United Arab Emirates
activeNeobank
- HQ
- Dubai
- Fee
- AED 0 if salary ≥ AED 5,000 or spend/balance waivers; else AED 25/mo
Wio
CBUAE bank in Abu Dhabi. Personal and business. Not a free-zone EMI.
Legal entity: Wio Bank PJSC
Tap a star to jump to reviews
7.1Solid
AlternativesFive questions
At a glance
Is it a bank?
Yes — Licensed bank — Wio Bank PJSC (Central Bank of the UAE). Still read the entity on the statement.
If it fails?
Wio Bank PJSC is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE. Eligible deposits follow the UAE scheme for licensed banks — confirm the live CBUAE guarantee cap on the central bank site. This is not a DFSA/FSRA free-zone wallet.
Salary?
Salary-transfer is a named SKU on Wio Personal. Confirm the IBAN / account number you actually receive.
Open from abroad?
Emirates ID / residency is the usual gate. An App Store listing is not proof a tourist can onboard.
Monthly fee
Confirm live tariff in-app — personal and business are different SKUs
Account number
No IBAN-class local rail on this file.
NeoBankDB Verdict
Licence first · score second
7.1
/10 · Solid
Wio Bank PJSC is a Central Bank of the UAE licensed bank, incorporated in Abu Dhabi, sitting at Etihad Airways Centre, 5th floor. That sentence is the review. Liv and Mashreq NEO are digital skins of incumbent banks. Aspire and Airwallex are not CBUAE deposit-takers. Wio is. Personal (save, salary, spend, credit card, family) and business are different SKUs on the same licence. A tourist App Store listing is not an Emirates ID. Eligible deposits follow the UAE scheme for licensed banks — read the live CBUAE cap; this file does not invent one. Keep a second account if you need a non-AED salary rail.
What it is
Wio launched as the UAE’s digital bank project with Abu Dhabi institutional shareholders. The footer on wio.io is unusually clear: Wio Bank PJSC, Abu Dhabi law, CBUAE. Directories still dump it next to crypto cards. Do not.
Best for: UAE residents and onshore firms who want a CBUAE bank, not a free-zone EMI.
Last checked 2026-09-02. Not advice.
What it does well
- +Named CBUAE bank, not a payments firm
- +Personal and business on one group
- +Abu Dhabi onshore address on the footer
- +Salary-transfer SKU exists
What to watch
- −Emirates ID / residency gated
- −Guarantee cap must be read on CBUAE, not the app icon
- −Young bank
- −Tourist onboarding is not the product
Legal entity, not the app icon
Who is behind it
- Legal name
- Wio Bank PJSC
- Offices
- Etihad Airways Centre, 5th Floor, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Who holds the money
The account
- Platforms
- iOS · Android
- Account types
- Personal · Business
- Partner bank
- Wio Bank PJSC
- Minimum balance
- Confirm live
- Lowest monthly fee
- Confirm live tariff
- Who can open
- UAE-resident individuals; onshore / licensed firms for business
- Availability
- United Arab Emirates
- Remote open
- Emirates ID / residency is the usual gate. An App Store listing is not proof a tourist can onboard.
- Onboarding
- Download the Wio Personal or Wio Business app and complete in-app KYC.
- KYC documents
- Emirates ID and live selfie are the usual stack — confirm in-app.
- Salary / payroll
- Salary-transfer is a named SKU on Wio Personal. Confirm the IBAN / account number you actually receive.
- Local rails
- UAE local rails (salary, transfers) on the bank account — not a crypto card.
How money actually moves
- Who holds the cash
- Bank balance
- How money moves
- In-app ledger
- Built for
- Personal · Business
- Settlement
- App-ledger instant; bank rails per corridor
- Freeze risk
- Bank-grade; still not freeze-proof
- Card
- Wio lists a physical card and a virtual card on visa, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. Confirm the live product in the app — a card is not a current account.
Licence first
Safety
Wio Bank PJSC is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE. Eligible deposits follow the UAE scheme for licensed banks — confirm the live CBUAE guarantee cap on the central bank site. This is not a DFSA/FSRA free-zone wallet.
Who holds the money: Wio Bank PJSC
- Central Bank of the UAELicensed bank — Wio Bank PJSC · United Arab Emirates
Fees
- Monthly
- Confirm live tariff in-app — personal and business are different SKUs
- FX markup
- Bank FX — not Wise
- ATM
- Network / plan — confirm live
Features
- –IBAN
- –Fee-free core
- –Multi-currency
- ✓Apple Pay
- ✓Google Pay
- ✓Virtual card
- ✓Physical card
- –Metal card
- –Crypto
- –Stocks
- ✓Business
- –Kids
- –Halal
- CBUAE bank
- Personal + business
- Salary transfer SKU
- Credit card
- Family profiles
Before you tap Sign up
How to open
Step 1
Name the entity
Wio Bank PJSC. CBUAE licensed bank. Not a DFSA or FSRA free-zone wallet, and not Liv.
Step 2
Pass KYC in the right app
Personal and Business are different apps. Emirates ID. A tourist download is not an account.
Step 3
Check the number you get
Salary needs the bank account number Wio issues, not a card PAN. Read the statement footer.
Official help: wio.io/support
Operator documents
Their own papers
These are the operator’s documents. They outrank this review if they disagree.
Score
- Safety25%
- 8.4
- Fees20%
- 7.0
- Features15%
- 8.0
- App15%
- 8.2
- Global15%
- 3.4
- Support10%
- 7.0
Change log
Full logLicence
Wio Bank PJSC — CBUAE licensed bank
Abu Dhabi. Etihad Airways Centre, 5th floor. Onshore bank, not a free-zone EMI. Read the statement entity.
Available in
Straight answers
FAQ
01Is Wio a bank?
Wio holds a banking-style licence (Central Bank of the UAE). Still read the legal entity on the statement, not the app icon.
02How is money protected?
Wio Bank PJSC is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE. Eligible deposits follow the UAE scheme for licensed banks — confirm the live CBUAE guarantee cap on the central bank site. This is not a DFSA/FSRA free-zone wallet.
03Where is Wio available?
We list 1 market on NeoBankDB. Residency and onboarding rules still sit with Wio.
04Card and wallets?
Wio lists a physical card and a virtual card on visa, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. Confirm the live product in the app — a card is not a current account.
05Can I open Wio remotely?
Emirates ID / residency is the usual gate. An App Store listing is not proof a tourist can onboard.
06What is the legal name behind Wio?
Wio Bank PJSC. Read the entity on the statement, not the app icon.
07Can I receive salary on Wio?
Salary-transfer is a named SKU on Wio Personal. Confirm the IBAN / account number you actually receive.
08What documents does Wio ask for?
Emirates ID and live selfie are the usual stack — confirm in-app.
09Is Wio a bank?
Yes. Wio Bank PJSC is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE. Read the entity on the statement.
Ratings and reviews
No published user reviews yet. The NeoBankDB score still comes from licence, fees, and the product — not from an empty star average.
Alternatives
Mashreq NEO
Mashreqbank PSC digital brand. CBUAE. Not a separate digital-bank licence. Not Liv.
4.8
7.3Solid
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- HQ
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- Fee
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