New fintech platform converts refunds, trade-ins, and incentives into instant digital value, aligned with the UAE’s growing shift toward mobile-first, gift-card driven spending
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 11th February – Basatne, the global leader in sustainable trade solutions and reverse logistics, has launched ORBT, a digital payouts platform designed to meet the UAE’s rapidly growing demand for seamless, flexible, mobile-first value. ORBT responds to a clear shift in consumer and enterprise behaviour toward instant, digital payout models that prioritise speed, convenience, and usability over traditional cash-based processes.
Despite this shift, most refunds and trade-in payouts continue to rely on cash-based processes. Once money is returned to a customer’s bank account, value exits the brand ecosystem entirely, reducing retention and breaking the circular flow of demand.
ORBT addresses this inefficiency by converting payouts into digital value, including credits, gift cards, or wallets, ensuring value remains within a defined network of partner brands. This closed-loop approach keeps spend, engagement, and demand circulating within the system rather than leaking out through cash exits.
Platform-level insights show that 75% of millennials prefer digital gift cards, while 77% of consumers value the immediate delivery of digital rewards. In addition, 66% of digital gift cards are purchased for self-use rather than gifting, reinforcing their role as a spending mechanism. Usage frequency continues to rise, with 43% of open-loop gift card users purchasing monthly or more often, while 50% of consumers cite convenience as the primary driver. On the enterprise side, 52% of businesses already use gift cards within employee benefit programmes.
Built on Basatne’s proprietary infrastructure, ORBT integrates directly with brands enabling instant digital refunds, trade-in credits, loyalty rewards, and employee incentives at the point of approval. Digital value issued through ORBT can be redeemed across more than 4,000 regional and global retail partners, offering flexibility for consumers while maintaining ecosystem control for businesses.
“In circular economies, value should not exit the system as cash,” said Ammar Aboulnasr, CEO of Basatne. ORBT embeds fintech directly into circular workflows—transforming refund and trade-ins into digital value that is instant, traceable, and redeemable across partner networks. This not only improves customer experience and retention, but also aligns financial flows with ESG and circularity objectives..”
“Cash refunds are increasingly misaligned with how consumers want to receive value,” said Mohammad Sleiman, CEO of Basatne MENA”. ORBT replaces fragmented payout models with a unified digital system that keeps value in motion, improves customer experience, and strengthens retention.
The launch of ORBT comes as the reverse trade and buyback market across the UAE and Saudi Arabia is projected to exceed USD 30 billion, representing a significant volume of refunds and payouts that can be digitised and retained within structured ecosystems. Basatne aims to begin penetrating this opportunity through ORBT by 2026.
Designed for scale, ORBT supports use cases across e-commerce, telecom, fintech, logistics, hospitality, and HR. Planned enhancements include integrations with Buy Now, Pay Later platforms, eSIM-linked loyalty programmes, and crypto-enabled payouts, including stable coins.
With ORBT, Basatne continues to build digital infrastructure that transforms payouts from a cost centre into a strategic driver of efficiency, retention, and circular value.
