Is Embedded Finance the Future of UAE SMEs?

For many small and medium businesses in the UAE, managing cash flow is often harder than finding customers. Sales may be steady, but access to working capital can still be slow, complicated, and paperwork-heavy. A new partnership between NEO PAY and CredibleX is aiming to make that process simpler and more connected to how businesses actually operate.

NEO PAY, a UAE-based digital payments and merchant solutions provider, has announced a strategic collaboration with CredibleX, a licensed embedded financing lender. The goal is to improve how SMEs across the country access working capital by linking financing directly to their payment activity.

Instead of treating payments and lending as two separate processes, the partnership brings them together inside NEO PAY’s existing payments ecosystem. For merchants using NEO PAY’s Point of Sale and eCommerce tools, financing will now be based on real transaction data rather than lengthy manual assessments. In practical terms, this means businesses can be evaluated using their real-time revenue streams, helping reduce approval timelines and simplify credit decisions.

For SME owners, this approach reflects how businesses actually run day to day. Sales fluctuate, seasons change, and cash flow doesn’t always follow a fixed pattern. By using transaction data from NEO PAY’s platform, CredibleX can structure financing around a merchant’s sales cycle, making repayments more aligned with performance instead of fixed assumptions.

Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of NEO PAY, said the collaboration is about combining payments and lending into one system that works more intelligently for businesses. According to him, bringing both together helps redefine how SMEs access capital and supports more sustainable growth across the UAE.

From CredibleX’s side, the focus remains on making financing easier to reach. Ahmad Malik, Co-Founder of CredibleX, noted that integrating with NEO PAY’s payment infrastructure allows working capital to be delivered in a faster and more practical way for merchants who need it to run and grow their operations.

The experience for merchants is designed to stay fully digital. Instead of navigating separate platforms, businesses can access financing options directly through their existing NEO PAY setup. Using CredibleX’s scoring engine, funding is tailored to each merchant’s cash flow profile, with flexible repayment structures that reflect actual sales performance.

For many SMEs, access to timely capital can mean the difference between delaying growth and taking the next step — whether that’s restocking inventory, covering operational costs, or expanding into new markets. By embedding financing into everyday payment activity, NEO PAY and CredibleX are trying to reduce friction between earning revenue and accessing funds.

Rather than positioning financing as a separate product, the partnership frames it as part of the daily business toolkit. In doing so, both companies are working toward a more connected, digital-first approach that supports entrepreneurship and financial inclusion across the UAE’s SME sector.