VIEWAPP: Expert View on the UAE Financial Market

Changes in the UAE Financial System in 2025 That Businesses Need to Know

The UAE is implementing a large-scale digital transformation of its financial system: new legislation, automation of regulatory procedures, and the shift of transactions to remote formats. For investors, property buyers, and business owners, this means new standards of speed and transparency — and new requirements for documentary verification of assets.

We analyze five key changes and how VIEWAPP fits into this new reality.

1. New UAE Central Bank Law: Digitalization Becomes Mandatory

In 2025, the President of the UAE signed Federal Decree-Law No. 6, which systematically reformed the financial sector. Key provisions include the obligation for all financial institutions to provide services without restrictions, enhanced independence of the Central Bank, and expanded regulatory powers. Fines for violations have increased tenfold, with collection automated. The law clearly signals that the UAE financial system is moving toward full automation of control procedures — manual, paper-based processes are becoming a thing of the past.

VIEWAPP: The digitalization of regulatory procedures creates demand for standardized digital asset condition reports — exactly what VIEWAPP provides to banks and insurance companies instead of traditional paper inspection reports.

2. Property Verification: Digital Inspection Instead of On-Site Visits

The UAE real estate market is among the most dynamic in the world: over 40% of buyers are foreign nationals conducting transactions remotely. At the same time, any mortgage transaction, collateral valuation, or insurance of a property requires documented confirmation of its technical condition. Traditionally, this meant an on-site inspector visit, date coordination, and manual report preparation — a process taking several days to two weeks. In the context of financial sector digitalization, this approach becomes a bottleneck for the entire transaction.

VIEWAPP: VIEWAPP conducts remote video inspection of a property in real time. The client or their representative shows the property via smartphone; AI algorithms capture the condition of rooms, engineering systems, and finishes, automatically generating a standardized report. The bank or insurance company receives a verified document within hours — without physical dispatch or manual processing. This reduces approval timelines for mortgage or insurance documentation from 7–14 days to 1 day.

3. Banks and Mortgages: Collateral Verification as an Acceleration Point

The Central Bank's stricter requirements for financial institutions raise standards for collateral assessment. Banks must provide reliable guarantees for all credit products — meaning documentation on collateral assets must be comprehensive and verifiable. Simultaneously, competition for non-resident clients drives banks to shorten approval times: whoever issues mortgages faster wins the deal.

VIEWAPP: Integration of VIEWAPP into the mortgage approval process allows the bank to receive a standardized report on the collateral asset without arranging an on-site inspector visit. The report includes photo and video documentation, automatic comparison with previous inspections, and machine-readable data for direct upload into the bank's system. This reduces the bank's operating costs and accelerates the approval process for the client.

4. UAE Insurance Market: Remote Verification as the New Standard

The UAE insurance sector is growing alongside the real estate market and the country's vehicle fleet. The new law extends the Central Bank's enhanced control to insurance companies as well: a unified complaint handling system, early dispute resolution mechanisms, mandatory guarantees for all products. For insurers, this means increased requirements for the quality of initial asset condition documentation at policy inception and at the time of claims.

VIEWAPP: VIEWAPP provides insurance companies with two key scenarios: pre-contract inspection (documenting the asset's initial condition) and claims adjustment (remote documentation of damage without an adjuster visit). Both scenarios are implemented through a single platform; reports are stored in the system and available for comparison at any time. This reduces the insurer's operating costs and minimizes disputes with clients.

5. Business Setup and Asset Leasing: Remote Format as the Norm

The UAE is systematically simplifying procedures for international business. Free zones offer fully online company registration. Leasing companies and banks financing the acquisition of commercial vehicles and equipment face the same challenge as the mortgage market: the need to verify assets physically located in another country or region. The UAE Central Bank has raised its non-oil economy growth forecast to 4.9% for 2025 — the asset financing market continues to expand.

VIEWAPP: VIEWAPP works with leasing companies and banks financing vehicles and equipment: remote inspection at the time of financing origination, scheduled inspections during the lease term, and end-of-lease return inspections. The client conducts the inspection independently via the mobile application — the platform automatically verifies the correctness of documentation and generates the report.

Commentary from VIEWAPP

The digitalization of the UAE financial sector is both a global trend and a structural shift. Banks, insurance companies, and leasing organizations are automating everything that can be automated. Verification of physical assets has long remained the exception — requiring a live person on site. That is now changing.

What This Means in Practice

VIEWAPP is an infrastructure for remote inspection and verification of assets: real estate, vehicles, equipment. We operate where the digitalization of the financial sector meets the physical world.

For a bank: a standardized collateral asset report without an inspector visit, integrated into the mortgage approval process.

For an insurance company: verified initial asset documentation and remote claims adjustment without an on-site adjuster.

For a leasing company: scheduled portfolio-wide asset inspections without the operating costs of physical visits.

The UAE market is growing rapidly, the regulator is consistently raising standards — and the speed of processing procedures is becoming a competitive advantage for financial institutions.

Final Conclusions

The 2025 UAE Central Bank Law accelerates digitalization across the entire financial sector — paper-based, manual processes are being phased out.

• Property verification is the fastest-growing application for remote inspection: foreign buyers, mortgages, and insurance.
• Banks working with collateral assets gain direct benefits: faster approvals and reduced operating costs.
• Insurance companies lower claims adjustment costs and minimize disputes through verified initial documentation.
• VIEWAPP is a ready-made infrastructure that fits into this transition: standardized digital inspection instead of on-site inspector visits.