How Network International scaled to MEA leadership on Way4

From legacy constraints to rapid innovation — discover how Network International transformed into the largest digital payment provider in the Middle East and Africa.

Why it matters:

Way4 enabled cost efficiency, innovation velocity, and pan-regional scale — proving that modernization is not just IT evolution, but a growth strategy.

The challenge

Network International was running on Vision Plus, a legacy system that:

Made product development 3× more expensive
Required large COBOL teams
Slowed time-to-market to months
Limited innovation in loyalty, wallets, and fraud prevention
Hindered regional expansion

Their ambition required a scalable platform fit for modern payments leadership.

The solution: migration to OpenWay’s Way4

Network International partnered with OpenWay to launch Network One, a new digital payments platform built on Way4 — replacing Vision Plus across issuing, acquiring, and switching.

Way4 delivered:

Way4 Card Issuing to serve 20+ million cardholders
Way4 Merchant Acquiring to enable cross-border omnichannel payments acceptance in the Middle East and Africa
MDES and VDEP tokenization, installment plans
Flexible and fast payment product launch based on behavioral analytics
Seamless migration of Emirates NBD’s card portfolio — the largest in the region
x3 lower development costs (1.03 USD/card vs 1.8 USD with Vision Plus)
Only 1 Way4 specialist needed per bank — no niche COBOL teams required

Business results

Revenue Growth

+40% in 2 years ($352M → $490M)

Processed Volume

+78% ($33B → $59B)

Transactions

+63% (980M → 1.6B)

Speed to Market

Months → Weeks

Regional Expansion

Now active in 56 markets, powering banks & fintechs

Investor Confidence

IPO at $1.4B → Acquired for $2.8B

Data period

2022–2024

Suvo Sarkar Senior Executive Vice President Emirates NBD

“The Network One platform offers us enhanced speed and scalability, and will allow us to provide more customized and innovative banking and payment solutions for our customers, helping us to remain their bank of choice.”

Simon Haslam Group CEO Network International

“Successfully implementing Network One migration for a large-scale cards player such as Emirates NBD is a solid testament of our expertise and capacity.”

Hans Van Buylaere Managing Director (Middle East) OpenWay

“This project proves that Way4 solutions by OpenWay are reliable and ready to meet new market requirements. In the Middle East market, where cards and bespoke payments are developing rapidly, we are ready to implement our best practices and share our experience in this special partnership.”