchant acquiring infrastructure, as digital payments adoption accelerates across the UAE.

Under the agreement, Wio Bank will deploy Credit+, Pine Labs’ modular, API-first acquiring platform, to power its core acquiring operations. The move is aimed at building a next-generation infrastructure without legacy technology dependencies, enabling faster merchant onboarding, real-time settlement capabilities, and multi-channel payment acceptance at scale.

The platform is built on a cloud-native, microservices-based architecture and is designed to support high transaction throughput, intelligent rule-based workflows, and data-driven decision-making. It also manages the full merchant lifecycle, from onboarding to ongoing servicing, through configurable APIs.

For Wio Bank, which positions itself as a digital-first financial platform for businesses, the partnership aligns with its strategy to embed scalable, flexible infrastructure that can evolve alongside merchant needs. The deployment is expected to enhance operational resilience, improve acceptance rates, and support rapid feature rollouts in a competitive payments environment.

“Our partnership with Wio Bank brings a modern acquiring processing platform to one of the most innovative digital banks in the region,” said B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs. “Credit+ is built to deliver high transaction throughput, rapid feature deployment, and seamless scalability through its API-driven, microservices architecture. This collaboration reflects how a modular acquiring stack can help banks move faster, iterate smarter, and scale reliably in a digital-first payments ecosystem.”

Jayesh Patel, CEO of Wio Bank PJSC, said, “This partnership with Pine Labs strengthens our ability to deliver simpler, more efficient payment capabilities, from faster onboarding and settlements to easier acceptance across channels,” he said. “It allows us to continue evolving our infrastructure while building the next generation of payments and value-added services around customer needs.”

The partnership comes as the UAE advances its cashless economy agenda, with regulators and financial institutions investing heavily in digital infrastructure. For banks, modernising merchant acquiring systems has become a strategic priority, as legacy platforms often limit scalability, data integration, and speed-to-market.

Pine Labs, which works with banks and enterprises globally, has been expanding its footprint in the Middle East and Africa region. The collaboration with Wio Bank underscores a broader industry trend in which digital-native banks are opting for modular, cloud-based acquiring stacks to support growth, improve cost efficiency, and respond more quickly to changing merchant and regulatory requirements.