Western Union Partners with Dubai Bank for Prepaid Payroll Cards

Western Union and Commercial Bank of Dubai will launch a co-branded prepaid payroll card in the United Arab Emirates.

The CBD Western Union Payroll Card, which is expected to be available later this summer, is part of an effort to comply with a new United Arab Emirates regulation that requires all workers in the country to be paid electronically — via deposit to a bank account or prepaid card.

Western Union is planning to reach the large number of people from other countries who migrate to the UAE and remit money to family and friends outside of the UAE. The Western Union/CBD card will allow workers to receive their pay and send funds by using the same card.

“We are already collaborating with CBD on a service that allows their customers to send money directly from their bank accounts,” said Jean Claude Farah, senior vice president for the Middle East and Africa at Western Union, in a release.

Once available, the card can be used at participating Western Union Agent locations in the UAE to send funds to more than 515,000 Western Union locations in 200 countries and territories. In the future, workers in the UAE will be able to send funds directly from the card online or with their phones, said Frans Jan Burkens, Head of Consumer Banking at CBD, in a release.

Western Union’s recent international moves include a partnership with MasterCard to offer a cross-border business payments service. It also added small business payment partnerships in India.