Valu and Dubai Phone Partner for In-App Instant Digital Financing

Mohammed Fathy

Last updated 28-04-2026

4 min

Valu partners Dubai Phone for in-app digital onboarding, skipping paperwork and branches.

Customers verify via eKYC, sign digitally, and finance gadgets within minutes.

CEOs call it a milestone for “seamless” finance and retail convenience.

Valu, a BNPL pioneer, offers up to 60-month plans across 8,500 stores.

The move signals embedded finance becoming retail’s backbone in Egypt.

Valu is pushing further into fully digital finance, this time through a new partnership with Dubai Phone that allows customers to activate a Valu account directly inside the retailer’s app. No paperwork. No branch visits. Just a National ID and a few minutes on your mobile.

For anyone who has ever found traditional onboarding a bit of a faff, this move feels spot on. Users browsing Dubai Phone’s application can now pick their gadget, whether it’s a handset, laptop or gaming console, select Valu at checkout, and if they’re not already customers, complete the onboarding journey instantly within the same interface. The whole process runs on eKYC and e-signature technologies, meaning identity verification and contract signing happen digitally and in real time.

I’ve seen first-hand, through conversations with founders across the MENA ecosystem, how much friction still exists in financial services onboarding. At Arageek, we often hear startup founders say that shortening the gap between “I want this” and “It’s done” is half the battle. This integration seems designed exactly for that, removing hurdles and meeting customers where they already are.

Walid Hassouna, CEO of Valu, described the partnership as an important milestone in making financial services more seamless and embedded in everyday experiences. By offering full digital onboarding within Dubai Phone’s app, he said the company is expanding its reach and enabling more consumers to access instant, flexible financing.

From Dubai Phone’s side, CEO Mostafa Salah said the collaboration brings flexible payment solutions directly into the retailer’s digital ecosystem. He noted that integrating financing within the app is part of the company’s broader strategy to enhance convenience and respond to changing market needs.

Dubai Phone, which brings more than 19 years of experience and operates over 22 stores across Egypt and Dubai, has been steadily upgrading its digital presence. Adding fintech into the mix could act as a high-speed growth engine, especially in a retail environment where customers increasingly expect everything to happen at the tap of a screen.

Valu, legally known as U Consumer Finance S.A.E. and listed on the Egyptian Exchange under VALU.CA, has built its name as a pioneer of Buy-Now, Pay-Later in the region. Through its platform “U”, it offers repayment plans of up to 60 months across more than 8,500 physical and online stores. The categories are wide-ranging, from home appliances and electronics to healthcare, education, travel and even residential solar solutions. And believe it or not, the company also runs high-end financing programmes covering big-ticket luxury purchases up to EGP 60 million.

It doesn’t stop there. Valu has expanded into investment products, prepaid and co-branded credit cards with Visa, business-to-business solutions under Valu Business, and marketplaces such as Sha2labaz and Ulter. Amazon’s direct stake in the company also signals the scale of ambition behind this fintech player.

On the flip side, the BNPL market is getting crowded, and I’m not a fan of growth for growth’s sake. Sustainable lending and responsible credit checks are crucial, especially in emerging markets. That said, digital onboarding powered by solid eKYC systems can actually improve oversight, not weaken it, when done properly.

Financial inclusion in Egypt has long been a work in progress. Partnerships like this could definately widen access, particularly for younger, mobile-first consumers who might never set foot in a bank branch. Well… I mean, why would they if everything can be done on an app within minutes?

For the broader startup scene across MENA, this is another sign that embedded finance is no longer just a buzzword. It is becoming part of the retail backbone. And for customers, the promise is simple: see it, tap it, finance it, all in one smooth journey.

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