Mastercard partners with Gulf payroll app LiaPay on salary cards and earned wage access

Mastercard has partnered with LiaPay, a payroll and employee financial services app operated by Liabify, to offer prepaid salary cards and earned wage access to workers across four Gulf Cooperation Council markets.

Employees will receive a Mastercard Platinum prepaid card linked to the LiaPay app, for in-store, online and cross-border payments. Through the earned wage access feature, eligible workers can request a portion of their accrued salary before the normal payday.

The first rollout is planned for the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, followed by Saudi Arabia and Oman. The partnership builds on LiaPay’s existing agreements with DEEL and Anvin ERP, which are intended to extend the service to more than 200,000 employees.

The service is supported by regulated financial institutions and aligned with local Wage Protection System requirements. Mawarid Finance acts as the programme’s BIN sponsor, and Paymentology provides processing support.

The model is built around wages employees have already earned, not a conventional consumer loan.

Earned wage access has attracted attention as employers and fintech companies look for alternatives to traditional short-term borrowing. By connecting payroll systems with payment cards and digital wallets, providers aim to give workers more flexibility over when they use income they have already earned.

The partnership marks Mastercard’s entry into the payroll and earned wage access segment, and adds a new use case for its prepaid card network. For LiaPay, it provides access to global payment acceptance and cross-border capabilities as the company expands across the Gulf.

The service’s adoption will depend on employer participation, employee eligibility and the terms governing early access to wages.