Inside Dubizzle's bet on rewarding rent payments

Published: 2026-06-18T09:31:34.000Z

Paying rent is one of those routine financial chores that has barely changed in decades, usually handled through cheques that give the tenant nothing back. Dubizzle Group is betting that can change, making a strategic investment in Tern, a UAE rental rewards platform that lets tenants pay rent by card and earn points.

Paying rent is one of those routine financial chores that has barely changed in decades, usually handled through post dated cheques or bank transfers that give the tenant nothing back. Dubizzle Group is betting that can change, and it has put money behind the idea. The classifieds and property group has made a strategic investment in Tern, a UAE based rental rewards platform, through its venture arm Dubizzle Group Ventures. The deal will see Tern integrated exclusively into Dubizzle's two big property portals, Bayut and dubizzle, letting tenants pay rent by credit card while earning rewards points, with no extra fees for using the card. The mechanics are simple enough to explain in a sentence, which is part of the appeal. A tenant links their tenancy, adds a UAE issued Visa or Mastercard, and the platform pays the landlord directly, while the renter keeps both their own card points and Tern's loyalty points, redeemable across a network of more than 200 retail, travel and lifestyle partners including names like Amazon, Noon, Carrefour and VOX Cinemas. For landlords and property managers, the pitch is a fully digital rent collection process with instant settlement, cutting the reliance on paper cheques and the operational headaches that come with them. Tern was founded in 2024 by Said Al Sayyed, launched in May 2025, and already processes more than 150 million dirhams in annualized rent payment volume. The logic behind Dubizzle's move is about expanding past its core business of helping people find a home. The group has been steadily building out a broader property ecosystem, adding tools around valuation, market data and broker visibility, including its 2025 acquisition of Property Monitor, and Tern slots into another layer of that journey, the part that happens after someone has actually signed a lease. The strategic value is the audience, since Dubizzle's platforms draw roughly 58 million monthly visits and 20 million monthly users across the region, giving Tern access to a large pool of high intent renters and property professionals that would otherwise take years to reach. The company's investment lead, Surya Raviganesh, framed it as backing founders who can create value around its property, automotive and consumer marketplaces. There are real questions the model will have to answer over time. Credit card rent payments work well for users when the fees are low or absorbed, but platforms in this space have to balance payment processing costs, bank relationships, merchant economics and fraud controls, all while persuading landlords to accept the system. The durability of the business will ultimately depend on repeat usage and how deeply it embeds into property management workflows rather than the novelty of earning points. The regional read fits a clear pattern. Rent is among the largest fixed expenses for households in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where population growth and tight supply have kept demand resilient, which makes those big recurring payments an obvious target for fintech and loyalty innovation. The deal also reflects how the UAE's major digital marketplaces are racing to deepen their grip on the entire property transaction chain, layering payments, data and rewards on top of plain listings as they compete to own the full rental relationship.