Credit and Debit Cards in UAE: My 3-Year Reality Check

I landed at Dubai International in September 2021 with two cards in my wallet: a Chase Sapphire from the US and a Revolut card I got specifically for travel. I thought I was prepared. Within 48 hours, I learned how wrong I was.

Three and a half years later, I've probably made every card-related mistake possible in this country. So here's what actually works, what doesn't, and what I wish I'd known from day one.

The Good News: Cards Work Almost Everywhere

Let me start with the positive. UAE is genuinely card-friendly. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I'd estimate 90-95% of places accept cards. Every mall, every chain restaurant, every supermarket, every hotel - cards work fine. If you're just visiting for a week and sticking to tourist areas, your Visa or Mastercard will handle most situations.

Contactless payments are the norm here. I can't remember the last time I actually inserted my card chip somewhere. Tap-to-pay works at everything from Carrefour to the tiny coffee shop in my building's lobby.

The Fees Nobody Warned Me About

Here's where it gets interesting. My first month in Dubai cost me about AED 200 more than it should have. Why? Foreign transaction fees.

Most international cards charge 1-3% on every purchase made in a foreign currency. That doesn't sound like much until you're buying groceries, paying for petrol, eating out, and suddenly 2.5% of everything adds up to a meaningful amount.

I tracked my spending for one month: AED 8,400. That 2.5% foreign transaction fee meant AED 210 disappeared into bank charges alone.

The solution? Get a local UAE bank account. I know it sounds obvious in retrospect, but many expats put this off for months. Don't. The process takes about a week, and banks like Emirates NBD, ADCB, and Mashreq all have decent options for residents.

What About Dynamic Currency Conversion?

This is the trap. When you pay somewhere, the terminal might ask if you want to pay in your home currency instead of AED. It sounds convenient - "Pay in USD" or "Pay in GBP" - but the exchange rate they use is typically 3-5% worse than your bank's rate.

Always, always choose to pay in AED. Let your own bank do the conversion. I learned this the hard way at a hotel restaurant when I absentmindedly clicked "Yes" to pay in dollars. That dinner cost me an extra $15 I didn't need to spend.

Cards That Work Best Here

After trying various options, here's my breakdown:

Credit Cards in UAE: A Quick Warning

If you're moving here and want a local credit card, be prepared for different rules. UAE credit cards often come with:

• High minimum income requirements - Usually AED 5,000-15,000/month minimum salary
• Annual fees - Many cards have AED 300-500 yearly fees
• Different rewards structures - Points here often work differently than US/UK cards
• Salary transfer requirements - Some banks require your salary to be deposited with them

That said, UAE credit cards can offer genuine value. The Emirates NBD credit cards offer good cashback on local spending, and some give you airport lounge access which is genuinely useful if you fly regionally.

Where Cards Fail (Yes, This Still Happens)

Despite being 2025, there are still places where your fancy platinum card is useless:

• Older parking machines - The RTA has upgraded most, but some older ones in residential areas still take only coins
• Small cafeterias - The "kafeterias" serving cheap biryani and chai often don't have card machines
• Deira and Old Dubai markets - Gold Souk, Spice Souk, many textile shops prefer cash
• Some petrol stations - Not ADNOC or ENOC, but smaller independent stations sometimes
• Certain government fees - Immigration paperwork, some municipality fees - often cash or specific payment methods

The frustrating part is it's unpredictable. I once tried to pay for AED 12 worth of manakeesh (Lebanese flatbread) at a place I'd been to before - their card machine was "broken." Spoiler: it wasn't broken, they just preferred cash that day.

The Minimum Purchase Trap

Some smaller shops will tell you there's a minimum purchase for card payments - usually AED 20-30. This isn't officially allowed by Visa/Mastercard merchant agreements, but it happens constantly. You can argue, or you can just carry a small amount of cash and avoid the hassle. I choose the latter.

ATM Withdrawals: What I've Learned

If you need cash and don't have a local account, use ATMs from major banks: Emirates NBD, ADCB, FAB, Mashreq, or ENBD. They're reliable and widely available.

Avoid:

• Airport ATMs (terrible exchange rates)
• ATMs inside money exchanges (fees are usually higher)
• Any ATM that offers to convert to your home currency (same DCC trap mentioned earlier)

My card of choice for emergency ATM withdrawals when I had no local account was the Wise card - it uses the real exchange rate and charges minimal fees.

My Current Setup After 3+ Years

Here's exactly what I carry now:

1. Emirates NBD debit card - Primary card for everything local. No fees, works everywhere, linked to Apple Pay.
2. Emirates NBD credit card - For the cashback on groceries and petrol, plus the occasional big purchase where I want the credit card protection.
3. Wise card - For international purchases, online shopping from overseas sites, and when I travel outside UAE.
4. AED 100-200 in cash - For the random situations where nothing else works.

This combination has covered every situation I've encountered. Could I survive with just the local debit card and some cash? Absolutely. But having options gives peace of mind.

Related Reading

Want to know more about the cash side of things? Check out my guide on when you still need cash in UAE. And if you're ready to ditch physical cards entirely, here's everything about digital wallets and mobile payments in the Emirates.