If you own or manage a restaurant in Dubai and are considering joining Places UAE as a cashback partner, the first question is usually about cost. Here is a clear, honest breakdown of how the partnership works financially.

How the Places UAE Business Model Works

Places UAE does not charge diners a subscription fee, and it does not charge restaurants a flat monthly listing fee to appear on the platform. Instead, restaurants pay three things on every transaction that comes through the platform:

  • A published 5% commission on the transaction, which is the platform fee for the listing, discovery, and payment infrastructure.
  • A 1.8% payment transaction fee, which covers the cost of processing the payment itself.
  • The cashback percentage the restaurant itself chooses to offer diners, commonly between 10% and 30%.

All three are deducted from the bill amount before the restaurant is paid out. In practice, this means a restaurant's actual net receipt from a Places UAE transaction is the bill total, minus the cashback percentage it set, minus the 5% platform commission, minus the 1.8% transaction fee. The full bill amount is what gets reported and shown to the diner as their spend, but it is not what lands in the restaurant's account.

A Worked Example

Say a restaurant offers 15% cashback and a diner's bill comes to AED 200:

  • Bill total: AED 200
  • Cashback paid to the diner (15%): AED 30
  • Platform commission (5%): AED 10
  • Transaction fee (1.8%): AED 3.60
  • Restaurant's net receipt: AED 156.40

What Restaurants Set and Control

  • The cashback percentage. Restaurants choose their own rate, commonly between 10% and 30%, based on their margins and the customer volume they want to attract.
  • Applicable days and hours. A venue can offer cashback only during off-peak hours or specific days if that suits their business better — for example, boosting Sunday-to-Wednesday traffic while keeping weekend nights at standard pricing.
  • Whether to run promotional boosts. Restaurants can temporarily increase their cashback rate for a launch, a slow period, or a seasonal push.

The 5% platform commission and the 1.8% transaction fee are both fixed and published; neither varies by restaurant or negotiation.

Why Cashback Still Costs Less Than Traditional Marketing

Unlike paid advertising, where you pay for impressions or clicks regardless of whether anyone visits, the cashback, the 5% commission and the 1.8% transaction fee are all only paid out on a completed, real transaction. This makes it a performance-based cost rather than an upfront gamble — a restaurant only spends money when it has already earned a paying customer's bill.

Compare this to the cost of customer acquisition through other channels. Our customer acquisition cost guide for restaurants breaks down typical CAC figures across marketing channels in Dubai, and cashback plus the 5% commission and 1.8% transaction fee still performs as one of the more cost-efficient options because it converts intent into an actual paying visit rather than an impression.

What Restaurants Get Beyond the Cashback Mechanism

  • Listing and discoverability on the Places UAE app, including search that surfaces restaurants based on dish-level and preference-based queries.
  • A free digital menu tool — see our guide to free digital menus for Dubai restaurants.
  • Access to customer insights and repeat-visit data that a standalone loyalty card cannot easily provide.

How to Get Started

Restaurants can apply to join through the Places UAE business page. The onboarding process typically covers setting your cashback rate, uploading your menu, and going live on the platform within a short setup period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a monthly fee to be listed on Places UAE?

There is no flat monthly listing fee. The cost to a restaurant is transaction-based: the cashback percentage it chooses to offer, plus a published 5% platform commission and a 1.8% payment transaction fee on each transaction.

Can a restaurant change its cashback rate later?

Yes. Restaurants can typically adjust their cashback percentage, applicable days, and hours as their business needs change. The 5% platform commission and 1.8% transaction fee are fixed and do not change.

Does Places UAE take a cut on top of the cashback?

Yes. Places UAE charges a published 5% commission plus a 1.8% payment transaction fee on each transaction, on top of whatever cashback percentage the restaurant has chosen to offer. All three are deducted from the bill before the restaurant is paid out.

Does the restaurant receive the full bill amount?

No. While the full bill amount is what is recorded as the diner's spend, the restaurant's actual payout is the bill total minus the cashback paid to the diner, minus the 5% platform commission, minus the 1.8% transaction fee.

For more on setting up your restaurant for success on the platform, read our guide to setting up a cashback system.