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First digital payment platform for UAE tenants and landlords launched

Collaboration delivers long-awaited solution to the traditional post-dated cheque system

In a significant boost to digital payments in the UAE, Direct Debit System, the UAE’s first paperless direct debit marketplace, has partnered with Keyper, a leading venture capital-backed, technology-enabled property management platform, to launch the first digital rental payments platform accessible to all tenants and landlords in the UAE.

The collaboration delivers a long-awaited solution to the traditional post-dated cheque (PDC) based transactions, enabling property owners to receive payments of rent digitally.

Direct Debit System facilitates automatic rent deductions from tenants’ bank accounts under pre-agreed conditions, mirroring the functionality of PDCs. The technology eliminates the error-prone system of cheque acceptance, management and processing, and aligns seamlessly with the strategic directives of the UAE Central Bank and the UAE Government to transition towards modern payment methods.

As part of the launch, Keyper is embedding its rent facilitation services (Rent Now Pay Later) into the rental process, which offers tenants the flexibility to make monthly digital payments while ensuring landlords can receive payments upfront. This shift towards digital payments is poised to significantly enhance the rental experience for both landlords and tenants, in addition to reducing the operational costs associated with rent payment processing. This initiative is especially beneficial for non-resident property investors in Dubai, providing them with a seamless avenue to lease their properties and receive payments digitally, anywhere in the world.

Despite the rapid advancement in digital solutions and numerous initiatives aimed at encouraging uptake, the adoption of digital rent payments has been slow, with 95 per cent of tenants still paying with cheques. This new collaboration specifically caters to the needs of individual and small-to-medium landlords that now represent the majority of property rentals in Dubai.

Omar Abu Innab, co-founder and CEO of Keyper, said: “Cheques are a relic of the past. The need for our solution has been evident, as all stakeholders in the ecosystem are dissatisfied with cheques but lacked a viable alternative that preserved the functionality and the security of cheques without adding significant friction. Embedding direct debit into our service will help numerous landlords in the UAE who have multiple assignment of receivables and loans from banks against their properties.”

Ummair Butt, CEO of Direct Debit System, added :“Collaborating with Keyper allows us to expand our reach and contribute to the digital transformation of the rental market in the UAE, aligning it with other comparable global cities. Together, we are setting a new standard for the entire rental market, making the process more efficient, secure, and user-friendly.”