Overview
- Multiple news outlets and business sources reported in recent weeks that some bank transfers and electronic payments from Saudi accounts to UAE recipients were returned or held without clear explanation.
- Saudi Arabia’s central bank has said it has not ordered country-specific bans and that banks apply risk-based controls to all transactions to protect the financial system.
- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank reported a separate technology disruption affecting mobile payments that it has since resolved, a development regulators and banks say could explain some but not all reported cases.
- Companies and individuals have responded by routing payments through third countries, carrying cash for transfers, and experiencing slower cross-border trade logistics at key land crossings.
- The episode revived broader political and economic tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi over trade, Yemen and the UAE’s exit from OPEC, and it could prompt firms to shift payment routes or relocate regional operations if uncertainty persists.