United Arab Emirates · Money service business

Lulu International Exchange

Lulu International Exchange L.L.C. is a limited liability company registered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) licenses it for exchange business, in the register class money transmitter/remittance. The firm states that it is part of LuLu Financial Holdings, whose managing director is Adeeb Ahamed. Trading as LuLu Exchange, it offers individuals and businesses international money transfers, currency exchange, payroll under the Wage Protection System (WPS) and a prepaid Visa travel card, through branches and the LuLu Money app.

BICLULUAEADXXX LEI254900SMCK0JLYIOLU08 Licence no.03.01.03.090.2008.01 Connected to SwiftThis BIC is registered as a live address on the Swift network. The institution sends and receives Swift messages under LULUAEAD directly. Head-office BIC only Claim this profile

Licences and registrations

Held by Lulu International Exchange L.L.C. (LEI 254900SMCK0JLYIOLU08). 1 entry on 1 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 24 September 2026.

RegisterLicenceNumberJurisdictionStatusRegisteredEndsActivitiesRegister entry
CBUAE Register of Licensed Financial Institutions - Exchange BusinessCentral Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)Linked by LEI. Matched by Elucidate to GLEIF on name, country and address. Exchange BusinessMoney Transmitter / Remittance 03.01.03.090.2008.01 United Arab Emirates Active — —
  • Currency exchange
Search the register ↗
  • Licences belong to the legal entity, not to a BIC.
  • Each licence applies in the country of the regulator that granted it.
  • Registers are tracked in 37 countries. Licences granted elsewhere are not recorded here.
  • The register entries and their trading names were not matched against sanctions lists. The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.

Swift network

Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory

BIC
LULUAEADXXX head office
Connection to Swift
Connected to SwiftThis BIC is registered as a live address on the Swift network. The institution sends and receives Swift messages under LULUAEAD directly.
Swift GPI
Not on the member list
Payment schemes and systems
No entry in the EPC registers, the ECB T2 and TIPS lists or the SIX Bank Master cites this BIC
Branch codes
None: head-office BIC only
BIC first registered
2009-08-29
Last updated
2022-02-14

Overview

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

Customers

15,000,000

customers · Group · 21 Sep 2026 · company statement ↗

Employees

Not published

Ownership

Group subsidiary

LuLu Financial Holdings

Firm type

Money remittance

Trades as LuLu Exchange (app: LuLu Money)

Ownership
The firm states that it is part of LuLu Financial Holdings, an Abu Dhabi holding company. Neither the firm nor the group publishes the size of the shareholding.
Direct parent
LuLu Financial Holdings, United Arab Emirates
Head office
Level 9, Bayswater Tower, Burj Khalifa Community, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (registered office: Level 9, Madinat Zayed Office Tower, New Airport Road, P.O. Box 5379, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
Founder
Adeeb Ahamed

Online

Websites & references
luluexchange.com ↗
lulumoneybusiness.com ↗ LuLu Money Business digital channel for corporate customers
branches.luluexchange.com ↗ branch locator
Official social accounts
LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗
Sources · 12 pages consulted
  1. luluexchange.com/
  2. luluexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Key-Fact-Statement-REMITTANCE-Updated.pdf
  3. luluexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Key-Fact-Statement-For-Visa-MonoBadge.pdf
  4. luluexchange.com/about/
  5. luluexchange.com/about/our-team/
  6. luluexchange.com/terms-and-conditions/
  7. luluexchange.com/blog/lulu-exchange-uae-celebrates-17-years-uae/
  8. luluexchange.com/blog/lulu-exchange-uae-crowe-uae-enterprise-risk-management/
  9. lulufin.com/
  10. gulfnews.com/amp/story/gn-focus/company-news/lulu-exchange-partners-with-dubai-municipality-to-enable-
  11. zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/ruya-community-islamic-bank-partners-with-lulu-exchange-t
  12. semafor.com/article/12/12/2025/lulu-currency-exchange-quickly-becomes-top-player

Authorisation

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

Operates under
Its own licences

The Central Bank of the UAE licenses the firm for exchange business under licence number 03.01.03.090.2008.01, in the register class money transmitter/remittance. The firm names itself as the issuer of its prepaid Visa travel card and states that card funds are held with Zand Bank.

AuthorityLicence or registrationNumberHeldStatusSource
Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) United Arab Emirates Exchange Business (Money Transmitter / Remittance) 03.01.03.090.2008.01 In its own name Active luluexchange.com ↗

Licences and registrations the research found, at home and abroad, as the firm and its regulators publish them. The Licences and registrations card shows the entries on the registers the directory tracks.

Partners and safeguarding

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

Safeguarding
Deposits at a partner bankFor the LuLu Money Travel Card, the firm states that customer funds are held with Zand Bank. It does not publish a safeguarding arrangement for its remittance business.luluexchange.com ↗
Safeguarding bank
Zand Bank United Arab Emirates luluexchange.com ↗
Payment schemes and card networks
Swift Direct
UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) Access not stated luluexchange.com ↗
Visa Access not stated luluexchange.com ↗
Aani Access not stated luluexchange.com ↗

Banks and regulated firms the firm says hold its customers’ money, issue its cards, sponsor its accounts or settle its payments, as it discloses them in its terms and notices.

Products and markets

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

  • International money transfer
  • Bureau de change
  • FX conversion
  • Payouts and mass payments
  • Cash pick-up
  • Prepaid cards
  • Domestic payments
  • Bill payments
  • Mobile top-up

It sends money from the UAE to bank accounts, cash pickup points and mobile wallets. Its key facts statement lists corridors in the GCC, Europe, North America, South and Southeast Asia and Africa.

It serves customers in the UAE through more than 170 branches, according to the firm, and through the LuLu Money app. Sister companies of LuLu Financial Holdings serve other countries under their own licences.

Payment volume
USD 19.7bnremittances moved by the LuLu group, as stated by a group executive at a Semafor eventGroup · 31 Dec 2024 · company statement ↗
Sells to
Consumers · Small businesses · Enterprises · Public sector
Serves customers in
United Arab Emirates

Leadership

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

Chief executive
Thampi Sudarsanan Chief Executive Officer, LuLu Exchange UAE Confirmed 29 Sep 2026 · luluexchange.com ↗
Chair
Yusuffali M.A. Chairman Confirmed 29 Sep 2026 · luluexchange.com ↗
Compliance / MLRO
Christos Christou Christos Christou Chief Compliance Officer Confirmed 29 Sep 2026 · luluexchange.com ↗
Founder
Adeeb Ahamed Managing Director (LuLu Financial Holdings) Confirmed 29 Sep 2026 · luluexchange.com ↗
Executive
Shaiju Mohandas Deputy CEO, LuLu Exchange UAE Confirmed 29 Sep 2026 · luluexchange.com ↗

Recent events

Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources

  1. Other

    The firm signed an agreement with Crowe UAE to implement the Cygnus Nexus enterprise risk management platform.

    luluexchange.com ↗
  2. Other

    The firm signed an agreement with Dubai Municipality that allows customers to pay the Municipality's services and fines at its branches.

    gulfnews.com ↗
  3. Other

    Ruya Community Islamic Bank announced a banking-as-a-service partnership to offer Shari'a-compliant banking to the firm's SME customers.

    zawya.com ↗

Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, security incidents, licence changes, funding rounds, acquisitions and leadership changes. Each links to its source.

Identifiers

Head-office record

BIC
LULUAEADXXX
How the BIC breaks down
  1. LULUBank
  2. AECountry · United Arab Emirates
  3. ADLocation
  4. XXXBranch · head office
Branch description
Not recorded in the directory
LEI
254900SMCK0JLYIOLU08
LEI record
View on GLEIF ↗
Licence no. · CBUAE-EB
03.01.03.090.2008.01
How the LEI was matched
BIC: Mapped to this BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.Register entry: Matched by Elucidate to GLEIF on name, country and address.
Register-entry ID
cbf5a42df074

Profile

Type
Money service businessRemittance, currency exchange, cheque cashing and money orders. Usually registered with an anti-money-laundering supervisor rather than licensed prudentially. Taken from the licences on the tracked registers.
Regulation
Prudential licenceAuthorised with capital, safeguarding and conduct requirements, e.g. an authorised payment or e-money institution in the EU or UK, a major payment institution in Singapore, or a MiCA crypto-asset service provider.
Register licences
1 entry on 1 register
Activities
  • Currency exchange
Licensed in
United Arab Emirates
Country · region
United Arab Emirates · Middle East & North Africa
Trading venues (MIC)
No MIC registered under this LEI list of 2026-09-17
OFAC sanctions
No listing cites this BIC
EU sanctions
No listing matched this BIC or its LEI
Country sanctions
No country programme

Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.

Ownership and group

GLEIF relationship records

GLEIF’s relationship records name no parent for this LEI, and no group page is published for it.

Addresses

Registered address
MADINAT ZAYED OFFICE TOWER FLOOR 9 NEW AIRPORT ROAD ABU DHABI 5379 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Operational address
MADINAT ZAYED OFFICE TOWER FLOOR 9 NEW AIRPORT ROAD ABU DHABI 5379 ABU DHABI UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

ISO 20022 identification

As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)

A CBPR+ message identifies this institution by its BIC, and may add its LEI or a clearing code. CBPR+ does not allow a name and postal address next to a BIC.

Identified by
BIC, with its LEI
Roles in CBPR+
Any agent, including the instructing and instructed agents

CBPR+

For cross-border payments on Swift: the BIC, with the LEI and clearing code where known

<FinInstnId>
  <BICFI>LULUAEADXXX</BICFI>
  <LEI>254900SMCK0JLYIOLU08</LEI>
</FinInstnId>

Full record

Every ISO 20022 element the directory holds. Base ISO 20022 allows them together. CBPR+ does not allow a name and address next to a BIC

<FinInstnId>
  <BICFI>LULUAEADXXX</BICFI>
  <LEI>254900SMCK0JLYIOLU08</LEI>
  <Nm>LULU INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE</Nm>
  <PstlAdr>
    <TwnNm>ABU DHABI</TwnNm>
    <Ctry>AE</Ctry>
    <AdrLine>MADINAT ZAYED OFFICE TOWER FLOOR 9 NEW AIRPORT ROAD ABU DHABI 5379</AdrLine>
  </PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>

The BIC, name and address are as published in Swift’s BIC directory. The LEI comes from the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI file. Check them against your own records before use.

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Sources & method

Every value comes from a public source, such as Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, GLEIF or the OFAC and EU sanctions lists. Most sources are matched on a BIC or an LEI, not on a name.

Swift GPI membership is matched on names and is indicative. A missing sanctions match does not mean that no listing applies. Always screen against the official lists.

Register entries are not screened against sanctions lists. The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.

An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.

Read the methodology →

Credits for this page

  • CBUAE Register of Licensed Financial Institutions - Exchange Business—Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) · register ↗ as at 24 September 2026
  • Overview, authorisation, partners, products, leadership and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the firm's own website, terms and filings, regulators' registers and notices, company registers and news. Licences, partners, figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
  • Images—logos and photos from Wikimedia Commons (credited with their author and licence) or from the institution's own website, where Wikimedia has none. Elucidate keeps a copy of each; the links lead to the source and the original image. Logo: luluexchange.com (official website) · original; Christos Christou: luluexchange.com (official website) · original.

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