Mashreq Partners With SunTec to Prepare for the United Arab Emirates’s Mandatory E-Invoicing Rollout
UAE-based bank Mashreq has expanded its long-standing compliance partnership with SunTec Business Solutions to prepare for the country’s upcoming UAE mandatory e-invoicing framework, and the clock is already ticking.
The collaboration, which builds on seven years of joint work on VAT compliance, now extends into electronic invoicing as businesses across the UAE brace for a sweeping regulatory shift. Under Ministerial Decisions No. 243 and No. 244 of 2025, the framework requires companies to issue structured, machine-readable XML invoices and transmit them in near real-time to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) through an Accredited Service Provider (ASP). Large businesses with annual revenues of AED 50 million or more must go live by January 1, 2027, and must appoint an ASP no later than July 31, 2026.
For UAE banks, the compliance challenge is particularly steep. The sector now manages over AED 5.4 trillion in assets and processes thousands of B2B transactions daily, spanning standard-rated fees, VAT-exempt interest, and out-of-scope items. Manual invoicing and fragmented processes have long been a source of revenue leakage and fraud risk, problems the UAE mandatory e-invoicing framework is designed to address head-on.
To meet these deadlines, Mashreq is deploying the SunTec Xelerate e-Invoicing platform, a solution purpose-built to integrate with existing banking and enterprise systems without disrupting core infrastructure. SunTec’s Dubai-registered entity has already received official approval from the UAE’s Ministry of Finance as a certified ASP, having completed all technical requirements including Peppol Access Point certification.
Nanda Kumar, founder and CEO of SunTec Business Solutions, described the platform as a natural extension of the compliance work both companies have carried out over the years. “Our e-invoicing product extends that same architecture, over-the-top, non-disruptive, and built from the ground up for the specific complexities of banking,” Kumar said.
Nassim Tanouti, global head of taxation at Mashreq, framed the move as a strategic step in a broader digital shift. “Leveraging proven platforms and partnerships enables us to accelerate this transition while staying aligned with evolving regulatory expectations,” Tanouti said.
Beyond regulatory compliance, the transition to the UAE mandatory e-invoicing framework carries significant operational benefits. Industry estimates suggest the technology could cut invoice processing costs by 60 to 80 per cent, while also reducing billing errors and speeding up payment cycles. For small and medium-sized enterprises, verified digital invoices could open doors to improved financing options by strengthening credit assessments. Real-time validation is also expected to tighten fraud controls across high-volume B2B environments.
The implementation timeline is phased. A pilot program opens on July 1, 2026, for a selected Taxpayer Working Group, with voluntary adoption available to all businesses from the same date. All remaining VAT-registered businesses must comply by July 1, 2027. Companies that miss the mark face stiff penalties, including AED 5,000 monthly fines, per-document charges, and daily penalties for unreported system failures.
