Do I need a trade licence to use Tabby or Tamara in the UAE?

Yes. Both Tabby and Tamara require a valid UAE trade licence and business bank account to onboard, because they settle your payouts to a company account. They'll also review your website and product range during signup, so have your store live and your licence documents ready before you apply.

How much do Tabby and Tamara charge merchants?

Both charge the merchant a fee per transaction — typically in the region of 5–8% depending on your category and volume — in exchange for paying you the full amount upfront and carrying the customer credit risk. The exact rate is negotiated during onboarding, so ask for your category's pricing before you commit.

Should I offer both Tabby and Tamara or just one?

Offer both. Shoppers in the UAE often have a preferred BNPL provider and will abandon checkout if their choice isn't there. Showing both Tabby and Tamara captures the widest audience, and the extra plugin takes only minutes to add once your accounts are approved.

Does adding BNPL actually increase sales in the UAE?

For most UAE stores, yes. BNPL lifts conversion rates and average order value because customers can split payments into interest-free instalments, which lowers the barrier on higher-priced items. It's especially effective for fashion, electronics, furniture and beauty, where basket sizes are larger.

Add Tabby & Tamara to Your UAE Store (2026 Guide)

Buy-now-pay-later is now expected at UAE checkouts, and Tabby and Tamara are the two names shoppers look for. Adding both to a WooCommerce or Shopify store is straightforward once your accounts are approved. Here's the full step-by-step for each platform, plus why offering both providers lifts conversions.

Why BNPL — and why both providers

Tabby and Tamara let your customers split a purchase into interest-free instalments (typically pay-in-4 or pay-in-3), while you receive the full amount upfront. The provider carries the credit risk; you carry none. For UAE shoppers this has become a default expectation, especially on fashion, electronics, furniture and beauty, where basket sizes are larger.

Shoppers usually have a favourite. Someone loyal to Tamara may abandon a checkout that only shows Tabby — and vice versa. Offering both is the single easiest way to stop losing those sales.

Displaying BNPL messaging on your product pages (“or 4 payments of AED 125”) also raises perceived affordability before checkout, which is where much of the conversion lift comes from. That's why serious UAE stores add both providers, not one.

Before you start

You'll need a few things ready regardless of platform:

A valid UAE trade licence and business bank account — both providers settle payouts to a company account.
A live website they can review during onboarding.
Merchant accounts: apply directly at tabby.ai and tamara.co. Approval usually takes a few business days.
API keys / credentials from each provider's merchant dashboard once approved — you'll paste these into the plugin.

Expect a merchant fee per transaction (commonly in the 5–8% range depending on category and volume) in exchange for upfront settlement and risk transfer. Negotiate your category rate during onboarding.

Adding Tabby & Tamara to WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the easiest platform for BNPL because both providers publish official plugins. The process for each is almost identical:

Install the official plugin. In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New and search “Tabby” (and separately “Tamara”). Install and activate the official plugin from each provider.
Enter your API keys. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments, open the Tabby (or Tamara) method, and paste the Public and Secret keys from your merchant dashboard. Use test keys first.
Set your currency and country. Confirm AED and United Arab Emirates so the instalment amounts calculate correctly.
Enable product-page messaging. Both plugins can show the “pay in instalments” widget on product and cart pages — turn it on to capture the pre-checkout conversion lift.
Repeat for the second provider. Do the whole flow again for the other plugin so both appear at checkout.

If your theme is heavily customised, the messaging widget sometimes needs a small placement tweak so it sits cleanly under the price. A WooCommerce developer in Dubai can slot the widgets, handle hook conflicts and test the full order flow so nothing breaks on live orders.

Adding Tabby & Tamara to Shopify

Shopify handles BNPL through apps and, for the payment step itself, through the manual/off-site payment flow or the providers' Shopify integrations:

Install the app. From the Shopify App Store, add the official Tabby app and the official Tamara app.
Connect your merchant account. Each app asks you to authenticate with the API credentials from your Tabby/Tamara dashboard.
Enable the payment method. In Settings → Payments, activate the provider so it appears as a checkout option. Follow each app's guided setup — Shopify's checkout rules mean you sometimes complete the payment step via the provider's hosted flow.
Add on-site messaging. Both apps include theme blocks or snippets for the “pay in 4” widget on product pages. Add the block via the theme editor.
Repeat for the second provider so shoppers can choose either.

Because Shopify's checkout is more locked-down than WooCommerce, placement of the messaging widget and correct behaviour on Shopify's one-page checkout are the two things worth testing carefully. A Shopify developer in Dubai can install both apps, position the widgets in your theme and confirm the checkout works end to end on desktop and mobile.

Test everything, then go live

Never switch BNPL live without a full test run:

Use each provider's sandbox / test keys to place a real end-to-end order.
Confirm the instalment amounts show correctly in AED.
Check the messaging widget appears on product, cart and checkout pages.
Test on mobile — most UAE shoppers buy on their phones.
Verify the order is marked paid in your admin and the webhook/callback returns correctly.

Once tests pass, swap test keys for live keys and place one small real order to confirm settlement.

Common issues and how to fix them

A few problems come up repeatedly when adding BNPL to UAE stores. Knowing them in advance saves a lot of frustration:

The provider doesn't appear at checkout. Nine times out of ten this is wrong or test keys still in place, or the payment method not enabled for AED. Double-check credentials and currency.
The messaging widget shows the wrong amount. Usually a currency or minimum-order-value mismatch. Confirm the plugin is set to AED and your minimum thresholds are correct.
Widget breaks the theme layout. On heavily customised themes the “pay in 4” block can clash with existing styles. It needs correct hook placement rather than dropping it anywhere.
Orders not marked paid. This points to a webhook or callback URL that isn't reaching your store. Check the callback settings in the provider dashboard and that your site isn't blocking the request.
Approved for one provider, pending on the other. Onboarding timelines differ, so go live with whichever is approved first and add the second when it clears.

If any of these persist, it's almost always a configuration or theme-integration detail rather than a fault with the provider. Getting a developer to check the credentials, currency, webhooks and widget placement in one pass usually resolves everything and gets you live cleanly.

Getting the most from BNPL

Show both providers at checkout to capture every shopper's preference.
Display instalment messaging on product pages, not just at checkout — that's where the affordability nudge works.
Feature BNPL logos on your homepage and category banners; UAE shoppers scan for them.
Set sensible minimum order values so the merchant fee stays worthwhile on small baskets.
Reconcile payouts against your fee schedule monthly so the economics stay clear.

Want both Tabby and Tamara installed, styled and tested properly on your store? Send me your store link and I'll set up dual-BNPL end to end — usually within a day or two of your accounts being approved.

How to add Tabby & Tamara (BNPL) to your WooCommerce or Shopify store in the UAE