Mastercard has partnered with LiaPay, a payroll and employee financial services app operated by fintech company Liabify, to introduce Mastercard prepaid cards for salaried workers across four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. The partnership aims to give employees faster and more secure access to their wages while expanding their ability to make everyday digital payments.
The initiative combines LiaPay’s payroll-integrated earned wage access (EWA) and digital wallet services with Mastercard’s payment network. Aligned with local Wage Protection Systems (WPS) and supported by regulated financial institutions, the platform allows employees to access a portion of the salary they have already earned before payday, without relying on traditional credit.
Through the partnership, eligible workers will receive Mastercard Platinum prepaid cards linked to the LiaPay app. The cards will enable payments in physical stores, online transactions and cross-border remittances wherever Mastercard is accepted, with built-in authentication and fraud protection.
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The initial rollout is planned for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, followed by expansion into Saudi Arabia and Oman. The companies also plan to introduce a loyalty and rewards platform and integrate Mastercard Move, Mastercard’s money movement technology, to support additional payment and transfer services.
Mastercard said the agreement marks its entry into the payroll and earned wage access segment as a card partner. Muhammad Nana, Senior Vice President of Digital Partnerships for Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) at Mastercard, said the collaboration would combine the company’s global payment network and technology with LiaPay’s locally developed solution to improve financial access and security for workers across the GCC.
Liabify co-founder and CEO, Dr. Allan Villegas, described the partnership as a significant milestone for the company, saying its goal is to give workers in the Gulf immediate access to wages they have already earned.
The collaboration builds on LiaPay’s existing launch, supported by Mawarid Finance as its BIN sponsor and Paymentology as its payment processor. The company has also secured an agreement with DEEL and Anvin ERP, which is expected to extend its network to more than 200,000 employees.
The partnership comes as LiaPay seeks to build a broader employee financial services ecosystem using payroll as a distribution channel for payments, lending and future remittance services. The companies aim to address the financial needs of millions of workers in the GCC who receive salaries through WPS but have limited access to everyday digital payment services.
The move also supports Mastercard’s wider financial inclusion agenda. The company says it has connected one billion people to the digital economy over the past decade and has pledged to connect and protect another 500 million people and small businesses on their path to financial health by 2030.
