India's Airpay To Move Global Headquarters To UAE, Invest $100 Million

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Indian financial technology company airpay is strengthening its presence in the UAE as it prepares to make the country its international headquarters and a regional hub for growth across the Gulf and Africa from 2027.

The company plans to invest up to $100 million in the UAE, supporting technology, infrastructure, talent, product development and market expansion.

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The announcement was made during the fifth edition of the Banking Innovation and Technology 2026 (BIT'26) conference in Dubai on Tuesday. Organised by Khaleej Times, the one-day conference, presented by airpay, brings together senior C-suite executives from the public and private sectors.

Airpay's portfolio spans payment acquiring, issuing, credit, wealth management and distribution. It intends to extend the businesses and capabilities it has built in India into the UAE, GCC and African markets while developing products and partnerships suited to local requirements.

Kunal Jhunjhunwala, founder of airpay, said the company has never viewed payments as simply a transaction.

“Payments are the starting point of a much larger financial relationship – with merchants, consumers and businesses. Our ambition is to build the infrastructure that allows that relationship to extend across markets,” he said.

He described the India-UAE corridor as particularly compelling because of the depth of commercial and financial ties between the two markets.

“We believe airpay can bring the experience we have built in India and other emerging markets to this ecosystem, while building locally for the UAE and GCC,” he added.

Airpay has already test-marketed payment acquiring and lending in the UAE, using the market to understand customer needs, regulatory requirements and opportunities for its broader financial services model.

Why the UAE

The UAE has attracted a large number of Indian companies over the decades due to its business-friendly policies, zero income tax and other support measures and incentives provided to foreign companies.

Beyond its role as a global financial centre, the UAE sits at the heart of an increasingly important economic corridor linking India with the Middle East and Africa. Trade, remittances, cross-border commerce and investment between India and the UAE continue to create opportunities for financial infrastructure providers that can operate across markets.

As that corridor deepens, airpay aims to become a meaningful participant, bringing 14 years of experience in building financial rails in India to a region where the next generation of financial infrastructure is taking shape.

Founded in Mumbai in 2012, airpay began as a payments business but has evolved into a broader financial services ecosystem spanning payments, distribution, lending and wealth management.

In India, the company serves more than 314,000 merchants and over 600 million consumers and processes billions of transactions through a network of financial institutions and business partners. Its capabilities cover online and offline payment acceptance, business and consumer credit, wealth management and last-mile distribution.

Airpay employs more than 1,000 people across 13 offices. It is now a fully licensed entity operating in India, the UAE, Tanzania and Zambia, with local teams, infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in each market. Its approach, the company says, is to build local financial rails rather than simply export a technology platform from one market to another.

Expansion into Africa marks the next chapter of that strategy. In Tanzania and Zambia, airpay is building businesses around payments, distribution and access to financial services, focusing on bringing technology and financial products closer to businesses and consumers outside traditional financial centres.

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