School fee payments set to become easier under new Tabby partnership

Families in the UAE can pay their children's school or university fees, transport and extra curricular activities in monthly instalments using payment app Tabby.

The Dubai-headquartered buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Tabby announced on Wednesday its decision to enter the education sector after its survey showed that 88 per cent of UAE parents feel financial strain when school fees fall due. 

The Tabby survey of 2,814 UAE parents with school-going children showed that 50 per cent struggled to pay in full upfront, with 9 in 10 adding that spreading payments would let their child take part in activities and programmes they currently have to skip.

Tabby said its partnership with zenda will allow educational institutions to offer the flexible payment plans up to 12 months with no hidden fees.

"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". 

Currently, over 100 institutions across the UAE, including Amity School Dubai and Sharjah University, have added Tabby as a payment option.