Founded in January 2020, Ziina began as a consumer peer-to-peer bill-splitting app before expanding into business payments. The Dubai-based company is a Y Combinator alumnus and has raised over $30 million in total, including a $22 million Series A in September 2024 led by Altos Ventures, with co-investors including Activant Capital, Avenir, and FJ Labs.
In August 2024, Ziina became the first venture-backed UAE startup to receive a Stored Value Facility (SVF) licence from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), licence number F006737. Today, Ziina serves approximately 50,000 retail and business customers and processes around AED 1.1 billion in annualised transaction volume.
Core products include:
Mamo is a DFSA-regulated payment and business finance platform based in the DIFC, Dubai. It is built for UAE SMEs that need more than a payment link, combining payment collection, corporate cards, expense management, and global payouts in a single regulated platform.
Core products include:
Mamo offers two plans: Growth (2.9% + AED 1.00, no monthly fee) and Premium (2.7% + AED 0.80, AED 99/month).
| Fee Type | Mamo Premium | Mamo Growth | Ziina |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard rate | 2.7% + AED 0.80 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 | 2.6% + AED 1.00 |
| E-commerce gateway | 2.7% + AED 0.80 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 |
| Monthly fee | AED 99/month | AED 0 | AED 0 |
All Ziina fees are subject to +5% VAT as stated on ziina.com/fees (updated 6 January 2026).
On headline percentage, Ziina's 2.6% is slightly lower than Mamo Premium's 2.7%. However, Ziina's fixed fee (AED 1.00) is higher than Mamo Premium's (AED 0.80). The actual net cost depends on your average transaction size. Below roughly AED 200 per transaction, Mamo Premium is cheaper; above that level, Ziina's lower percentage makes it marginally cheaper.
Worked example at AED 500:
Yes. Ziina adds a +1.5% surcharge on international cards or non-AED currency transactions, on top of its base rate. For a business collecting from international customers, a DIFC consultancy, a cross-border e-commerce store, or a SaaS product billed in USD, this surcharge is material at volume. Mamo does not advertise an equivalent surcharge; confirm directly with Mamo for your specific use case.
| Settlement | Mamo Premium | Mamo Growth | Ziina |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2–5 business days | 2–5 business days | 1–2 business days |
| Accelerated | +0.5% additional fee | +0.75% additional fee | 24h (eligible users) |
| Cash-out to bank | — | — | Free until 1 Nov 2026; AED 1/withdrawal after |
Ziina's standard 1–2 business day settlement is faster than Mamo's standard 2–5 business days. Mamo does offer same-day settlement, but it carries an early access fee of +0.5% (Premium) or +0.75% (Growth). It is not free or included by default in either plan.
Both Mamo and Ziina are regulated in the UAE, but under distinct frameworks:
Neither licence is inherently superior, they serve different jurisdictions and business structures. The DFSA is widely recognised as a high-standard international regulator for financial services, particularly for businesses operating within the DIFC ecosystem. The CBUAE SVF licence covers a broad range of consumer and business digital payment use cases across mainland UAE. If your business operates in a regulatory-sensitive sector or has specific compliance requirements, consult your legal or compliance team about which framework best aligns with your structure.
| Payment Method | Mamo | Ziina |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mastercard | ✓ | ✓ |
| Amex | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple Pay | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Pay | ✓ | ✓ |
| Jaywan (UAE local debit) | ✓ | ✗ |
| mada (Saudi debit) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tabby (BNPL) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open Finance (bank-to-bank) | ✗ | ✓ |
Mamo's support for Jaywan (the UAE national debit card network), mada, and Tabby (buy now, pay later) is a meaningful advantage for businesses serving UAE and Saudi residents who prefer local payment methods or want to split payments into instalments. Ziina's Open Finance integration, launched January 2026 via Lean Technologies, enables direct bank-to-bank transfers, a UAE first among payment platforms at that time.
Ziina, clearly. ZiiBoard is a custom keyboard that business owners install on their device, allowing them to send payment request links directly inside WhatsApp and Instagram conversations, without switching apps. For social sellers, service providers, and freelancers who close deals in DMs, this is a genuine and differentiating workflow advantage.
Mamo does not currently offer an equivalent in-chat payment keyboard.
Mamo, by a substantial margin. This is the most significant functional gap between the two platforms for growing businesses.
| Feature | Mamo | Ziina |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate card issuance | ✓ Multi-card for teams | ✓ Single Visa digital card only (Oct 2025) |
| Per-card spend controls | ✓ | ✗ |
| Approval workflows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Receipt capture | ✓ | ✗ |
| Accounting integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Card cashback | 0.5% AED / 2% non-AED (up to 8% promotional) | — |
| Global payouts | ✓ | ✗ |
Ziina launched a Visa digital card in October 2025, enabling users to spend their wallet balance, a useful feature for the individual business owner. However, it is a single card and does not include multi-card issuance, spend limits, approval workflows, or accounting integrations.
Mamo's corporate Mamo Cards are designed for teams: multiple cards with individual spend limits, approval workflows, receipt capture, accounting integrations, and cashback of up to 0.5% on AED (unlimited) spend and up to 2% on non-AED (unlimited) spend, with promotional rates up to 8%.
| Feature | Mamo Premium | Mamo Growth | Ziina |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard rate | 2.7% + AED 0.80 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 | 2.6% + AED 1.00 |
| E-commerce gateway | 2.7% + AED 0.80 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 | 2.9% + AED 1.00 |
| International surcharge | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | +1.5% |
| Monthly fee | AED 99/month | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Standard settlement | 2–5 business days | 2–5 business days | 1–2 business days |
| Same-day settlement | +0.5% additional | +0.75% additional | 24h (eligible users) |
| Regulation | DFSA (DIFC) | DFSA (DIFC) | CBUAE SVF |
| Jaywan / mada | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| BNPL (Tabby) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open Finance | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| In-chat payments (ZiiBoard) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tap to Pay | — | — | ✓ (Apr 2025) |
| Multi-card corporate cards | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Expense management | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Card cashback | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Global payouts | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Ziina is the stronger choice if you are:
Ziina may not be the right fit if you:
Give your team corporate cards with spend limits, on the same account you get paid on.
Mamo is the right platform if you are:
If you have outgrown a basic payment link tool and need a complete business finance platform where payments, cards, and expense management live in one regulated place, Mamo is purpose-built for that stage.
Yes. Ziina holds CBUAE Stored Value Facility licence F006737, obtained in August 2024, making it the first venture-backed UAE startup to receive this licence. It is a fully regulated, well-funded payment platform with strong product design, particularly for social commerce.
Yes. Mamo is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in the DIFC, one of the most rigorous financial regulators in the region, operating under an internationally recognised framework.
For standard transactions, Ziina's 2.6% + AED 1.00 is slightly lower in percentage than Mamo Premium's 2.7% + AED 0.80, but Ziina has a higher fixed fee (AED 1.00 vs AED 0.80). At transaction sizes above roughly AED 200, Ziina is marginally cheaper (before Mamo Premium's AED 99 monthly fee). Ziina also adds +1.5% on international cards. For e-commerce gateways, both Ziina and Mamo Growth charge 2.9% + AED 1.00.
No. Ziina charges no monthly fee for business accounts. Mamo's Growth plan has no monthly fee; its Premium plan costs AED 99/month.
No. As of October 2026, Ziina does not offer approval workflows, receipt capture, multi-card issuance with spend controls, or accounting integrations. For businesses that need expense management alongside payments, Mamo is the more complete solution.
No. Same-day settlement at Mamo is an early access feature that requires an additional fee of +0.5% for Premium plan users and +0.75% for Growth plan users. It is not a standard or included feature.
Mamo supports a broader set of payment methods for UAE and regional customers, including Jaywan (UAE national debit), mada (Saudi debit), and Tabby (BNPL), in addition to Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Ziina supports Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Open Finance bank-to-bank payments.
Choose Ziina if you sell solo, mostly through social channels, and value 1 to 2 day settlement with no monthly fee.
Choose Mamo once you have a team or international customers. You get unlimited corporate cards with spend controls, Jaywan and Tabby at checkout, and international cards at 3.2% + AED 0.80 on Premium instead of 4.1% + AED 1.
Mamo Premium charges 3.2% + AED 0.80 on international cards, against Ziina's 4.1% + AED 1.
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