About NOW Money
NOW Money is a Dubai-based fintech company that provides digital banking services to low-income migrant workers, a large group that has often been excluded from traditional banking in the UAE. It was co-founded by Ian Dillon and Katharine Budd with a mission of improving financial inclusion.
Many migrant workers in the UAE, including construction workers, cleaners, drivers and domestic staff, earn salaries below the thresholds banks set for opening accounts. As a result, they have often relied on cash, salary cards with limited features and exchange houses for sending money home. This can make everyday financial life more expensive and less secure.
NOW Money offers a mobile app and account, delivered with licensed partners, that lets workers receive their salaries, manage their money and send remittances from their phones. Users receive a card that they can use for payments and cash withdrawals, and they can track their balances and transactions in the app.
Remittances are central to the service. Many users send a significant share of their income to family in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. Digital transfers can reduce the time and cost of sending money compared with visiting exchange houses, often after long working days.
The company works with employers, who can pay their workers' salaries into NOW Money accounts through the UAE's Wage Protection System. This business-to-business model allows NOW Money to onboard many workers at once through their employers.
The app is designed for users who may have limited experience with digital banking, with support in multiple languages commonly spoken by migrant workers in the UAE.
The UAE has one of the largest migrant worker populations in the world, and remittance outflows from the country are among the highest globally. Financial inclusion for these workers has become a focus for regulators and policymakers.
NOW Money's focus on workers that banks often overlook gives it a clear social purpose, and it is featured on Startups UAE among the country's financial inclusion startups.
Many migrant workers in the UAE, including construction workers, cleaners, drivers and domestic staff, earn salaries below the thresholds banks set for opening accounts. As a result, they have often relied on cash, salary cards with limited features and exchange houses for sending money home. This can make everyday financial life more expensive and less secure.
NOW Money offers a mobile app and account, delivered with licensed partners, that lets workers receive their salaries, manage their money and send remittances from their phones. Users receive a card that they can use for payments and cash withdrawals, and they can track their balances and transactions in the app.
Remittances are central to the service. Many users send a significant share of their income to family in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. Digital transfers can reduce the time and cost of sending money compared with visiting exchange houses, often after long working days.
The company works with employers, who can pay their workers' salaries into NOW Money accounts through the UAE's Wage Protection System. This business-to-business model allows NOW Money to onboard many workers at once through their employers.
The app is designed for users who may have limited experience with digital banking, with support in multiple languages commonly spoken by migrant workers in the UAE.
The UAE has one of the largest migrant worker populations in the world, and remittance outflows from the country are among the highest globally. Financial inclusion for these workers has become a focus for regulators and policymakers.
NOW Money's focus on workers that banks often overlook gives it a clear social purpose, and it is featured on Startups UAE among the country's financial inclusion startups.