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Press Release.

Alfii, a UAE-based HR tech startup, has announced a strategic partnership with Al Fardan Exchange UAE, the leading money transfer and currency exchange firm in the UAE. The two companies have signed a cooperation agreement under which alfii’s cloud-based HR software will utilize Al Fardan Exchange’s market-leading payment platforms to provide a seamless, end-to-end payroll solution for alfii customers. 

The agreement—which was signed by Yousef Albarqawi, Co-founder and CEO of alfii, and Hasan Jaber, Deputy CEO of Al Fardan Exchange—marks a significant milestone in alfii’s journey to build the region’s most comprehensive, fintech-powered HR platform. By connecting clients with an easier way to serve both banked and unbanked employees, this cooperation also marks a step towards greater financial inclusion. 

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Al Fardan Exchange. This enables alfii to become the region’s first mover in offering end-to-end payroll solutions within a single platform,” said Yousef Albarqawi. “By integrating real-time payment processing into our interface, we’re bringing our customers a powerful HR solution that streamlines an otherwise cumbersome process, while providing the accuracy and security that comes with a reputable and well-established financial institution. This offering is unlike any other solution in the market.” 

Hasan Fardan added, “We look forward to working closely with alfii to deliver our market-leading services to their customers. Creating a faster way to disburse salaries is a win-win for all involved.” 

Founded in Dubai in November 2022 by Yousef Albarqawi, Becky Jefferies and Dina Mohammad-Laity, alfii was created to help startups and SMEs take better care of their people by freeing overwhelmed HR teams from time-consuming administrative work. The early version of the product is designed to simplify core HR processes—like onboarding, document collection, and payroll—while bringing together all employee data into a single source of truth. 

As the alfii platform evolves, the team will introduce more features like time tracking and vacation management, performance reviews, and more—ultimately covering the full employee lifecycle. But in the near-term, building the most comprehensive payroll solution is the first priority. 

The alfii team not only discovered extensive gaps and shortfalls in other payroll solutions, but also came to learn that many HR teams—even some with a workforce of several thousand people—are still relying on manual, outdated systems to manage their payroll processing. By building a comprehensive payroll offering packaged in a seamless, consumer-focused user experience, they aim to address one of the most critical pain points for HR teams of all industries and sizes. 

According to Nabil Fates, Senior Product Manager at alfii, “We distinguish our product from other solutions by how easy it is to use and how quickly our customers can get set up to process payroll. Gone is the need for complex spreadsheets to manage salaries—and we’re proud to claim that.” 

“This partnership is a testament to how UAE startups and more traditional, long-standing institutions can combine forces to innovate and bring better solutions to the market,” said Albarqawi. “We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration that benefits regional startups and SMEs, and the UAE economy as a whole.”