Payment gateway issue in uae

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment
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Topic summary

A UAE-based entrepreneur is planning to launch a dropshipping store targeting both local and international customers but hasn’t yet registered a business entity.

Main Challenge:

  • Unable to set up Shopify Payments without company registration
  • Seeking alternative payment gateway options that don’t require business licenses

Request:
Looking for current, verified recommendations on third-party payment providers that accept payments without formal business registration in the UAE.

Status: The discussion remains open with no responses yet. The user needs practical guidance on payment solutions available for unregistered businesses operating in the UAE market.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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hi everyone!

i’m based in uae and willing to sell in in uae as well internationally as dropshiping.

Since I haven’t yet registered the company, I’m having trouble setting up Shopify payments. & if there can you help me choose which one payment provider doesn’t need business registration or license to accept payment please I need Updated information which work currently.

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Stripe is available in UAE, but native Shopify Checkout does not support multi-currency, so you need to have a third party Shopify Stripe Checkout solution to accept multi-currency payments with your Stripe account for your Shopify.

With this LinkedIn solution you can accept payments with all payment methods supported by your Stripe account and it also supports multi-currency.

4 Likes
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Hey pal @Meriam1 !

In the UAE it’s very hard to use a proper card payment gateway without some kind of trade / business licence.

A few points that might help:

  • Shopify Payments isn’t available in the UAE yet, so you have to use a third-party provider: Link

  • Under UAE regulations, most reputable gateways (Stripe, PayTabs, Telr, Checkout.com, Tap, etc.) are required to KYC you and will normally ask for a trade licence + local bank account before they’ll enable live payments: Link

Some people mention that providers like PayTabs, Telr or Checkout.com may have options for very small / unregistered businesses, but this changes often and depends on your exact situation. The safest thing is to:

  1. Go to Settings → Payments → “See all providers” in your Shopify admin and filter by “United Arab Emirates”.
  2. Make a short list (for example Stripe, PayTabs, Telr, Checkout.com, Tap Payments, Ziina, PayPal).
  3. Contact each one and ask directly: “Can I open an account and connect to Shopify without a UAE trade licence yet? If yes, what documents do you need?”

Not legal advice of course, just sharing how it typically works here.

Hope this helps!