For years, salary cards, also commonly called payroll cards, have helped employers distribute wages to workers who may not qualify for traditional bank accounts.
That model is now changing.
Under the Central Bank of the UAE’s Universal Account framework, the UAE Wage Protection System, or WPS, is moving from salary-card-based payroll access to account-based salary access for eligible low-income residents.
This is not simply a change in terminology. A Universal Account is not a salary card with a new name. It is a basic digital current account with defined eligibility, pricing, accessibility and servicing requirements.
For banks, Stored Value Facility providers, exchange houses and employers, understanding the difference between salary cards and Universal Accounts is the first step towards managing the transition.
What is a Universal Account in the UAE?
A Universal Account is a basic, digitally accessible current account denominated in UAE dirhams.
It is intended for individuals who:
- Are legal residents of the UAE
- Earn a total monthly income of AED 5,000 or less
- Do not hold another active current or savings account in the UAE when applying, based on self-declaration
The account must provide essential financial services without requiring the customer to maintain a minimum balance. All Licensed Financial Institutions participating in WPS are required to develop and offer a Universal Account.
Universal Account features explained
A Universal Account is designed to give eligible low-income workers more than access to their monthly salary.
The account must support:
- Salary or income credits
- Domestic and international peer-to-peer transfers
- Bill payments
- Point-of-sale and app-based payments
- ATM withdrawals and deposits
- A debit card, subject to the customer’s consent
Universal Accounts cannot include cheque books.
They must also have no minimum-balance requirement and carry either no monthly maintenance fee or a nominal fee capped at AED 2. Balance enquiries must remain free. Customers are entitled to up to four free withdrawals or deposits each month through the issuing institution’s own ATMs, after which the institution’s standard fees may apply.
The digital experience must be available in Arabic, English, Hindi and Urdu at a minimum.
Salary cards vs Universal Accounts: what is the difference?
The easiest way to understand the change is to look at the purpose of each product.
| Salary Cards or Payroll Cards | Universal Accounts |
|---|---|
| Primarily used to receive and access wages | A basic digital current account |
| Card-led access to salary funds | Account-based access through an app and debit card |
| Features vary by provider | Minimum features are defined under the Universal Account framework |
| May provide limited account functionality | Supports transfers, payments, ATM access and other essential services |
| Built around payroll disbursement | Built around broader financial access |
| Often managed as a prepaid payroll product | Designed as an ongoing account relationship |
The shift from salary cards to Universal Accounts therefore changes the worker’s relationship with the financial system.
A salary card answers the question: “How can this employee receive and withdraw a salary?”
A Universal Account goes further: “How can this individual receive, manage, spend and transfer money through a basic digital account?”
Are salary cards being discontinued in the UAE?
For banks and SVF service providers participating in WPS and wishing to continue their participation, the answer is yes.
The CBUAE Notice requires these institutions to:
- Discontinue issuing salary cards
- Phase out existing salary cards within the prescribed transition period
The Notice established a 90-calendar-day period from its issuance date, while allowing the Central Bank to grant extensions in exceptional cases on a case-by-case basis.
This means WPS institutions cannot treat Universal Accounts as an optional product addition while continuing their existing salary-card model unchanged.
The direction is clear: eligible salary-card customers must move towards account-based salary access.
What does the Universal Account mandate mean for banks and SVFs?
Banks and SVFs participating in WPS must do more than replace the physical payroll card.
They need the capabilities to:
- Open Universal Accounts digitally
- Verify customer eligibility
- Provide disclosures in the required languages
- Apply transparent fees and usage limits
- Support payments, transfers, debit cards and ATM access
- Manage customer complaints, rejections and account closures
- Produce the prescribed regulatory reporting
Applicants whose Universal Account applications are rejected must be notified within five working days by SMS or phone. The communication must explain the reason for rejection and the available complaint or appeal process.
LFIs must also report Universal Account information to the CBUAE twice a year. Reporting includes account volumes, customer demographics, transaction activity, account closures, complaints, feedback and identified product or compliance risks.
In other words, Universal Accounts are not only a new payroll product. They introduce new onboarding, servicing, consumer-protection and reporting responsibilities.
What do Universal Accounts mean for exchange houses?
Exchange houses remain an important part of the UAE payroll and remittance ecosystem. Many already have strong corporate relationships, branch networks and detailed knowledge of low-income salary customers.
However, an exchange house participating in WPS can no longer depend on a standalone salary-card model.
An exchange house that intends to continue offering WPS services must follow one of two routes:
- Apply to the CBUAE for a No Objection Letter to carry on an SVF business
- Establish a formal arrangement with a WPS-participating bank or SVF service provider and notify the Central Bank
The Notice established a 180-day period for exchange houses to implement the appropriate route.
For many exchange houses, the practical question is no longer simply whether they can process payroll.
It is whether they can support a regulated, account-based payroll model under the appropriate authorisation or through the right financial-infrastructure partner.
What does the move from payroll cards mean for employers?
The Universal Account Notice is directed primarily at Licensed Financial Institutions, not employers.
However, employers will still experience the operational impact of the transition from payroll cards to Universal Accounts.
Employers may need to coordinate with their WPS provider on:
- Migrating existing salary-card employees
- Opening Universal Accounts for eligible workers
- Updating employee information
- Communicating the change to employees
- Supporting digital onboarding
- Managing payroll exceptions during the transition
- Confirming how salaries will be credited under the new account model
The core employer requirement remains unchanged: workers must receive their salaries correctly and on time.
The transition should therefore be managed without creating payroll disruption, employee confusion or additional administrative complexity.
Is a Universal Account the same as a normal bank account?
Not exactly.
A Universal Account is a current account, but it is intentionally designed as a basic, low-cost product for eligible low-income residents.
It has several specific characteristics:
- Total monthly income eligibility of AED 5,000 or less
- No minimum balance
- No cheque book
- Zero or nominal monthly maintenance fees
- Defined essential financial services
- Digital accessibility
- Multilingual mobile access
- Specific reporting and consumer-protection requirements
A customer who requires products outside this framework may need to move to a standard current or savings account, subject to the financial institution’s eligibility criteria.
Why Universal Accounts matter for financial inclusion
Salary cards helped solve an important problem: enabling workers to receive wages electronically.
Universal Accounts address the next problem: helping those workers participate more fully in the formal financial system.
Account-based access allows eligible workers to do more with their salaries. They can make payments, transfer money locally or internationally, access cash, check their balances and manage everyday financial activity through a digital account.
The real shift is therefore not simply:
Salary card → debit card
It is:
Salary access → financial access
That distinction matters for workers, employers and every institution operating within the WPS payroll ecosystem.
How myZoi can support the shift from salary cards to Universal Accounts
Delivering Universal Accounts at scale requires more than creating an account product.
Financial institutions need digital onboarding, multilingual customer journeys, WPS salary-disbursement capabilities, payments, remittances and servicing designed around the realities of the low-income worker segment.
myZoi is a CBUAE-licensed SVF and RPSCS provider with a platform built for payroll-linked, low-income customers. It supports digital onboarding, salary disbursement, multilingual access, remittances and everyday payments.
For banks, SVFs and exchange houses, myZoi can provide the digital infrastructure and account-based experience needed to support the transition, while the partner retains its role in corporate relationships and customer engagement.
The end of salary cards should not mean the end of your payroll relationship
Partner with myZoi to deliver Universal Accounts to your WPS customers through digital infrastructure built for account-based payroll and the low-income segment.
Start a Universal Account partnership conversation.
Get in touch with myZoi.
This article is intended as a general educational overview and should not be treated as legal, regulatory or compliance advice.
