Tamara for UAE Merchants in 2026: Settlement Timing, Holdbacks, Fees and Chargeback Terms Before You Sign

Tamara is a buy now pay later provider. As a merchant, you offer it at checkout and Tamara pays you, not the shopper. Its merchant terms say it pays the Net Amount on the Tuesday of the following week for orders fulfilled from Saturday to Friday. Its fees are a fixed fee and a variable fee written in your Merchant Onboarding Form, which is not public, so there is no standard rate to quote. This page walks through the terms that affect your cash flow, as of October 2026. Read your own signed agreement, because it governs.

How do you become a Tamara merchant?

Tamara's public terms do not set out full eligibility rules. They refer to a "Merchant Acceptance Criteria" document that the page does not include. They do require the merchant to be duly organised and in good standing under the laws of its place of incorporation, and to be solvent.

In practice you apply through Tamara or through a payment gateway or store platform that offers it. We did not verify a single application route, so ask your gateway or store platform which one applies to you.

What to prepare, as a sensible checklist rather than a published Tamara list: your trade license, owners' IDs, a company bank account in the UAE, your website or store link and your product categories. Tamara restricts some categories; its terms mention limits on digital products and on restricted territories. If your checkout is on Shopify, Shopify says third-party gateways carry an extra fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced; see Shopify in the UAE. The UAE e-commerce law also says Central Bank requirements apply to digital payment gateways.

When does Tamara pay you?

The terms set a weekly cycle. Tamara pays the Net Amount to the merchant on the Tuesday of the following applicable week, and the week runs Saturday to Friday for orders fulfilled in that period. If a Net Amount is below the base threshold, Tamara may combine amounts and settle on the following Tuesday after the threshold is exceeded. The base figure is in your Merchant Onboarding Form, not on the public page.

Worked example, illustrative only. You ship an order on Monday 12 October 2026. That falls in the week from Saturday 10 October to Friday 16 October, so the terms point to payment on Tuesday 20 October 2026, if no holdback applies. If the order ships on Saturday 17 October, it falls in the next week and the payment date moves to Tuesday 27 October. Shipping date, not order date, decides the week.

What can Tamara hold back?

This is the part new merchants miss. The terms allow Tamara to:

• Withhold the Net Amount for a merchant's first three initial approved transactions for one month.
• Withhold payment while it investigates fraud, disputes, unapproved changes to sales terms, or delivery delays of ten or more business days.
• Withhold the applicable amount if you do not supply requested information within five business days.
• Hold a portion of the Net Amount, not more than 75% in a weekly cycle, and settle it monthly if it suspects a problem or needs to verify the merchant.

What does Tamara cost?

Tamara's terms define the "Tamara Fee" as the fees payable by the merchant, including a Fixed Fee and a Variable Fee set out in the Merchant Onboarding Form. The percentage and the fixed amount are not published on the page we opened, so we do not quote them. Rates are agreed per merchant.

Other fee terms in the same document:

Ask for the rate card in writing and for the refund fee treatment, because a refunded order can still cost you the fee.

Who carries fraud, chargeback and return risk?

Tamara states it assumes credit risk, fraud risk and chargebacks on approved transactions, subject to exceptions. One exception matters for sellers: the merchant bears the risk where a customer has exercised a legal right to cancel or return an order. You must also answer dispute and chargeback cases within three business days.

So fast dispute handling is part of the job. Keep proof of delivery and order records for every Tamara order. The federal consumer rules say suppliers must settle consumer disputes promptly and that e-commerce businesses must give product information in Arabic. For the return rules themselves, see UAE consumer protection and online returns.

What are you not allowed to do?

• Charge more for Tamara. The terms say a merchant may not charge customers a higher price because they paid with Tamara. Do not add a surcharge line for instalments.
• Offer cash financing. Prohibited activities include cash financing or advances to customers.
• Sell restricted items. The terms restrict digital products and restricted territories.

Tamara or Tabby, or both?

They are separate contracts with separate terms. Tabby's business page says merchants receive the full amount in days and says set-up takes 24 hours in one place and minutes in another, and it does not list merchant fees there. Compare the two on settlement day, holdback, fees, dispute window and category limits using the Tabby merchant guide. For the card side of your checkout, see best payment gateway in the UAE. For orders paid in cash at the door, see cash on delivery for UAE sellers.

FAQ

What are Tamara's fees for merchants in the UAE? Tamara does not publish a standard rate in its merchant terms. The terms say fees are a fixed fee and a variable fee set in your Merchant Onboarding Form, and that Tamara may increase them on ten days' written notice, or vary them on seven calendar days' notice in some cases. Ask for the rate card in writing.

When does Tamara pay merchants? The terms say Tamara pays the Net Amount on the Tuesday of the following applicable week for orders fulfilled from Saturday to Friday. Payment can be combined across weeks below a base threshold or held back in cases the terms list.

Does Tamara hold back money from new merchants? The terms allow it. Tamara may withhold the Net Amount for the first three initial approved transactions for one month. Whether it does so for your account depends on your agreement.

Who pays when a customer does not repay Tamara? Tamara says it assumes credit risk, fraud risk and chargebacks on approved transactions, subject to exceptions. The merchant keeps the risk when a customer exercises a legal right to cancel or return an order.

Can I charge customers extra for using Tamara? No. The merchant terms say you may not charge a higher price because the customer paid with Tamara. Keep one price for all payment methods.

Can I use Tamara on Shopify? Tamara is offered through platforms and gateways, and the route varies. We did not verify a specific Shopify app or its fees. Check Tamara's integration list and your gateway before you plan around it.

Is Tamara regulated? We found a news report about a UAE Central Bank license but did not verify it on a Central Bank page, so we do not rely on it. Ask Tamara for its licensing details in writing before you sign.

What to do next

Before you sign, ask Tamara for the Merchant Onboarding Form, the Merchant Acceptance Criteria and the base settlement amount, and check them against the terms above. If your growth plan includes marketplaces, Blooprint, an Amazon SPN verified partner, can run your noon account management and Amazon.ae account management. For the larger launch checklist, see how to start an online business in Dubai.