China-founded cross-border payments company XTransfer has received in-principle approval for a retail payment services license from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
The conditional approval is an intermediate regulatory step. XTransfer must complete the central bank’s pre-issuance requirements before it can receive the license and use it to serve mainland UAE clients.
Approval supports Middle East expansion
Once the conditions are met, the license is expected to allow XTransfer to expand its regulated business-to-business payment services in the UAE. The company said it plans to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in international trade.
XTransfer described the UAE as a central market in its Middle East and Africa strategy because of the country’s role as a trade and re-export hub connecting China with markets in Africa and the wider region.
XTransfer founder and Chief Executive Bill Deng said in the company announcement that the UAE is a major trade hub and an important gateway between Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The firm did not identify the remaining conditions, provide a target date for final approval or specify the payment activities covered by its application. It also did not disclose planned local investment, hiring or revenue targets.
Until a final license is issued, the announcement should not be read as authorization to begin the full set of mainland services described by the company. The initial approval indicates that the application has advanced, but the regulatory process remains incomplete.
Regulatory footprint grows with trade network
Founded in 2017, XTransfer provides cross-border payment and compliance services for companies involved in international trade. The company says it has obtained licenses or authorizations in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia and Canada.
XTransfer reported more than $60 billion in total payment volume during 2025 and more than 1 million registered small and medium-sized enterprise customers globally. Those scale figures are company claims attributed to research firm CIC and were not independently verified in the UAE announcement.
The UAE approval would add a regulated foothold on a trade route where Chinese exporters and regional distributors often need collections, foreign-exchange and compliance services across multiple jurisdictions. It could also help XTransfer compete with banks and other fintech platforms serving businesses that trade between Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Cross-border business payments remain operationally complex because providers must navigate customer verification, sanctions screening, foreign-exchange rules and local licensing in each market. Regulatory approvals can improve a provider’s ability to offer local collection and settlement services, but they do not by themselves establish adoption, pricing advantages or risk performance.
XTransfer said it will continue investing in regulated markets and payment infrastructure. The company did not disclose whether the UAE operation will be launched directly through a local entity, the banks or payment partners it expects to use, or which currencies and payment routes will be available first.
Final authorization and service availability will depend on the Central Bank of the UAE’s completion of the licensing process. Customers should therefore wait for the regulator and company to confirm the effective license and launch terms.