Bank Balance Check UAE 2027: Numbers, SMS & Salary Cards

Summarise with AI

Google Preferred Source

Table of Contents

• UAE bank balance check numbers and apps
• Salary card balance check
• How to check your bank balance by SMS
• How to check your bank balance by phone
• How to check your balance at an ATM
• Salary not showing in your balance?
• For employers: get salaries into those balances by the 1st
• FAQs on bank balance checks in the UAE

Short answer: The fastest way to check your bank balance in the UAE is your bank’s mobile app. Without the app, you can call your bank’s phone banking line, use an ATM, or, at ADCB, send an SMS (“BAL” plus your account number to 2626). Salary card holders check their balance in their card provider’s app: C3Pay for Edenred cards, LuLu Money for LuLu Exchange cards, and FAB’s online enquiry page for Ratibi cards. Every number below comes from the bank’s or card provider’s own website.

A balance check on payday comes down to one question: has the salary arrived? Since 1 June 2026, UAE employers must pay salaries through the Wages Protection System by the 1st of each month, so if your balance hasn’t changed by then, the salary is late. That’s a question for your HR team, not your bank.

UAE bank balance check numbers and apps

Salary card balance check

Employers can pay workers who earn up to AED 5,000 a month on a salary card instead of into a bank account. FAB’s Ratibi card and Emirates NBD’s Salary Prepay card are both for employees earning up to AED 5,000. Exchange houses and payroll providers issue their own WPS cards too.

Watch the ATM fees on exchange house cards. Al Ansari Exchange charges AED 2 plus VAT for a PayPlus balance enquiry at a UAE ATM, AED 3 in the GCC and AED 5 elsewhere, and says its PayRoll cards don’t support ATM balance enquiries at all. Checking twice a week at an ATM costs a PayPlus holder more than AED 200 a year in fees. The app is free.

For step-by-step help with FAB’s Ratibi card, see our FAB balance check guide.

How to check your bank balance by SMS

Of the banks above, ADCB publishes a two-way SMS balance enquiry:

1. Register once by sending REG followed by your full account or credit card number to 2626, for example REG 123456030001. Your mobile number must be registered with ADCB.
2. To check your balance, send BAL followed by your account number to 2626, for example BAL 030001.

ADCB says the service is free, though your mobile operator may charge its normal SMS rate.

Emirates Islamic works the other way round. Instead of asking for your balance, you subscribe to an “Available Balance” SMS alert and choose to receive it daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Set it up under SMS Banking in EI+ Online Banking.

You can also switch on transaction alerts in your bank’s app, so you get an SMS the moment your salary is credited. Keep your mobile number up to date with the bank, or the alert goes to an old number.

How to check your bank balance by phone

Every bank in the table runs a phone banking line, and all except RAKBANK list theirs as 24-hour or 24/7. You’ll need your debit card, account or customer number and your phone banking PIN.

Dubai Islamic Bank publishes its menu path. Call 04 609 2222, press 3 for existing customers, enter your card, account or customer number and your 4-digit T-PIN, then press 2-1-2 for your account balance and last five transactions, or 2-2-2 for a card’s available balance.

How to check your balance at an ATM

1. Insert your debit or salary card and enter your PIN.
2. Choose “Balance Enquiry”.
3. Choose on-screen balance or a printed receipt.

Your own bank’s ATMs are the cheapest option. Using another bank’s ATM, or an exchange house card at any ATM, can carry a fee. Check your card’s key facts statement before you make it a habit.

Salary not showing in your balance?

1. Check the date. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, salaries for each month are due by the 1st of the next month.
2. Ask HR or payroll whether the salary file was sent and accepted by their WPS agent. A rejected file means nobody in the company is paid until it’s fixed.
3. Check that your employer has your correct IBAN or salary card number.
4. If you’ve been paid less than your contract salary, ask payroll for your payslip and the reason for any deduction.
5. If the salary is still missing, file a salary complaint with MoHRE through its website or app, or call 600 590000.

Our WPS guide explains the deadline, the 85% rule and what MoHRE does from day 2 onward when salaries are late.

More guides for employees and HR teams: WPS SIF file format | Salary deductions in the UAE | UAE Labour Law 2027 guide

For employers: get salaries into those balances by the 1st

When 50 employees all check their balance on the 1st and see nothing, the calls come to HR, and from the 2nd they also come from MoHRE. Our WPS services team prepares and uploads your salary file before your agent’s cut-off, for staff paid by bank account or salary card, and our UAE payroll services handle the payroll behind it. Get a WPS quote for your headcount.

FAQs on bank balance checks in the UAE

Sources:
Emirates NBD: Help and support |
FAB: Ratibi prepaid card |
ADCB: SMS banking FAQs |
DIB: Phone banking |
Emirates Islamic: Phone banking |
Emirates Islamic: SMS banking |
ADIB: Contact us |
Mashreq: Contact us |
RAKBANK: Contact us |
Edenred: C3Pay FAQs |
LuLu Money: FAQs |
Al Ansari Exchange: WPS key facts statement |
UAE Government Portal: Payment of salaries and wages

Tareq Badarin

Research and Publications Department
Payroll Middle East
Tel: +971 4 2500251 | Email: sales@payrollmiddleeast.com