Tabby, Tamara & Dental Split Payments in the UAE

Buy-Now-Pay-Later has arrived in UAE dentistry. Tabby, Tamara and PostPay all now integrate at point-of-sale for treatments above AED 500. ### How it works at a Dubai clinic 1. Choose Tabby/Tamara at checkout 2. Approve identity and salary in-app (30 seconds if returning user) 3. Pay 25% upfront 4. Three further monthly instalments of 25% each 5. No interest, no fees — the clinic pays a merchant fee (typically 3–6%) ### Practical caps - Tabby: AED 15,000 in the UAE - Tamara: AED 15,000 - PostPay: AED 10,000 For a AED 5,000 root canal + crown you'd pay AED 1,250 today and AED 1,250 monthly for three months. For a AED 15,000 Invisalign case, same 4-instalment structure. ### When BNPL is a good idea - Urgent treatment you can't defer (root canal, extraction, prosthetics) - Predictable monthly cash flow - Cash flow spikes (before a bonus or Ramadan) ### When it's a red flag - Cosmetic upgrade you're already unsure about — psychologically, splitting a AED 15,000 veneer bill makes overspend easier - If missed payments would hit your credit score (Tabby/Tamara now report to Al Etihad Credit Bureau) - If the clinic ‘adds’ 5% to the price when using BNPL (some do quietly) — ask directly ### Longer-term financing options - ADCB, Emirates NBD, Mashreq run ‘personal loan’ facilities for medical procedures (up to AED 250,000, 18–24 months) with declared interest - HSBC Middle East offers a healthcare loan product at ~5% flat - Some clinics offer in-house monthly plans without credit-check (usually AED 1,000+ deposit) ### Insurance interaction BNPL can be layered on top of the insurance co-payment. Example: AED 8,000 crown → insurance pays AED 3,000 → patient owes AED 5,000 → split via Tabby into 4×1,250. ### The moral hazard BNPL makes cosmetic dentistry more accessible — good for patients who genuinely benefit, dangerous for impulse decisions. If your dentist offers BNPL for a treatment you weren't asking about, that's a sales cue, not a clinical one.