The in-principle approval lays the groundwork for digital wallets, faster fund access and new product lines for Pemo’s 6,000+ UAE business customers
DUBAI: Pemo, the UAE’s leading all-in-one spend management platform built for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), today announced that it has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence.
The approval will let the company hold and manage business funds digitally on its customers’ behalf once the licensing process is complete. Pemo is among the <a href="https://middleeastdaily.net/adam-vital-hospital-becomes-the-first-private-specialised-orthopaedic-spine-hospital-in-the-uae-to-receive-a-global-hospital-rating/”>first spend management platforms in the UAE to receive SVF in-principle approval and expects to complete the licensing process in the coming months.
This milestone paves the way for Pemo to introduce a broader suite of financial products beyond its existing spend management platform, including digital wallets and new fund-holding capabilities built for the day-to-day needs of UAE SMEs.
What Is a Stored Value Facility (SVF)?
An SVF licence, regulated by the CBUAE, allows a licensed entity to hold customer funds in digital wallet-style accounts, letting businesses load, hold and spend money digitally without routing every transaction through a traditional bank account. For Pemo’s SME customers, that means faster, more direct access to the funds already in their account, more flexible corporate card funding, and greater day-to-day control over company cash, all inside a single platform.
Why This Matters
For too long, small businesses have struggled to get fast, reliable access to their own cash. SMEs make up around 90% of the UAE’s operating companies and drive more than 60% of non-oil GDP. Yet they receive only around 10% of total bank funding. That gap leaves many businesses reliant on slow, traditional banking rails just to manage day-to-day cash flow. Cash flow, not lack of revenue, is what keeps many small business owners up at night. By holding and moving stored value on its own regulated infrastructure, Pemo will cut the delays businesses face when moving their own funds – loading, spending and paying from one place, without waiting on traditional transfer windows.
Pemo was built in the UAE, for UAE SMEs, and understands first-hand the everyday pressures facing companies and the people who work for them. This in-principal approval reflects that same commitment, supporting the country’s broader ambitions around digital transformation, innovation and financial inclusion, and giving business owners and their teams more direct, transparent access to the financial tools they rely on every day. It also marks a first step in Pemo’s evolution from a spend management platform into a broader financial services provider for UAE SMEs.
The milestone follows several years of rapid growth
Since launching in 2022, Pemo has grown to support more than 6,000 businesses locally, ranging from fast-growing SMEs to established names such as Talabat, Sodexo and Al Marwan Group Holding. Pemo has built its platform around the specific financial management needs of UAE SMEs, combining smart corporate cards, automated expense tracking and accounting integrations in a single, easy-to-use solution.
The in-principal approval is also a direct signal of stability and long-term commitment: the platform businesses already rely on for everyday spend management is being built on an increasingly solid regulatory foundation. Beyond spend management, the company plans to use the milestone to accelerate development of new product lines, expanding its existing spend management platform to offer UAE SMEs an even broader suite of financial tools in the months ahead.
“This in-principal approval reflects the trust our customers place in us every day. We are deeply grateful to the Central Bank of the UAE for its guidance throughout this process, to our team for the work that made it possible, and to our customers for the trust they place in us every day. From day one, Pemo has been built for SMEs here. This milestone means we can keep deepening that support while opening the door to new products that go beyond spend management and make managing business finances even simpler,” said Ayham Gorani, Co-Founder and CEO of Pemo.
The news comes at a pivotal moment for Pemo and it is also just the first of several announcements Pemo expects to make in the coming weeks, as the company continues to grow its partnerships and expand what it offers UAE SMEs beyond spend management.
What this means for Pemo customers
Nothing changes today, and customers do not need to do anything. Pemo already delivers its products on regulated infrastructure, with customer funds safeguarded through licensed partners. The approval builds on that foundation in two ways. First, with speed: with stored value held on Pemo’s own rails, money loaded into the platform can be moved and spent faster. Second, directness: once fully licensed, Pemo itself will be regulated by the Central Bank to hold customer funds, safeguarded in accordance with CBUAE rules. For a small business, the two questions that matter most – is my money ready when I need it, and is it safe – now have even stronger answers.