Short answer: Wise’s main UAE send-money page and its AED guidance say that ordinary transfers paid for in dirhams are not available yet. The send-money page says “we’re not quite there yet” and offers a waiting list, and its Pakistan, India and Philippines route pages say the same. Its Help Centre states: “We currently can’t support transfers from AED, which means you won’t be able to pay for transfers with AED, except if paying from your Wise account.” A Help Centre article updated in September 2026 adds that Wise is “working with the relevant authorities to bring AED transfers from the UAE back as soon as possible”.
Not every Wise page says the same. Its UAE feature-availability page shows a general “Send money worldwide” section that includes AED among the currencies you can send from, and its UAE verification article describes sending from AED as available to people who live in the UAE. Neither page says the service is open today, and every Wise page that addresses AED-funded sending directly says it is unavailable. Because Wise’s own information conflicts, GulfSend does not rank Wise for AED-funded transfers until a working AED-funded route is independently verified.
Wise does hold UAE licences. In October 2025 it announced final approval from the UAE Central Bank for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category 2) licences, which it described as a first step to bring its services to UAE customers “in the future”. Its regulation page names the licensed company as Wise Fintech Network L.L.C.
Other Wise account features are limited for UAE residents as well. Wise’s account page says the UAE “doesn’t have the Wise account yet”, and its currency list shows AED only as a currency you can send to. Until Wise’s UAE send pages open, compare the licensed UAE exchange houses, banks and apps that accept dirhams.