Frequently Asked Questions

NinjaCompares is operated by Contento Finance Brokers L.L.C S.O.C, registered in Dubai and licensed by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism under commercial licence No. 1553278 for the activities of Financing Broker and Mortgage Broker.

No, we're not a bank, a finance company or a lender. We don't hold your money, we don't issue credit, and we don't underwrite applications. We're a comparison and application-support platform. Every product on the site is provided by a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, and your contract is with that institution, not with us.

No. NinjaCompares is free for you to use. We never charge you a fee for comparing products, for submitting an application, or for following it up with the bank.

The rate you're offered is set by the bank, not by us.

Banks pay us a fee when an application we introduce is approved and funded. That's the whole model.

Two things follow from that, and we'd rather you hear them from us. First, we only earn on products from banks we have a commercial relationship with — so we tell you clearly which results those are. Second, that fee doesn't change what you pay, and it doesn't change your ranking: our comparison order is set by the criteria you choose, not by what we're paid.

Because it's the fastest way to prove you're you without you typing anything. UAE Pass is the UAE's national digital identity, and a UAE Pass verification means a bank can trust your identity from the start — which cuts days off the process and removes the round of document chasing that usually follows an online application.

It also protects you: it means nobody can submit an application in your name.

No. Browsing and comparing has no effect on your Al Etihad Credit Bureau record. Comparison is not a credit application and no lender sees that you were here.

Your AECB record is affected when you formally apply to a bank — at that point the bank makes an enquiry, and that enquiry is visible on your report. That's why we'd rather you compare properly once and apply once, than apply to five banks and damage your own file in the process.

Yes, but only if you give us permission first, and only to show you options you'll realistically qualify for.

NinjaCompares is authorised to obtain credit reports from the Al Etihad Credit Bureau, and we request yours only after you've given specific, recorded consent. That's a separate step with its own screen — you can decline it and still use the platform.

What we do with it: we use it to filter and rank what we show you, so you're not looking at products you'd be declined for.

What we don't do: we never sell it, we never share it with banks you haven't chosen, and we never use it for marketing. When you do choose a bank, that bank makes its own enquiry as part of its own assessment — that's their decision to make, not ours.

You can also pull your own report and score at any time directly from AECB, using UAE Pass, on their app or website.

Open banking lets you share your banking data securely with a regulated provider, with your explicit consent, without ever handing over your login details. In the UAE it runs through the Central Bank's Open Finance framework, and only providers holding a Central Bank Open Finance Licence can access data that way.

NinjaCompares does not connect to your bank accounts. You enter your income and commitments yourself, or you can let us retrieve your credit report — which already shows your existing facilities, your limits and your payment history.

That covers most of what a comparison actually needs. If that changes, we'll tell you before anything connects to anything.

Yes. You can withdraw your consent at any time, and you can ask us to delete the personal data we hold about you.

Two honest caveats. If you've already submitted an application, the bank holds its own copy under its own regulatory obligations, and we can't delete that for you — you'd need to ask them. And we may need to retain limited records for the period UAE law requires us to.

You choose, then we act. We pass your application to that bank with the information you've already verified, so you're not re-entering the same details a third time. Then we follow it up — chasing status, relaying the bank's document requests to you, and telling you where things stand.

To be exact about the limits of that: we carry information, we don't make decisions. We will never accept or decline an offer for you, sign anything in your name, or agree terms on your behalf. When there's something to accept, you accept it yourself, directly with the bank.

We also can't approve anything, speed up a credit decision, or overturn a rejection. What we can do is make sure your application isn't sitting in a queue because nobody chased it.

No, and be sceptical of anyone who does. Rates and eligibility shown on NinjaCompares are indicative — they're what the bank publishes or what its criteria suggest. Your actual rate, limit and approval depend on the bank's own assessment of your income, your credit file and its lending policy at that moment.

We show you the market honestly. The bank decides.

Start with us: message our support team and we'll pick it up. We'll acknowledge within 2 working days and resolve or update you within 10 working days.

If your complaint is about the bank's product, decision or service rather than about us, it needs to go to that bank's complaints team first, every institution licensed by the Central Bank is required to have one.

If you're not satisfied with the bank's response, you can escalate to Sanadak, the UAE's independent ombudsman unit for financial and insurance services. It was established by the Central Bank and has been operating since March 2024, taking over the consumer complaint-handling the Central Bank previously did itself. It's free to use, and you can file through its website, app, helpline or in person.

Two things worth knowing before you go there. Sanadak will not take a complaint you haven't raised with the institution first, and it requires you to wait 30 calendar days after doing so.

The Central Bank caps personal loans at 20 times your monthly salary or total income, repayable within a maximum of 48 months. Those are hard ceilings — no bank can exceed them.

But you'll usually be offered less than the ceiling, because a second limit bites first: your total monthly debt payments can't exceed 50% of your income. If you already have a car loan and a credit card, that 50% is where your real limit is set.

DBR is your Debt Burden Ratio — the share of your monthly income already committed to debt repayments. The Central Bank caps it at 50%.

What goes into it surprises people. It's not just loan instalments. Banks also count roughly 5% of your total credit card limits — whether or not you've spent anything on them. An unused AED 100,000 card limit is treated as AED 5,000 a month of commitment. If you're planning to borrow, closing or reducing dormant card limits first is one of the fastest ways to increase what you qualify for.

Not as a national rule. In November 2025 the Central Bank instructed banks to scrap the AED 5,000 minimum salary requirement that had applied for years. Each bank now sets its own threshold based on its internal risk assessment.

In practice this means the answer is no longer one number — it varies by bank, and lower-income applicants who were previously excluded from formal credit can now be assessed on income stability and repayment behaviour instead of a fixed salary floor. It also means comparing matters more, not less: thresholds now differ between banks in a way they didn't before.

Ask. This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in UAE borrowing.

A flat rate is charged on the full original amount for the entire term, even as you pay the loan down. A reducing rate is charged only on what you still owe. Because of that, a flat rate roughly doubles when you convert it to the equivalent reducing rate — a headline that looks like the cheapest offer on the market can be the most expensive.

Two offers are only comparable on the same basis. NinjaCompares shows both, side by side, for every product.

A lot. Transferring your salary to the lending bank gives them first sight of your income, so they price the risk lower. Non-salary-transfer loans are consistently and substantially more expensive, and often come with tighter eligibility.

The trade-off is flexibility: your salary is committed to that bank for the life of the loan, and moving it later usually isn't simple. If you expect to change employer or bank, price that in before you sign.

The Al Etihad Credit Bureau scores you between 300 and 900. There's no single national cut-off — each bank sets its own — but as a practical read, above roughly 700 is treated as strong, and a low score, recent defaults or bounced cheques will either get you declined or priced significantly worse.

AECB itself publishes only the 300–900 range. Labels like "good" or "excellent" are how lenders and advisers interpret it, not official bureau categories.

Check your own report before you apply, not after you're rejected.

Most UAE banks maintain approved-employer lists, and where your company sits on that list affects both whether you're approved and what you're charged. Employees of listed companies get better pricing; if your employer isn't listed, you can still borrow, but expect higher income or credit-score requirements.

It's an eligibility factor almost nobody knows about until it costs them, and it's a good reason not to assume your own bank has the best offer.

Typically: passport and residence visa, Emirates ID, a salary certificate or employment letter, and three to six months of bank statements. Self-employed applicants should expect to provide trade licence, ownership documents and a longer run of statements.

Banks pull your AECB report as part of the assessment, with your consent.

Days rather than weeks for a straightforward salaried application with complete documents — and faster where identity is already verified digitally. Incomplete documentation is by far the most common cause of delay.

Yes. Early settlement is capped by the Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower. Check that the cap is reflected in your loan agreement before you sign.

Run the maths before settling: if you're a long way into the term, most of the profit or interest has already been charged, and settling early may save less than you expect.

Yes, but expect a different assessment. Banks look for a trading history — commonly two years — plus audited or bank-verified income, and they'll typically want a longer run of statements. Fewer banks compete for this business, which is precisely why comparing is worth more here than for salaried applicants.

The economics can be similar; the structure is not. A conventional loan charges interest on money lent. Islamic personal finance is usually structured as Tawarruq — the bank buys and sells a commodity on your behalf, and you repay an agreed profit at a fixed rate rather than interest.

Practically, this means the amount you owe is fixed and known at the outset, and the same Central Bank caps on amount, tenor, DBR and early settlement apply either way. Compare on total cost, not on the label.

This is the scenario most people don't plan for, and it's the one that causes the most damage.

If your employment ends, most banks will apply your end-of-service benefits against the outstanding balance and expect settlement or evidence of new income. If you leave the UAE with an unpaid loan, the debt does not disappear — it can result in legal action and a travel ban, and it will sit on your credit file.

The right move is always to speak to the bank before you go, agree a settlement or a plan, and get written confirmation. Banks deal with this constantly and have processes for it. Silence is what turns a manageable balance into a legal problem.

Often yes — a buyout or consolidation loan settles your existing facilities and replaces them with a single instalment, usually at a lower rate than credit card debt. It's one of the genuinely good uses of a personal loan.

It only works if you then stop using the cards you've just cleared. Consolidating and re-spending is how a manageable debt becomes an unmanageable one.

Banks rarely give a detailed reason, but the common causes are a DBR already at or near the cap, a low or damaged AECB score, insufficient time with your current employer, an employer not on the bank's approved list, or an application that didn't match the bank's income criteria.

Don't immediately reapply elsewhere — each application leaves a mark on your credit file, and a cluster of rejections makes the next one harder. Pull your AECB report, find out what the bank saw, fix what's fixable, and apply once to a bank whose criteria you actually meet

There's no single answer, and there never really was a national rule for cards.

Entry-level cards have typically started around AED 5,000 a month, with premium and lifestyle cards requiring considerably more — but these are each bank's own thresholds, set from its own risk criteria, not a Central Bank minimum. They differ between banks and they change.

The broader direction of travel is toward assessing people on income stability and repayment behaviour rather than a fixed salary floor — the Central Bank removed the long-standing minimum salary requirement for personal loans in November 2025 — but for cards, the threshold has always been the bank's call. Which is exactly why it's worth comparing rather than assuming you don't qualify.

It's up to around 55 days, but only if you pay your statement balance in full, every month, on time. Miss that, and interest applies — typically from the transaction date, not from the due date.

The 55 days is also a maximum, not a norm. A purchase made the day after your statement date gets the full window; one made the day before your statement date gets a fraction of it.

Roughly 36–42% a year. That makes carrying a credit card balance the most expensive mainstream borrowing available in the UAE, by a wide margin.

The practical implication: if you're carrying a balance, almost any alternative is cheaper — a balance transfer, an instalment conversion, or a personal loan. The rewards on your card will never outrun that rate.

Yes, and this is the thing that ambushes people at mortgage time. Banks count roughly 5% of your total card limits toward your 50% Debt Burden Ratio, regardless of your balance. Three cards with AED 50,000 limits each is AED 7,500 a month of assumed commitment before you've spent a dirham.

If a mortgage or a large loan is on your horizon, reduce or close unused limits well in advance.

Sometimes. Often the waiver is conditional on hitting a minimum annual spend, and if you miss the threshold the annual fee is applied — which is one of the most common complaints in the UAE market. Some cards also charge inactivity fees.

Before you accept any fee-waived card, ask one question in writing: what exactly do I have to do each year to keep the fee at zero? And be aware that "free" never covers interest on balances, cash advance fees, late payment charges, or foreign currency markups.

Because it's charged twice. There's a cash advance fee at the moment of withdrawal — commonly around 3% — and interest starts immediately, with no interest-free period at all. Even if you repay in full at the end of the month, you'll still have paid for it.

A cash advance is effectively an emergency-only product. Treat it as one.

Run your own numbers rather than the marketing. Take your last three months of spending, sort it by category, and apply each card's earn rates to it. A card that pays well on groceries, fuel and utilities usually beats a travel card unless you genuinely fly often enough to use the miles.

Then subtract the annual fee. A card is only worth having if the rewards you'll realistically earn — plus perks you'll actually use — exceed what it costs you.

A foreign currency markup, typically applied on top of the exchange rate. You may also be offered "dynamic currency conversion" at the point of sale — the option to be billed in dirhams instead of the local currency. It sounds helpful and it's almost always worse value. Choose the local currency.

Carefully, and with paperwork — this is one of the most complained-about processes in UAE retail banking.

Clear the full balance including any unbilled interest and any active instalment plans. Redeem your rewards first; they usually vanish on closure. Ask whether an early cancellation fee applies, which some banks charge if you close within the first year. Then request a no-liability letter (also called a clearance letter) in writing and keep it.

Do not assume a card is closed because you asked. Get written confirmation, and check your AECB report afterwards to make sure it shows as closed.

Both are ways of moving expensive revolving debt to something cheaper. A balance transfer moves a balance from one card to another, often at a low or zero introductory rate for a fixed period. An instalment conversion turns a large purchase or an existing balance into fixed monthly payments over a set term.

The catch is in the fees and in what happens at the end of the introductory period. Check the processing fee, check the rate that applies after the promotional window closes, and make sure your repayment plan clears the balance before it does.

A Shariah-compliant card doesn't charge interest. Instead it uses a fee or profit-based structure — typically a fixed monthly fee, sometimes with a portion waived depending on usage.

The important thing to understand is that Shariah-compliant does not automatically mean cheaper. Compare the total annual cost of carrying and using the card, exactly as you would with a conventional card.

Each application generates an enquiry on your AECB record. One is unremarkable. Several in a short window signals financial stress to the next bank that looks — and it's a common reason for rejection that applicants never find out about.

Compare first, apply once.

Immediately: a late payment fee, and interest on the full balance. Beyond that, the missed payment is reported to the Al Etihad Credit Bureau — and payment history is the single largest factor in your credit score. A single 30-day late payment marks your file for years and will affect what you're offered on your next loan or mortgage.

If you're going to miss a payment, call the bank before the due date rather than after.

Yes. Many banks offer cards without salary transfer, though usually with higher income requirements or a stronger credit profile expected. Some banks also offer secured cards backed by a fixed deposit, which is a practical route for freelancers, the newly arrived, or anyone rebuilding a credit file.

It depends entirely on what you're planning. A higher limit lowers your credit utilisation, which helps your score, and it's useful for large one-off purchases.

But it also increases the amount counted against your Debt Burden Ratio — roughly 5% of the limit, whether you use it or not. If a mortgage or car loan is coming, declining the increase is often the better move.

The Central Bank sets the ceilings, and they depend on who you are and what you're buying.

UAE nationals: up to 85% financed on a first property of AED 5M or less (15% down), up to 75% above AED 5M (25% down), and up to 65% on a second or investment property (35% down).

Expatriate residents: up to 80% financed on a first property of AED 5M or less (20% down), up to 70% above AED 5M (30% down), and up to 60% on a second or investment property (40% down).

Buying off-plan changes everything. The maximum finance on an off-plan property is 50% of the value, regardless of who you are, what it costs, or whether it's your first. That's a 50% cash deposit, and it's the single most common budgeting shock for first-time off-plan buyers. Some banks decline off-plan lending entirely.

Non-resident buyers face tighter caps again, set by each bank.

One rule people fall foul of: your deposit has to come from your own resources. The Central Bank explicitly prohibits funding a down payment from other borrowing, including a personal loan or a credit card. Banks check.

Budget roughly 6–8% of the purchase price on top of your down payment — and note that none of it can be financed. In Dubai that typically means a 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee, around 2% agency commission, a bank arrangement fee of up to 1% of the loan, a property valuation fee, a mortgage registration fee of 0.25% of the loan amount, trustee office fees, and first-year insurance.

On an AED 2 million property, the "20% deposit" is AED 400,000 — and the real cash requirement at completion is closer to AED 540,000. This is the number that derails first-time buyers.

Most banks set a minimum monthly income for mortgage applicants that is substantially higher than for personal loans, with some lowering it for employees of large listed companies. Self-employed applicants are generally held to a higher threshold and asked for two years of audited financials.

Three ceilings then apply at once, and the lowest one wins: the LTV cap on the property, the 50% Debt Burden Ratio on your income, and a maximum financing amount of seven times your annual income if you're an expatriate, eight times if you're a UAE national.

That third one is a useful sanity check before you talk to anyone. An expatriate earning AED 30,000 a month has an annual income of AED 360,000, so the income-multiple ceiling puts them at roughly AED 2.52 million, before the DBR calculation, which will often bring it lower still.

UAE mortgages are typically fixed for an initial period of one to five years, then revert to a variable rate: EIBOR plus the bank's margin. Fully variable products track EIBOR from day one.

The mistake almost everyone makes is shopping on the fixed headline rate alone. You'll live with the reversion rate for the great majority of a 25-year term, and the margin above EIBOR matters far more over that period than the teaser. Ask for the margin in writing and compare on that.

The Emirates Interbank Offered Rate — the benchmark rate at which UAE banks lend to each other, published daily. It's the reference your variable rate moves with. When EIBOR rises, your payment rises; when it falls, your payment falls, with a lag depending on your reset period.

Pre-approval is the bank confirming, in principle, how much it's prepared to lend you. It's valid for a limited window — typically around 60 to 90 days — and it does three things: it tells you your real budget, it makes your offer credible to sellers and agents, and it stops you falling in love with a property you can't finance.

It involves a credit check, so it appears on your AECB record. But there's no reason to get pre-approval from five banks — compare first, then take pre-approval from the one you intend to use.

Yes, from a number of banks, but on stricter terms: lower loan-to-value ratios, more documentation, and typically a shorter list of lenders willing to compete. Overseas income is generally acceptable where it can be evidenced consistently.

Both avoid interest by structuring the deal around ownership rather than lending.

Under Ijara, the bank owns the property and leases it to you, with ownership transferring at the end of the term. Under Diminishing Musharaka, you and the bank co-own the property, and you progressively buy out the bank's share while paying rent on the portion you don't yet own.

Both are subject to the same Central Bank LTV and DBR caps as conventional mortgages. Compare on total cost over the full term.

You fund the gap in cash. The bank lends a percentage of its own valuation, not of your agreed price — so if you agreed AED 2,000,000 and the valuation comes back at AED 1,900,000, an 80% mortgage is AED 1,520,000, and you're finding AED 480,000 instead of AED 400,000.

This is why you should never commit a deposit before you understand the valuation risk, and why an over-market price is your problem, not the bank's.

Yes — it's called refinancing or a buyout, and in the UAE it's underused. If you took your mortgage when rates were materially higher, the saving over the remaining term can be substantial.

Do the break-even maths first: add your early settlement cost, the new bank's arrangement and valuation fees, and mortgage re-registration, then work out how many months of lower payments it takes to recover that. If you're moving or selling within that window, don't refinance.

Capped by the Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower. Confirm the cap is written into your facility agreement.

The maximum mortgage term is 25 years. That part is set by the Central Bank.

The age limit isn't. The Central Bank leaves maximum age at final repayment to each lender's own risk and lending policy, and in practice most banks apply a cap around 65 for salaried borrowers and later for the self-employed. It varies, so ask — it's one of the things worth comparing.

What the Central Bank does require is this: where your repayment schedule runs past retirement, the bank must satisfy itself that the outstanding balance can still be serviced at a 50% Debt Burden Ratio on your post-retirement income.

Practically, that means an older applicant gets a shorter term, which means a higher monthly payment, which reduces the amount they qualify for.

Yes, but at a maximum of 50% of the value — a hard Central Bank cap that applies regardless of your nationality, the property's value, or whether it's your first purchase. Not every bank lends on off-plan at all.

Developer payment plans are the more common route during construction, with mortgage financing arranged at or near handover. Confirm your bank's off-plan policy before signing a sale and purchase agreement — not after.

Life cover and property insurance are standard requirements on UAE mortgages. Banks will normally offer their own panel product and include it in your quote.

You can usually assign an external policy instead, and it's often cheaper — but you have to ask, because it won't be offered. Over 25 years the difference is not trivial.

Pre-approval → property search within a budget you now know → offer and agreement → bank valuation → final offer letter → signing → transfer and registration at the land department → drawdown.

Two things go wrong most often: changing jobs mid-application, which resets the bank's income assessment; and taking on new debt — a card, a car — between pre-approval and drawdown, which reduces your eligible amount and can collapse the deal at the last step. Don't do either.

At least 20%. The Central Bank caps auto finance at 80% of the vehicle value, over a maximum term of 60 months, and the 50% Debt Burden Ratio applies as it does to all consumer lending.

Putting down more than the minimum materially reduces both your total cost and your approval risk.

You can't tell without asking one specific question: what is the cash price?

Dealer finance, and especially "0%" offers, is frequently funded by removing the discount you would otherwise have negotiated on the car. Ask for the cash price and the financed price separately. If the cash price is lower, the finance isn't free — the cost has simply moved into the vehicle price.

The strongest position is arriving with bank pre-approval in hand and negotiating the car price as a cash buyer.

Roughly double, once converted. Auto finance in the UAE is very commonly advertised as a flat rate — charged on the original amount for the whole term — while loans elsewhere are quoted on a reducing basis. A flat rate of around 2.5% is roughly 4.7% reducing over a five-year term.

Never compare a flat rate against a reducing rate. Convert first.

Yes, in three ways. Rates are higher. Terms are often shorter. And most banks apply an age rule — the vehicle's age plus your finance term must stay within a limit, commonly around eight to ten years total, which quietly rules out both older cars and longer terms.

Check the age rule before you fall for the car.

A structure that lowers your monthly payment by deferring a large share of the price — often 30–40% — to a single lump sum at the end of the term.

It's not free money. At the end you either pay the balloon in cash, refinance it, or sell the car and hope it's worth more than the outstanding amount. Only take one if you have a concrete plan for that final payment, and check what the car is realistically likely to be worth at that point.

Not directly. The bank registers a lien on the vehicle, and the registration authority will not transfer ownership until the bank releases it.

The normal sequence: get a written settlement figure from the bank, valid for a limited window. The buyer pays the settlement amount to the bank, either from cash or from their own finance. Once cleared, the bank issues a no-objection certificate releasing the lien. Only then does ownership transfer, and the buyer pays you the balance.

Budget time for it — the paperwork usually takes days, and the release does not always arrive as quickly as promised. Two practical points: if the outstanding balance exceeds the car's market value, you cover the gap yourself; and always confirm in writing that the lien has actually been released.

The debt follows you, and abandoning a financed car is one of the worst financial decisions available in the UAE. It can lead to legal action and a travel ban, and it will sit on your credit record.

The clean exits are: settle the balance in full — end-of-service benefits often cover it — or sell the car with the bank's knowledge and clear the loan from the proceeds. If you're leaving at short notice, a properly attested power of attorney lets someone here complete the sale and release on your behalf.

Whatever you do, talk to the bank before you fly, and leave with written confirmation that the account is closed.

Comprehensive insurance is mandatory for the life of the finance, and some banks require it through their own panel while others allow you to arrange your own with the bank noted as beneficiary.

Ask which applies before you sign, and price the alternative. Insurance is a meaningful annual cost on a financed vehicle and it's rarely included in the comparison people actually make.

Usually as Murabaha: the bank buys the vehicle and sells it to you at an agreed, disclosed profit, which you repay in fixed instalments. Your total obligation is fixed and known from the start.

The same Central Bank caps apply — 80% maximum finance, 60-month maximum term, 50% DBR, and the same early settlement cap.

Capped at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower. Ask for the settlement figure in writing, and note that quotes are typically valid only for a short window.

Typically: passport and residence visa, Emirates ID, UAE driving licence, salary certificate, three to six months of bank statements, and a quotation for the vehicle. Your AECB report is pulled as part of the assessment, with your consent.

Usually yes, though it's more involved than a dealer purchase. The bank will want a valuation, will verify the vehicle's condition and history, and will require the seller's existing finance — if any — to be cleared as part of the transaction.

Before agreeing anything, check the registration card for a bank named as lienholder. If there is one, that finance must be settled and released before ownership can move to you.

There's no fixed national threshold, and auto finance is generally more accessible than a mortgage. But a stronger AECB score moves you into better rate tiers, and recent defaults or bounced cheques will either block approval or price it badly.

Check your report before you go to the showroom, not after.

It depends on what you're optimising for. A longer term lowers the instalment and raises the total cost. It also keeps you in negative equity — owing more than the car is worth — for longer, which is the trap if you need to sell early.

There's a second cost people miss: a large car instalment consumes DBR headroom for the whole term. If a mortgage is anywhere in your plans over the next few years, the car you finance today determines the property you can buy tomorrow.