First Abu Dhabi Bank Launches Mastercard’s Virtual Card Number Solution in UAE

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has launched Mastercard‘s mobile-first virtual card number (VCN) solution for businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The VCN platform enables enterprises and government entities to issue and manage virtual corporate cards and integrate them into mobile wallets, Mastercard said in a Monday (Dec. 22) press release.

The platform allows organizations to generate virtual cards in real time, use the card for online and in-store purchases via mobile wallets and integrate them with their existing payment systems, according to the release.

FAB’s launch of VCN in the UAE marks the first offering of the solution in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region, per the release.

“In the UAE, where digital payment adoption is rapidly expanding, research has revealed that 45% of companies are investing in mobile technology for B2B payments,” the release said. “With the new mobile virtual card solution that enables virtual commercial cards to be seamlessly added to digital wallets, FAB and Mastercard have established themselves at the forefront of this movement, delivering a solution that reflects the evolving needs of businesses and government entities in the region.”

Mastercard said in March that it had made advances in virtual card number technology aimed at “delivering seamless and consumer-like commercial payments.”

The company said that starting April 1, banks using its VCN technology would be able to enable their platform partners that have enrolled in a new program to fuel the use of embedded consumer-like experiences in commercial payments.

It added that banks would “benefit from scalability and have access to more embedded payments opportunities,” their platform partners would be able to offer embedded payments “with reduced integration effort,” and corporate users would get a chance to provide “an easier, consumer-like payment experience with fewer clicks.”

In October, Mastercard said it was expanding on its embedded virtual card number program by adding integrations across enterprise resource planning, procurement and expense management platforms.

FAB inked a five-year strategic partnership arrangement with Mastercard for corporate cards and payment offerings in February 2021, with the companies saying that they would work to jointly streamline B2B payments.