In January 2026, transfers via the UAE’s money transfer system, governed by the Central Bank of the UAE, surpassed 2 trillion dirhams, marking the highest monthly transfer rate in eight years, according to banking indicators released by the Central Bank.
Data from the Central Bank illustrated that the total transfers at the beginning of the year were approximately 300 billion dirhams higher, reflecting an annual growth rate of nearly 23% compared to the transfers recorded during the same timeframe in 2025.
Notably, interbank transfers constituted the largest portion of the total transfers in January, accounting for 60% with a value close to 1.2 trillion dirhams, which represents a 16% increase of over 100 billion dirhams compared to January 2025.
In contrast, individual transfers made up 40% of the overall transfers for January, amounting to over 864 billion dirhams, demonstrating a growth of more than 200 billion dirhams, equivalent to an increase of over 30% compared to January 2025. Additionally, the Central Bank indicated that the banking sector experienced the clearing of nearly 2 million checks during January 2026, with a total value exceeding 125.19 billion dirhams.
The UAE Financial Transfer System (UAEFTS) is the primary transfer system developed by the Central Bank of the UAE since August 2001, facilitating instant money transfers among participating entities.
On another note, investments by banks operating in the UAE increased by 2% month-on-month, amounting to 16.9 billion dirhams in January 2026, bringing the total to 872.3 billion dirhams by the end of the month. Yearly growth reached 17.4% compared to January 2025, as per the banking indicators from the Central Bank. The data revealed that banks’ investments in securities, representing debts to others, or “debt securities,” rose to 418.6 billion dirhams by the end of January, achieving an annual growth of 26% and a monthly increase of 3.1%.
Furthermore, bonds held to maturity saw an annual increase of 10.5% and a monthly rise of 0.8%, reaching 371.1 billion dirhams, while bank investments in equities rose by 31.9% annually and 3.3% monthly, totaling 25.2 billion dirhams. Other investments recorded a monthly increase of 0.9%, culminating in 57.4 billion dirhams by the end of January.