The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Finance and Dubai Finance announced that they have completed the country’s first government financial transaction using the Digital Dirham, in collaboration with the Central Bank of the UAE. The transaction was carried out as part of the pilot phase of the Digital Dirham project under the Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme. The pilot transaction was executed through mBridge, the government payments platform used to test operational readiness and technical integration with the Central Bank’s systems, and was completed in less than two minutes. The Central Bank described mBridge as a multi-central bank digital currency platform integrated with the Digital Dirham initiative that provides a unified channel for issuing, receiving, and settling government payments digitally without intermediaries, with intended benefits including faster settlement, reduced operational costs, and improved transparency and accuracy.
Ministry of Finance (United Arab Emirates) 2025-11-11
United Arab Emirates Ministry of Finance and Dubai Finance execute first government transaction using the Digital Dirham via mBridge
The UAE Ministry of Finance and Dubai Finance completed the first government financial transaction using the Digital Dirham with the UAE Central Bank. This pilot, part of the Digital Dirham project under the Central Bank’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme, was executed through mBridge, a multi-central bank digital currency platform. The initiative aims to enhance settlement speed, reduce operational costs, and improve transparency and accuracy in government payments.