RAKBANK reports 25.2% first-half 2026 ROE after AED 473 million gain from selling merchant acquiring business

RAKBANK posted what it called record first-half profitability for 2026, with return on equity rising to 25.2% from 22.1% a year earlier. For payments people, the important bit is not just the earnings print: the bank also booked an AED 473 million gain from disposing of its merchant payment acceptance business, which is another reminder that acquiring can be a capital event, not just a processing line item.

1. The bank did not disclose an absolute net profit figure in the release distributed to media, so year-on-year profit comparison is not straightforward. What it did disclose was enough to show the shape of the result: return on assets rose to 3.2% from 3.1%, and the headline return on equity of 25.2% puts RAKBANK among the higher-returning listed lenders in the UAE banking system.
2. The net interest margin came in at 3.9%, which is the sort of number that tells you the funding mix is doing some work. RAKBANK reported a current and savings account (CASA) ratio of 64.3%, giving it a low-cost deposit base and less sensitivity to rate moves. In other words, the balance sheet is doing more than just sitting there.
3. Asset quality also improved. The non-performing loan ratio fell to 1.8% from 2.1% on an annualised basis, while Stage 3 provision coverage reached 85.9%, which the bank said was among the highest in its peer group. Capital adequacy stood at 19.3%, above the UAE Central Bank minimum requirements, and the eligible liquid assets ratio (ELAR) was 13.0%.
4. The AED 473 million gain came from the disposal of the merchant acquiring operation. RAKBANK did not name the acquirer or disclose the total transaction value, so the full commercial logic is not in the release, but the direction is clear enough: banks in the Gulf, and elsewhere, keep separating payment acceptance infrastructure from the core banking balance sheet when the economics or capital treatment make that attractive.
5. RAKBANK operates across personal banking, business banking with a stated focus on SMEs, and wholesale and institutional banking. It also holds stakes in Skippr, a school-payments platform; Protego, a digital insurance product; and RAK Insurance, a licensed underwriter. The bank has also positioned itself as an early mover in retail crypto trading in the UAE, where the market is regulated under the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) framework.

The broader context matters for PSPs and acquirers: the UAE banking sector has been benefiting from elevated rates, and UAE Central Bank data published earlier this year showed aggregate bank credit growing at a healthy clip, supported by government infrastructure spending and business formation in the northern emirates. In a market like that, a bank selling its merchant acceptance business is not a trivia item; it is a signal about where the value is being captured.