How to Develop a BNPL App Like Tamara: A Complete Guide

Dubai has transformed into a city with two distinct sides: one side is home to individuals living in extravagant mansions and driving Bugattis. 

On the other side, there are two groups of people: expats and natives, who are filled with dreams of achieving success in their lives. 

It is one of the most populated and aspiration-driven cities, which gives you everything you worked for and dreamt of. 

The arrival of platforms like the Tamara app fuels the exponential growth of Dubai’s business ecosystem. 

Tamara is one of the most popular and well-designed Buy Now Pay Later apps in Dubai, ensuring that money never comes between you and your dreams. 

The Tamara app allows you to purchase everything you work for and convert it into four easy monthly installments to pay later. 

Consider this your guide on how to develop a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) app like Tamara and step into the world of Dubai’s buy now, pay later ecosystem.

What is the Tamara App?

Tamara App is one of the finest and most talked-about buy now, pay later apps in the UAE’s fintech ecosystem; it is the brainchild of visionary Saudi entrepreneurs Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah, and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

The platform was launched in 2020 in Saudi Arabia, and since then it has raised almost 100 million dollars’ worth of series B equity.

It is a one-stop solution for all your financial needs, as it gives you the option to pay later in over 4 months of easy installments.

The most important aspect of the platform is that it works on Sharia compliants, so there are no late payment fees. 

The Tamara app features big brands like Shein, Ikea, and AliExpress as well to shop online and then split your payment into 4 easy monthly installments.

The app features a Farah discount, which is exclusive to the platform and can be redeemed easily on the checkout page.

Why Do Businesses Want to Build an App Like Tamara?

Dubai has one of the fastest-growing business ecosystems, from established tech giants to new startups, along with a gradually increasing expat population.

The city, apart from its vibrant culture and state of the infrastructure is famous for its hustle culture.

People from around the globe come to Dubai with a dream in their eyes, and sometimes all they need is a bit of financial freedom and BNPL sorts these issues for them.

That is why investing in an app like Tamara in Dubai could be a game changer for your business as the natives and expats both rely on these sorts of platforms for easy money.

The rise of buy now pay later is only going up from here so much so that as per the data from GlobeNewswire shows that the BNPL payment market in the United Arab Emirates is expected to grow by 15.6% each year, reaching 2.84 billion dollars in 2025.

The BNPL market does not stop here as it grew very quickly from 2021 to 2024, with a CAGR of 24.5%.

The market is forecasted to keep growing with an expected CAGR of 11.2% from 2025 to 2030.

It is expected that the BNPL sector will grow from 2.45 billion dollars in 2024 to about 4.82 billion dollars in 2030.

Must-Have Features in a BNPL App

The Tamara app offers a seamless user experience; that is why it has become the preferred choice for e-commerce users with its robust security and ease of use.

It is the perfect combination of enhanced aesthetics and seamless functioning that works flawlessly, even when you want it to function across platforms.

Tamara Dubai has set such a high standard that every cross-platform app aspires to include features like Tamara.

Here is the list of all the features that make Tamara UAE the primary choice for all users.

User Registration & KYC Verification

Tamara app allows you to sign in using your e-mail or mobile which simplifies the process for users and provides customers with the option for easy and seamless check-in.

Users just need to share basic details related to their phone or e-mail and credit info to check their eligibility amount.

Once you are done with providing all the necessary information they will give you the updated amount, which you can use for your next purchase.

Flexible Installment Plans

The installment payment plans give the user the option to divide the purchasing amount into four easy installments; they just need to add their card details.

To take advantage of the four easy payments, you only need to pay the first installment at the time of purchase; the remaining amounts will be divided and billed once a month.

Instant Credit Approval & AI Scoring

The Tamara app gives users the leverage of instant approval as per your cibil scores with advanced features like AI driven scoring for faster disbursements.

Once the profile has been passed by the approvers, you will get a notification about the eligible amount. Users can also opt for auto-pay, through which the amount gets deducted automatically with pre and post deduction notifications.

Users receive a notification before the payment deduction, allowing them to choose whether to proceed with the payment or cancel it.

Payment Gateway Integration

The integration of payment gateways enables merchants to share the payment page with their shoppers. 

The app makes it effortless for the store owners, admin, supervisor, and sales manager to create and share payment links with their customers.

This makes the whole process simplified so that users do not need to look for any other payment options.

Merchant Dashboard & Order Management

Users can get all the insights on your store’s performance metrics with a dedicated merchant dashboard, which includes revenue generated by Tamara and the number of people who have applied in a whole month or year.

What separates an app like Tamara UAE from other normal apps is that users get a dedicated account management system.

This gives you the leverage of viewing details on personal information, future payments, purchase history and payments made.

Admin Panel with Risk & Fraud Management

The Admin panel gives users centralized control over users, merchants, transactions, payments, refunds, and disputes, with a real-time dashboard.

Credit scoring, spending limits, and reminders to pay back loans are all part of risk management that helps keep defaults from happening.

Apart from that, the integration of fraud detection includes real-time anomaly monitoring, AI-powered identity checks, device fingerprinting, and compliance tools like AML/KYC/PCI-DSS audit trails.

How to Build a BNPL App Like Tamara?

It is also important to understand that the next step in developing an app like Tamara requires in-depth expertise and core competence.

Consult with the best mobile app development company in UAE that supports agile and transparent development so that you can be an active part of it.

For your better understanding, we have curated a step-by-step development guide with careful considerations so that you can be well aware of the development workflow.

Conduct Market Research & Regulatory Planning

Let’s begin by thoroughly researching and analyzing the UAE market trends. Once you get the knack of it, you will understand what will work and what will not; this will also help you with planning other aspects of the development.

Perform research on competitors and learn from their mistakes and improve your app quality so that you get a scalable app that is dynamic in nature.

Define Your Business & Revenue Model

Tamara offers interest-free installments to help businesses get paid up front without having to pay fees and manage credit risk using artificial intelligence.

The core focus of these businesses is on young people in emerging markets like the Middle East, as it offers seamless e-commerce integration for 2 to 4 payments over weeks.

Platforms like Tamara earn from more than one way, such as merchant fees, which are 2-8% or 50-70% of the total, and then late fees, which are 15-25%, interest on long plans, and subscriptions.

Design UI/UX for a Seamless Experience

The next step is to come up with a seamless and interactive User interface, which serves as the face of your platform.

The app should be the perfect mix of seamless functioning and enhanced aesthetics for a finely tuned customer experience. Ensure that the app doesn’t get delayed or lag while users are processing something on it.

Integrate Payment Gateway & Wallets

The integration of payment gateways is a defining step during the development, as it can make or break the app’s functionality if not done properly.

The integration of wallets will simplify app transactions, as users can receive and pay through the same application. 

Implement Security & Compliance Features

The integration of security features like end-to-end encryption, PCI-DSS compliance, secure payment tokenization, biometric authentication, role-based access control, and fraud detection gives strong safety to the users’ data and keeps them safe from potential threats.

They are there to keep transactions and customer data safe, make sure that KYC/AML checks, audit logs and data privacy compliance such as GDPR and local UAE laws are followed.

Develop Admin Panel

The development of a robust admin panel serves as the brain for running the platform seamlessly.

This also allows for frequent identity checks while onboarding merchants; this also keeps checks on transactions, settling disputes, making reports, and keeping track of compliance.

To effectively manage and control the entire BNPL ecosystem, it should have analytics dashboards, fraud alerts, credit risk configuration and installment management controls.

Testing, Launch & Maintenance

Finally  the design is ready, the next thing to do is to check if the app is functioning seamlessly as per the industry standards.

This can be done by performing frequent tests on it and optimizing the application as per the test results. It is the best way to ensure the launched app is perfect and ready for the market.

How much does it cost to Build an BNPL App Like Tamara?

The complexity of the app and the features required for its integration determine the cost of development.

Apart from that, another crucial aspect that significantly affects the development cost is the geographical location of the onboarded development experts.

For your better understanding, let’s dive deep into this with a carefully curated phase-wise development table.

Here is a carefully curated phase wise development table for the cost to build an app like Tamara.

Development phase	Key Features	Approximate Cost in AED	Estimated Time
Research & Market Analysis	Market analysis, feature definition, wireframing	11,000 to 36,700 AED	2 to 4 weeks
UI/UX Design	User merchant interfaces prototyping	18,350 to 73,400 AED	3 to 6 weeks
Frontend Development	Mobile app for both  iOS and Android users	29,360 to 110,100 AED	6 to 10 weeks
Backend Development	Servers, APIs, payment logic, data security	29,360 to 146,800 AED	8 to 12 weeks
Payment Integration	Gateways, split payments, EMI setup	7,340 to 36,700 AED	2 to 4 weeks
Admin Panel	Dashboards  analytics and onboarding	11,010 to 73,400 AED	4 to 6 weeks
Security & Compliance	KYC Encryption/AML fraud protection tools	11,010 to 91,750 AED	3 to 5 weeks
Quality checks & optimizations	Bug fixes, frequent testing and optimizations	7,340 to 36,700 AED	3 to 6 weeks
Deployment & Launch	App stores, server setup	3,670 to 18,350 AED	1 to 2 weeks
Project Management	Coordination and documentation	7,340 to 55,050 AED	10% of total time
Total cost	Final Product	135,780 to 678,950 AED	4 to 9 months

How Can We Help You to Build an App Like Tamara?

If you are a business looking to develop a buy now, pay later solution like the Tamara app for your business, Emizentech has got you covered. 

We are your one-stop solution for all development needs, as we do our very best to give you a final product that is adaptable to the ever-changing market trends of Dubai’s BNPL market.

Our dedicated mobile app developers have their core competence in app development with vast experience in Dubai’s marketing trends.

We understand that businesses need solutions that are sustainable for longer durations; that is why we take the development of your app with utmost seriousness.

Being a market leader in the dense ecosystem of UAE app development, we ensure that we are with you post-deployment as well.

Our core focus is to go beyond the contract and assist you with every possible problem you face with your product.

What truly separates us from the rest of us is our will to support you whenever you need, as we provide round-the-clock support 365 days a year to our customers.

Ensure robust security of your app development with transparent and agile development, as we think it is our moral responsibility to make you an active part of the development process so that you are well aware of each and every development process and duration. 

Final Verdict

To sum this up, the development of a platform like the Tamara app requires in-depth expertise and core competence in development; that is why many businesses look to hire mobile app developers to simplify this process.

It is safe to say that developing a BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) app could be the best decision you could make for your business.

What makes them so important is the growing popularity of apps like Tamara in the daily routine of Dubai-based businesses.

We ensure that you get a final product that is dynamic to its core so that the adaptation to market fluctuation becomes easier for your business’s long-term survival.

The development of an app like this should have been done keeping both iOS and android users in mind, which get a high number of users as they have traction from both user bases.

Choosing the right development partner, like Emizentech, streamlines your app development easily so that the only thing you need to focus on is your business growth and enhanced return on your investments.

FAQs