Tabby Cash passes 1 million UAE accounts

Tabby says more than 1 million people in the UAE have opened a Tabby Cash account. The milestone comes two months after the account became available to all eligible UAE residents on September 1.

The account now lets customers send money to bank accounts in more than 50 countries without transfer fees, and to digital wallets such as GCash, JazzCash and Vodafone Cash. Customers can also pay telecom, utility and transport bills through Cash, with an option to spread payments over as many as 12 months.

Retailer-approved refunds on Tabby purchases can now arrive immediately in a Cash account, so the money is available to spend again without waiting for a card refund.

The figure counts accounts opened. Tabby did not disclose how many are active, the balances they hold, the value of transfers processed or how many account holders are new to the company.

Tabby is a Saudi-headquartered fintech, valued at $6.5 billion after a $233 million Series F announced in September and led by Blue Pool Capital. It built its customer base on buy now, pay later plans that split retail purchases into four payments.

Tabby Cash charges no setup, account or card fees and offers cashback on spending. It rests on the Stored Value Facilities licence Tabby obtained from the UAE central bank in April, which allowed it to hold customer funds.

The additions give customers reasons to use Tabby between purchases, whether to send money home or pay household bills. That extends the relationship beyond the instalment plans through which the company built its name.

Across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, Tabby reports more than 25 million customers and 70,000 merchant partners.

”Tabby Cash is the fastest growing product we’ve launched,” said Hosam Arab, co-founder and chief executive. “A million accounts in 2 months tells us how much demand there is for an account that works the way people actually spend.”