New MoUs with Dubai Finance aim to help tourists tap to pay everywhere as the city targets 90% cashless transactions by end of 2026

If your ideal holiday is one long tap from plane seat to pool bar, Dubai just moved the needle. Emirates and flydubai have signed separate Memoranda of Understanding with Dubai’s Department of Finance to promote digital payments for visitors and speed up the emirate’s Cashless Strategy. The plan is to make it easy and normal for tourists to pay digitally from the moment they book flights to the moment they check out, so a Dubai trip feels seamless without a single currency exchange.

The agreements were signed by Emirates deputy president and CCO Adnan Kazim and flydubai CCO Hamad Obaidalla, with Ahmad Ali Meftah, executive director of the Central Accounts Sector at Dubai Finance, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. It is an airline and government handshake designed to turn intent into practice. The partners will swap expertise, run workshops, track adoption trends, and build joint awareness campaigns that nudge visitors toward secure cards and wallets across transport, attractions, shops, and restaurants.

There is a lot of infrastructure already in place. Emirates customers can use 14 payment gateways, and Skywards already works as a fully digital currency for earning and redeeming. Flydubai frames the move as a way to remove friction points for millions who arrive each year. With 18.7 million international visitors recorded in 2024, officials see cash-reliant travellers as the biggest untapped group for digital adoption. The more they tap, the cleaner the experience and the better the data for planning.

Dubai wants more than 90 per cent of transactions across government and private sectors to be cashless by the end of 2026, part of the D33 agenda to push fintech and competitiveness. For you, that means less time at ATMs and more time at the good stuff. Think app check-ins, contactless transport, quick coffee runs, and instant ticketing. The city is betting that a cash-light trip is a better trip, and the airlines are now part of that welcome.