Which banks in the Gulf and MENA offer a card?

A card is where the UAE retail apps win. Wio Bank issues a Mastercard that switches between debit and credit plus unlimited virtual cards, ruya a free Mastercard debit that works abroad with Apple, Google and Samsung Pay, RAKBank a free Titanium Debit Mastercard, and Liv a free Visa debit plus cashback credit cards, all for UAE residents. AMINA Bank's Gold and Platinum credit cards through Viseca come with paid packages, and its ADGM branch is not permitted to serve retail clients. Singapore Gulf Bank scores partial but its own pages say no debit or credit card is offered, while Standard Chartered DIFC and Zand Bank fail outright: one is an institutional desk with no card, the other issues no card to account holders and only sponsors card programmes for other fintechs.

The banks that pass

BankScoreTypeHealthP2PVerdict
AMINA Bank15/16Crypto-nativeSolidnoneYes, but only for professional clients and companies. Individuals need CHF 500,000 in assets plus finance experience, or CHF 2 million.
RAKBank8/16TraditionalSolidnoneYes. Crypto trading is built into the app, but it is a closed loop run by Bitpanda, and exchange transfer rules are not published.
Liv · Emirates NBD7/16NeobankSolidnoneYes for buying and holding crypto inside the app. Coins stay with the custodian, and there is no published route to an external wallet.
Wio Bank6/16NeobankSolidnoneYes for buying and selling crypto inside the app. No published policy on transfers to outside exchanges.
ruya6/16NeobankUnknownnoneYes for buying and selling Bitcoin inside the app, but it is a closed loop with no withdrawals to your own wallet.

Click a column to sort. Health is our tag. P2P is community-reported and separate from the score.

Bank by bank

AMINA Bank 15 of 16 · card: yes
Allowed: Gold and Platinum credit cards on Visa or Mastercard through Viseca, free with the Gold or Platinum package
Watch out: No card on the free Silver package. Cards come with Gold (CHF 480 a year) or Platinum (CHF 1,000 a month)
RAKBank 8 of 16 · card: yes
Allowed: Free Titanium Debit Mastercard with the standard current account
Liv · Emirates NBD 7 of 16 · card: yes
Allowed: Buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, Cardano and XRP inside the Liv X app, live since 5 March 2025
Wio Bank 6 of 16 · card: yes
Allowed: One Mastercard that switches between debit and credit, plus unlimited virtual cards
ruya 6 of 16 · card: yes
Allowed: Free Mastercard debit card that works abroad, with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
Watch out: No published policy on fiat transfers to or from crypto exchanges. Card use is limited to transactions legal in the UAE and compliant with Shari'ah

Questions people ask

Which Gulf bank gives me a card and lets me buy crypto in the same app?

Wio Bank, ruya, RAKBank and Liv, all for UAE residents. Wio's Mastercard switches between debit and credit, RAKBank's Titanium Debit Mastercard and Liv's Visa debit are free, and ruya's Mastercard debit works abroad with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. In every case the crypto stays inside the app, executed by Fuze, Bitpanda or Aquanow, with no withdrawal to your own wallet.

Does AMINA Bank's Abu Dhabi branch issue a card?

AMINA's Gold and Platinum credit cards, Visa or Mastercard through Viseca, come with the Gold package at CHF 480 a year or Platinum at CHF 1,000 a month, not with the free Silver tier. The ADGM branch is not permitted to deal with retail clients, so you need professional status first. Singapore Gulf Bank in Bahrain has no card at all, and its personal accounts hold USD only.

Up to the full list

Crypto-friendly banks in the Gulf and MENA (8)

Same region, other tests

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A card elsewhere

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