What Botim money does

Botim Money is a UAE-licensed digital payments platform headquartered in Dubai (with a listed Abu Dhabi address) that enables merchants and consumers to conduct cashless transactions across online, in-store, and cross-border channels. Founded in 2005 and acquired by Astra Tech in May 2022, the company received Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) licenses from the Central Bank of the UAE in January 2023 and operates as the financial services arm of Astra Tech's Ultra Platform ecosystem, which combines the Botim communication app, PayBy, and Rizek. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of products including a payment gateway, Smart POS and Smart BOX terminals, Digital Corporate Wallets with multi-currency VIBAN support, Salary Cards for unbanked payroll, QR code payments, PayLink, Payable Invoice, Direct Pay, recurring/subscription billing, and digital gold/silver investing via OGold partnership.

The underlying technology is a cloud-based payment processing platform with real-time transaction handling, integrated AI-based fraud monitoring, 3D secure authentication, and cross-border capabilities through Mastercard Move (150+ countries) and TerraPay (156 countries, 3.7 billion mobile wallets, 7.5 billion bank accounts). The platform accepts Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, WeChat Pay, Alipay+, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay, and supports 7,000+ kiosk-based cash/cheque deposits across the UAE. Botim Money serves UAE-based SMEs and enterprises through a hybrid go-to-market combining self-serve SMB onboarding via the b.botim.money merchant portal (1-3 business day approvals) with direct enterprise sales for custom pricing and volume discounts, supplemented by a partner referral program. The revenue model is transaction-based with Merchant Discount Rates of 2.50% + AED 1 for domestic cards, 2.80% + AED 1 for international cards, and 1.5% + AED 1 for Alipay+ wallet payments, supplemented by AED 800 POS hardware sales, remittance fees, and premium custom enterprise pricing.

Name

Botim money

Legal name

botim money

Website

https://botim.money

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Botim Money is a UAE Central Bank-licensed digital payments platform (SVF and RPS) enabling merchants to accept online, in-store, and cross-border payments through gateways, POS, wallets, and remittances, serving SMEs and enterprises as part of Astra Tech's Ultra Platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Credit Card Issuing (522210)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

A2A Checkout & Merchant Acceptance Solutions (FSAMAFAF), General-Purpose Digital Wallets (P2P + Merchant) (FSAMAEAA)

Keywords

• Payment processing
• Digital payments
• Merchant services
• Point of sale
• Cross-border remittance

Headquarters

HQ city

Abu Dhabi

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees (MDR): Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charged on card transactions: 2.50% + AED 1 for domestic cards, 2.80% + AED 1 for international cards, and 1.5% + AED 1 for wallet payments (Alipay+). This is the primary revenue stream.
2. POS Hardware Sales: One-time fee of AED 800 for Smart POS devices. Additional charges may apply for enhanced due diligence onboarding with higher transaction limits.
3. International Remittance Services: Cross-border money transfer services leveraging Mastercard Move and TerraPay networks, enabling UAE users to send money globally to bank accounts, mobile wallets, and cash pickup locations.
4. Premium/Custom Pricing Tiers: Customized packages for high-volume merchants with volume discounts, multi-product discounts, and tailored solutions based on annual processing volumes and risk profiles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Botim Money provides an omnichannel digital payment platform enabling UAE-based businesses to accept cashless payments online, in-store, and across borders. The offering includes a payment gateway, Smart POS and Smart BOX hardware, a Digital Corporate Wallet with multi-currency VIBAN support, a Salary Card payroll solution, and consumer-facing remittance and precious-metals investing features. It is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE as a Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) provider.

Product overview

Botim Money is a comprehensive cashless payment platform offering omnichannel digital payment solutions. The platform operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture consisting of: Payment Gateway (online payment processing), Point of Sale systems (Smart POS and Smart BOX for in-store payments), Digital Corporate Wallet (virtual accounts and merchant wallets), and Salary Card (payroll management). Additional products include PayLink, Payable Invoice, Direct Pay, QR Code Payments, Recurring Payments, JSAPI Payment, and Seamless AppCommerce. The platform supports multiple payment methods including wallets (WeChat Pay, Alipay+, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay), cards (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay), and provides reporting, invoicing, and digital receipt capabilities. Botim Money serves businesses in the UAE and is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE as a Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) provider, operating as part of the Astra Tech Ultra Platform ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PayBy: Online payment gateway and point-of-sale solutions brand under botim money
• botim money App
• Smart POS
• Smart BOX
• PayLink
• Direct Pay
• Salary Card
• Digital Corporate Wallet
• Reporting and Invoicing

Products and services

• Payment Gateway Cloud-based global payment processing platform enabling merchants to process debit and credit card payments online, support local payment methods, and integrate with websites or mobile applications. Targeted at UAE-based online merchants.
• Smart POS Full-featured point-of-sale terminal with built-in traceability, advanced reporting, and integrated payment processing. Supports generating PayLinks, QR codes, accepting in-store payments, and ECR integration for UAE retailers.
• Smart BOX Portable payment device designed for SMEs to take and refund in-person payments through scan, collect, and refund functionality.
• Digital Corporate Wallet Virtual account and digital wallet solution for merchants that connects a virtual bank account and wallet, supports multi-currency VIBAN, enables cash and cheque deposits at over 7,000 UAE kiosks, and separates payroll funds from operational finances.
• Salary Card Payroll management solution enabling UAE employers to pay employees instantly via physical cards with no bank account requirement; cards delivered in 3-5 days for online or in-store spending.
• PayLink Payment link and button solution enabling merchants to create fixed or custom amount transactions shareable via email, SMS, or WhatsApp.
• Payable Invoice Invoice creation and sharing solution allowing merchants to create and send invoices with integrated online payment options via email or SMS.
• Direct Pay Embedded custom payment form solution for merchant websites and applications, requiring PCI certification for secure card data handling.
• QR Code Payments Custom QR code generation for businesses enabling customers to scan and pay for orders, with both open and fixed amount QR code support.
• Recurring Payments Subscription and recurring payment processing service for merchants with simplified setup and management of repeat billing.
• JSAPI Payment In-app payment solution allowing botim app users visiting merchant websites to complete purchases without leaving the botim application.
• Seamless AppCommerce In-app payment integration solution enabling merchant mobile apps to accept online payments from botim money users with optimized mobile pay pages and secure processing.
• Pay with Wallet Multi-wallet payment acceptance supporting botim, botim money, WeChat Pay, Alipay+, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Mastercard, UnionPay, and Visa for customer transactions.
• Reporting and Invoicing Digital receipt and invoice generation solution with merchant branding, logo, and color customization, enabling paperless receipt storage, tracking, and sharing via email or SMS.
• Digital Gold and Silver Investing Digital precious metals investment feature built in partnership with OGold that enables eligible users to buy, sell, and manage fractional gold and silver holdings starting from AED 10.
• International Remittance via Mastercard Move Cross-border money transfer service leveraging Mastercard Move, enabling UAE-based users to send money globally to bank accounts, mobile wallets, and cash pickup locations across 150+ countries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 128,000 in-app gold trades and AED 100 million+ in volume within months of launch
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• MastercardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2026Expanded strategic collaboration to advance card issuance and digital payment solutions in the UAE. Building on over two years of existing partnership, enables botim money to offer cards without minimum salary requirements, broadening financial inclusion. Supports Dubai's target of 90% cashless transactions by 2026. Integration includes Mastercard Move for cross-border payments to 150+ countries.
• OGoldsecondaryTechnology or Integration · 22 February 2026Partnership for digital silver investing feature, expanding the precious metals investing suite. Following successful gold investing launch with 128,000+ trades, digital silver enables fractional holdings from AED 10. Provides regulated, in-app experience for precious metals investment.
• TerraPaycoreTechnology or Integration · 14 February 2026Strategic partnership to expand cross-border remittance capabilities focusing on African markets including Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and Egypt. Integrates TerraPay's global infrastructure enabling real-time wallet validation and improved delivery success rates. Access to over 3.7 billion mobile wallets and 7.5 billion bank accounts globally.
• Ant Group (Alipay+)secondaryTechnology or Integration · 20 December 2023Agreement to launch Alipay+ cross-border digital payments solution in the UAE, enabling acceptance of international digital payment methods.
• Astra TechcoreOthersParent company of botim money. Astra Tech acquired botim money in May 2022 and received SVF and RPS licenses from Central Bank of UAE in January 2023. Building the Ultra Platform in MEA region combining Botim, Payby, and Rizek solutions. Led by Abdallah Abu Sheikh.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Moyasar: Saudi-based online payment gateway operated by stc, providing card processing and Apple Pay acceptance in Saudi Arabia — comparable product set but operating in a different geography from Botim Money's UAE base.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payment processor with UAE operations and broad developer tooling; competes for the same online merchants and platform businesses that Botim Money targets via its gateway and APIs.
• PayPal: Global digital wallet and online payment platform with UAE availability; competes for cross-border consumer wallet share and online checkout acceptance alongside Botim Money's wallet and gateway offerings.
• Checkout.com: Global enterprise-focused payment processor with significant UAE presence; serves larger merchants with cross-border acquiring and developer-first APIs that overlap with Botim Money's enterprise segment.
• Adyen: Global unified-commerce payment processor serving enterprise merchants across MENA; overlaps with Botim Money on omnichannel (online + POS) acceptance and large-merchant segment.

Direct peers

• Network International: Largest UAE-headquartered merchant acquirer and payment processor, offering card acquiring, payment gateway, and value-added services to the same enterprise and SMB merchant segments as Botim Money. The closest direct competitor in the UAE acquiring market.
• PayTabs: MENA-founded payment gateway and processor operating across UAE, Saudi, and Egypt with similar merchant onboarding, multi-payment-method acceptance, and developer APIs as Botim Money.
• Tap Payments: MENA-based payment processor (Kuwait-founded) offering online payment gateway, POS, and merchant services across the GCC, serving the same SME and enterprise merchant profiles as Botim Money.
• Magnati: UAE-headquartered payments company spun out of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, providing merchant acquiring, payment processing, and analytics — directly comparable in UAE merchant acquiring and government/payments infrastructure.
• Telr: UAE-based online payment gateway serving SMBs and enterprises across MENA with multi-currency card processing and alternative payment methods — directly comparable to Botim Money's payment gateway, POS, and QR offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Botim money