For shops, cafés, clinics and venues
A shop, café or clinic taking cards at the counter
The short answer
A shop, café or clinic takes cards at the counter through a merchant agreement with a licensed acquirer, which reviews the business, prices it and settles card takings to the company's own bank account. We prepare that application from your corporate file, make the business ready for the review, and coordinate the terminal, the settlement account and the go-live; the acquirer decides.
A card terminal is not bought; it comes with a merchant agreement with a licensed acquirer. The acquirer that provides it is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE for retail payment services, carries out its own due diligence on the business and its owners, prices the merchant after that review and settles card takings to an account in the company's name. The application is therefore a corporate-file exercise before it is a hardware choice: the trade licence and its activity, the owners' identification, the settlement account and, for a clinic or a venue, the approvals the activity itself needs.
Where an application stalls, it is almost always the file rather than the business: an activity on the licence that does not match what is sold over the counter, a settlement account not yet open, or an owner's documents that do not line up with the register. Those are the things we put right before the acquirer sees them.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- The acquirer's terminal, gateway and transaction charges are in its merchant agreement; the VelaroZone service fee for the application and go-live is itemised in your engagement letter.
- Timing
- Readiness and the application in days once the licence and the settlement account exist; the acquirer's review runs on its own clock.
- What's included
- The merchant application prepared from your file
- The settlement account and the licence activity checked first
- Coordination through the review to go-live
This is for you if
- You run a retail shop, a café or restaurant, a clinic, a salon, a gym or a venue and take payment in person.
- Your customers expect to tap a card or a phone, and cash-only is costing you sales.
- You want the terminal, the settlement and the reconciliation to arrive together, not from three suppliers.
- Your licence is issued, or is being issued with us, and the bank account is open or in progress.
This may not be the right route if
- You sell only online — the checkout page is the right starting point.
- You want a rate quoted before the acquirer has reviewed the business; the acquirer sets it, not us.
- The business has no UAE licence and no settlement account and does not intend to have either.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- The acquirer's terminal, gateway and transaction charges are in its merchant agreement; the VelaroZone service fee for the application and go-live is itemised in your engagement letter.
- Timing
- Readiness and the application in days once the licence and the settlement account exist; the acquirer's review runs on its own clock.
- What's included
- The merchant application prepared from your file
- The settlement account and the licence activity checked first
- Coordination through the review to go-live
What this service includes
- The merchant application prepared from your corporate file, with the documents in the acquirer's order.
- A readiness check on the licence activity, the settlement account and the premises before the acquirer sees them.
- Coordination of the acquirer's questions through its review to go-live.
- The terminal, the settlement cycle, reserves and the dispute process explained before you sign the merchant agreement.
- One point of contact across the acquirer, the bank and the licence.
What it does not include
- The acquirer's decision, its pricing or its timeline, which are the acquirer's alone.
- Terminal rental, gateway and transaction charges, which are set out in the acquirer's merchant agreement.
- Any premises, health or activity approval the authority requires for the business itself; we say which applies and coordinate it under its own scope.
Process
How the work is sequenced
Each stage has its own dependencies — activity approvals, document legalisation, authority processing, and bank review — and we report progress against them rather than against one overall date.
- 01
Readiness
Licence activity, settlement account, owners' documents and premises checked against what the acquirer will ask.
- 02
Application
The merchant application prepared and lodged with the acquirer.
- 03
Review
The acquirer's due diligence and underwriting; its questions answered with you as they come.
Online store or payment links as well? The same merchant file carries them.
Prefer to start in writing? Send the details through the contact form.
Start with a structure assessment
In an initial consultation you receive a plain-language decision summary, a document-preparation list, and the next actions for your situation. Current figures are confirmed within your adviser-reviewed route comparison.
What the acquirer looks at
The counter business through the acquirer's eyes
The review is the same for a café and a clinic; what differs is which line carries the weight.
What an acquirer reviews on a counter merchant, and what we prepare for each.
Licence and activity
- What the acquirer asks
- Does the licensed activity match what is sold at the counter?
- What we prepare
- The licence, the activity list and, where they diverge, the amendment first
Owners
- What the acquirer asks
- Who owns and controls the company, and are their documents current?
- What we prepare
- Identification and the ownership chain from the register, in the order the acquirer reads them
Settlement account
- What the acquirer asks
- Is there a corporate account in the company's name to settle to?
- What we prepare
- The account, or the bank-readiness work that opens it first
The premises
- What the acquirer asks
- Where is the terminal used, and does the lease match the licence?
- What we prepare
- The tenancy contract and the premises approval where the activity needs one
Category and volume
- What the acquirer asks
- What is sold, at what ticket size, and how much per month?
- What we prepare
- A plain statement of the business, so the category and the pricing are set on facts
Disputes
- What the acquirer asks
- How will refunds and chargebacks be handled?
- What we prepare
- A written refund policy, displayed where the customer pays
| Question | What the acquirer asks | What we prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and activity | Does the licensed activity match what is sold at the counter? | The licence, the activity list and, where they diverge, the amendment first |
| Owners | Who owns and controls the company, and are their documents current? | Identification and the ownership chain from the register, in the order the acquirer reads them |
| Settlement account | Is there a corporate account in the company's name to settle to? | The account, or the bank-readiness work that opens it first |
| The premises | Where is the terminal used, and does the lease match the licence? | The tenancy contract and the premises approval where the activity needs one |
| Category and volume | What is sold, at what ticket size, and how much per month? | A plain statement of the business, so the category and the pricing are set on facts |
| Disputes | How will refunds and chargebacks be handled? | A written refund policy, displayed where the customer pays |
The service
Card payments: POS machines, payment links and online checkout
The service page sets out the channels, the indicative rates and how the arranged acquiring compares with Stripe, Ziina and Checkout.com.
See the card-payments service
Every route is planned against how the business will actually operate in the UAE.
Short answers
The approval a clinic or a venue needs before the terminal
Some activities need an authority's approval beyond the licence, and the acquirer expects to see it.
After the licence
What you may also need
The four services most founders in this situation ask about next, each on its own page.
Visas & PRO services
Residence visas for owners, staff and family, Emirates ID and medicals, and the PRO work that keeps a licence and its people in good standing. Eligibility and approval stay with the authority.
→UAE bank account setup
A bank-ready file and an introduction to the bank whose appetite matches your profile. Approval and timing stay with the bank.
→Accounting & bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping, VAT and corporate-tax filings, and year-end accounts, with statutory audit referred to a registered auditor.
→Legal services
Contracts, corporate documents, disputes and regulatory matters, advised by licensed law firms from our network.
→
Questions
Frequently asked
- Can I get a terminal before the bank account is open?
- Acquirers settle card takings to an account in the company's name, so the settlement account is normally a condition of the merchant agreement. Where the account is still in progress we run the two files together, so the terminal is not the last thing waiting.
- What will the rate be?
- The acquirer prices the merchant after its review of the business — category, ticket size, volume and history all move it. The card-payments page carries the indicative rate on the arranged acquiring; nothing is final until the merchant agreement says so.
- Does a clinic need anything a café does not?
- The licensed activity and the premises approval. A clinic's activity is approved by the health authority as well as the licensing authority, and the acquirer will expect the licence to show it. We check that before the application is lodged.
- What happens on a chargeback?
- The cardholder's bank raises the dispute through the scheme; the acquirer notifies the merchant, asks for evidence and applies its dispute process and fees under the merchant agreement. A clear refund policy, displayed where the customer pays, is the best protection and is part of the readiness work.
- Can the same merchant file take payment links and online orders later?
- Usually, on the same merchant agreement, subject to the acquirer's review of the new channel. The application is prepared with that in mind, so adding a link or a checkout later is an amendment rather than a new file.
Sources
- Central Bank of the UAE — the UAE banking and payments regulator
- CBUAE — customer due diligence standards
- UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism — establishing companies
Regulations, fees, and eligibility can change. Every regulatory statement is re-checked before publication and dated above.
Legal notes and scope
Velarozone provides setup and operational-readiness coordination. This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice.
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.
Acquiring is provided by a licensed acquirer under its own merchant agreement. The acquirer decides whether to onboard a merchant, sets its pricing after its review and may decline or restrict an application. Velarozone prepares and coordinates and never guarantees an outcome, a rate or a date.