First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) signed a deal with Mastercard to extend the international remittance options available on its Payit mobile wallet app, with users able to send cash to a greater number of accounts across ten countries.

Its launch markets for the service include the high-traffic remittance destinations of Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippines, Egypt, Bangladesh and Vietnam. The bank has plans in place to add further destinations.

In a statement, FAB noted a tie-up with Mastercard opened the potential for money transfer across more than 100 international remittance corridors.

During April 2019 FAB inked a similar deal with MoneyGram to enable international services to accounts connected to the latter’s platform.

FAB SVP and head of payments Ramana Kumar said the latest move was part of an aim to “drive the cashless objective of the UAE”.

Becoming a cashless society is one of a number of aims within the country’s UAE Vision 2021 strategy, a wide-ranging initiative designed to transform areas including the economy, healthcare provision and education system.