Al Etihad Payments Appoints Former Al Hilal Bank Digital Chief Aref Al Ramli as CEO

Al Ramli has more than 24 years of experience in financial services. He joins from Al Hilal Bank, where he was Chief Digital Officer. He was previously chief executive of Emirates Digital Wallet, a payments initiative involving 16 banks that aimed to widen financial inclusion and support the UAE's move towards a cashless economy.

Before that, he ran digital banking and innovation at Mashreq, where he oversaw the launch of the digital banks Mashreq Neo and Mashreq NeoBiz. From 2017 to 2020 he chaired the UAE Banks Federation's Digital Committee, working with banks, the central bank and government entities.

At AEP he will oversee the development of the UAE's national payment infrastructure, with a focus on getting more people to use it. He will work with financial institutions and payment service providers to spread AEP's platforms across the country.

According to the report, AEP's instant payment platform Aani had 14.7 million enrolled users in 2026 and processed more than 192 million transactions worth AED 545 billion. Earlier this year AEP began issuing Jaywan, the UAE's domestic card scheme, through financial institutions. It has also announced partnerships with Mastercard and UnionPay International.

"My ambition is for AEP's platforms to become a natural part of how people and businesses across the UAE pay every day," Al Ramli said. He added that this would require reliable infrastructure, strong partnerships with financial institutions, and "services that give customers a clear reason to use them."

The appointment puts an executive with a consumer digital banking background in charge of AEP as it moves from building the systems to getting them widely used. National payment rails such as Aani and Jaywan compete for transactions with established international card networks and private wallets. Their success depends on whether banks and merchants build them into everyday products. Al Ramli said his priority would be to help financial institutions turn AEP's capabilities into services that meet customer needs.