The missing link: Why the GCC’s AI payments push needs enterprise infrastructure

Something important happened in the Gulf over the past month that most business leaders have not yet registered. The Central Bank of the UAE granted approval to Mal, an AI-native Islamic digital bank, making the UAE what Mal describes as the first market globally to grant in-principle regulatory approval to an AI-native digital banking platform. Around the same time, Visa confirmed that its Agentic Ready programme, the global framework that certifies banks to handle payments initiated by AI, is