Tabby expands into education through a partnership with zenda
Tabby survey finds 88% of UAE parents experience financial strain when school fees are due. Through a partnership with zenda, Tabby brings flexible payment plans to schools and families across the UAE.
Dubai, UAE — 20 May 2026: A new survey from Tabby has found that 88% of UAE parents feel financial strain when school fees fall due. Half say they struggle to pay in full upfront, and 9 in 10 say spreading payments would let their child take part in activities and programmes they currently have to skip.
Tabby, the financial services app, today announced it is expanding into the education sector. Through a partnership with zenda, the leading school fee payment platform, institutions can offer Tabby's payment plans directly through the tools they already use.
Families can spread tuition, transport, extracurricular activities and other education costs up to 12 months with no hidden fees. There is also a clear openness to more flexible payment options, with 97% of parents surveyed said they would be likely to use a solution like Tabby if it were offered by their school.
Tabby is already live with over 100 institutions across the UAE, including Amity School Dubai and Sharjah University, spanning secondary schools and universities to nurseries and professional courses.
How the partnership works
For schools, Tabby integrates into existing payment infrastructure to modernise fee collection, reduce payment delays and improve cashflow predictability. For parents, it replaces lump-sum pressure with structured, transparent payment plans they can manage on their terms. zenda sits at the centre of that experience, connecting Tabby's payment flexibility to the platforms schools already rely on.
"Families across the UAE are already doing the work of managing education costs carefully, moving money around, planning ahead and making trade-offs," said Zarik Nabi, Chief Commercial Officer at Tabby. "We're giving schools the infrastructure to make that easier for parents, and giving parents a way to stay in control without the pressure of paying everything at once."
"Schools partner with zenda to take the friction out of their last-mile transaction handling — fee collection, automated schedules, reconciliation, trips and more — on a single platform parents trust," said Haseeb Ahmed, Co-Founder of zenda. "Adding Tabby gives families more choice and flexibility”
About Tabby
Tabby is a financial technology company that helps millions of people in the Middle East stay in control of their spending and make the most out of their money. Over 65,000 global brands and small businesses, including SHEIN, Amazon, Adidas, IKEA, H&M, Samsung and Noon, use Tabby’s technology to accelerate growth and gain loyal customers by offering flexible payments online and in stores. Tabby is headquartered in Riyadh and serves Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. Tabby’s latest secondary share sale resulted in an implied valuation of $4.5 billion.
About zenda
zenda is a specialist financial technology partner to schools, universities and nurseries, building products exclusively for the education sector. It helps institutions digitise fee collection, improve cashflow predictability and offer parents flexible, transparent ways to pay. zenda partners with 450 institutions across 15 countries, processes $1.5 billion in payments, and integrates with 70+ local, regional and global SIS, ERP and CRM systems.
Survey methodology
Survey base: 2,814 UAE parents with children currently enrolled in school, university or nursery.
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