Mohamed Alabbar will be Chairman of Zand’s Board of Directors, which will simplify banking services and meet the needs of both corporate and individual clients.
Mohamed Alabbar, Founder and Former President of Emaar Properties, will head Zand, the first digital bank in the UAE that will cater to both individual and corporate clients.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – April 14, 2021 – Entrepreneurs
“The UAE brings together progressive regulations with commercial, financial, and technological hubs. This provides an ideal environment for a world-leading digital bank that can launch in the UAE and expand beyond. ”
“As the first fully independent digital bank in the country, with a full banking license in the United Arab Emirates, Zand will provide innovative and effective financial solutions that help simplify business and life, and meet the needs of individual and corporate clients,” he said.
Zand will be a “digital economic accelerator” and serve as a platform for broader digital services focused on companies and individuals, according to the statement. The new entity is awaiting final regulatory approval and will start work soon. Olivier Crispin, a veteran banker, recently headed Erada Capital in Dubai and previously worked for BNP Paribas, Citi, and DBS Bank will be the CEO of Zand.
Last year, ADQ, one of the largest holding companies in the region, said it plans to establish a digital bank in the UAE using an old banking license held by First Abu Dhabi Bank.
The rise of fintech companies, the increasingly seasoned consumer base of smartphones, and the slight rise in digital services are forcing banks to increasingly invest in digitization and reduce the number of branches.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to lockdowns and social distancing globally, accelerating the shift to digital services across industries.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest bank in the United States, said in Sibos last year that the digitization of services for banks, which usually takes two years, is being done within two weeks as a result of the pandemic. , Which is an annual conference for the global financial services industry.
Globally, lenders will need to accelerate the shift to digital operations and reconfigure their branch networks as demand has fallen, according to McKinsey. The use of cash and checks was eased last year in most markets, with about 20 to 40 percent of consumers surveyed saying they used significantly less cash, according to the consultancy.
Many lenders in the UAE are offering digital services to appeal to millennials – the growing consumer segment. The market for mobile wallets in the UAE is expected to reach $ 2.3 billion by 2022, according to the US-based consultancy TechSci Research.
A survey by the Boston Consulting Group of more than 2,000 respondents in the UAE last year found that 87 percent of respondents would be willing to open an account with a digital-only bank without branches.
About 53 percent of consumers in the UAE increased their use of mobile applications for banking services during the pandemic, while more than 50 percent of users tried digital banking for the first time as a result of the epidemic restrictions.
Mashreq Bank, the Dubai lender controlled by the Al Ghurair family and the oldest bank in the United Arab Emirates, is spending 500 million dirhams ($ 136 million) on digital transformation over five years. The bank has invested in several digitization initiatives that have helped it improve productivity, achieve cost efficiency, and enhance customer experience.
Mashreq’s digital plans included closing half of the lenders’ branches in the UAE in 2020, and replacing the physical infrastructure with digital ones as the increased use of technology reduces the need for a physical presence. About 97 percent of Mashreq transactions are done through a digital platform.
Read also: Launching a Platform To Monetize Content for Publishers by Facebook
Source: Ukrgate
