The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) held a meeting with bank chief executive officers, alongside the Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation, to discuss key regulatory and legislative developments and to review strategic initiatives affecting the future direction of the banking sector, with a focus on payments modernisation and digital transformation. The CBUAE assessed implementation progress for the domestic card scheme Jaywan, under which licensed financial institutions will issue Jaywan cards in debit, prepaid and credit formats, either as mono-badge cards or co-badged in partnership with international payment schemes. The discussions also covered payment system performance indicators, system resilience and the readiness of strategic initiatives supporting financial infrastructure, including the CBUAE’s digital projects under the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme. In addition, participants discussed the banking sector’s role in the UAE’s Islamic Finance and Halal Industry Strategy, including initiatives linked to developing the sukuk market and Islamic capital markets.