KARACHI: Pakistani fintech firm ABHI said on Tuesday it had partnered with NymCard, a leading payments infrastructure provider in the Middle East, to enable financial institutions to deliver more efficient credit solutions to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The partnership brings together ABHI’s business financial solutions with NymCard’s card and payments infrastructure to support the SME credit journey from digital onboarding and origination through to decisioning and disbursement.

Through the combined technology proposition, banks and licensed financial institutions will be able to streamline fragmented processes, support faster onboarding and credit decisioning, followed by the disbursement of approved funds.

“SMEs need faster and simpler access to financial products, and technology has an important role to play in helping banks deliver that experience. By combining ABHI’s technology with NymCard’s platform, we can simplify the credit journey and serve SMEs more efficiently,” ABHI quoted its assistant vice-president Zain Ali as saying.

For financial institutions, the Pakistani fintech firm said, the partnership provides a technology foundation for introducing and scaling SME credit propositions without having to build and integrate multiple components independently.

“There is a significant opportunity for technology to transform how SME credit is delivered in the UAE. By bringing ABHI and NymCard’s capabilities together, we can give financial institutions the tools to move faster, reduce complexity and build credit propositions that can scale, while ultimately creating a much better experience for SMEs,” Shiraz Ali, chief business officer at NymCard said, according to ABHI statement.

Founded in 2021, ABHI’s core Earned Wage Access, or EWA, product allows employees of participating companies to withdraw part of the salary they have already accrued before their regular payday through an employer-linked digital platform. ABHI says it now operates across Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, serving more than one million users and working with over 7,000 businesses.

On Sept. 16, the fintech firm said it had partnered with a Saudi-listed construction and facilities company, Red Sea International, to offer its employees early access to earned salaries as it expands its financial services business in the Kingdom.

Earlier this month, ABHI said its earned-wage product had received Shariah certification from the Shariah Committee of Saudi-based Badiha Company, clearing another step in the company’s efforts to expand the service in the Kingdom.