Dubai: Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has strengthened its digital banking proposition through a collaboration with Huawei, becoming the UAE’s first Islamic bank to launch its mobile banking app on the HUAWEI AppGallery platform.
HUAWEI AppGallery is the third largest mobile app marketplace globally. This new partnership with Emirates Islamic will enable the bank’s customers to access their accounts and cards from the convenience of their Huawei mobile devices, allowing them to easily transfer money or apply for products such as finance and credit cards.
The HUAWEI AppGallery has more than 500 million monthly active users globally and above 700 million Huawei devices. The collaboration with a prominent technology company such as Huawei reflects Emirates Islamic’s commitment to digital innovation and its ongoing efforts to work with like-minded technology partners to deliver seamless and secure banking to UAE consumers.
Emirates Islamic’s digital-first approach has been steadily gaining traction, with over 70% of customers now banking through online and mobile banking channels. The bank was the first Islamic financial institution in the UAE to launch a Mobile Banking App with high customer ratings
Farid Al Mulla, Deputy Head of Consumer Banking and Wealth Management at Emirates Islamic said: “Our partnership with Huawei reflects our commitment to continue driving digital banking innovation in the Islamic financial services sector. Through such partnerships, we aim to continue to enhance our customers’ banking experiences by offering safe, secure, easy and seamless banking to smartphone users through the HUAWEI AppGallery.”
Lu Geng, Vice President Middle East and Africa Global Partnerships & Eco-Development said: “Huawei works closely with local partners in the banking and finance sector across a wide range of areas during the development of an app from distribution, operation to data analytics and marketing. This focus on supporting high-quality, innovative apps that meet the needs of local users, while also offering popular global applications, has enabled HUAWEI AppGallery to quickly become a top three global app marketplace.”
HUAWEI AppGallery is available in over 170 countries and regions in the world with 261 billion user app downloads in the first half of 2020. In addition, over 2 million global developers have joined the Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem with more than 96,000 applications already integrated with HMS Core worldwide, offering users even more unique experiences.
About Emirates Islamic:
Emirates Islamic (DFM: EIB), part of Emirates NBD Group, is one of the fastest growing banks in the UAE. Established in 2004 as Emirates Islamic Bank, the bank has established itself as a major player in the highly competitive financial services sector in the UAE.
Emirates Islamic offers a comprehensive range of Shari’a-compliant products and services across the Personal, Business and Corporate banking spectrum with a network of 58 branches and 210 ATMs/CDMs across the UAE. In the fast-growing area of online and mobile banking, the bank is an innovator, being the first Islamic bank in the UAE to launch a mobile banking app and offer Apple Pay, as well as being the first Islamic bank in the world to launch Chat Banking services for customers via WhatsApp.
Emirates Islamic received a number of international and regional awards in 2019, in recognition of its focus on customer excellence, robust performance, and innovation in Islamic banking. The bank was recognised as ‘Best Islamic Bank, UAE’ at the World Finance Awards 2019; ‘Best Islamic Bank’ at the Global Islamic Finance Awards 2019; ‘SME Bank of the Year’ by Enterprise Agility Awards; and ‘Most Innovative Islamic Bank’ by Islamic Finance News magazine. As an Emiratisation champion in the banking sector, Emirates Islamic was the recipient of the ‘Human Resources Development’ award by Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS).
Emirates Islamic was also awarded ‘Most Innovative Islamic Retail Bank in the UAE’ and ‘Excellence in Digital Banking’ at the 5th Islamic Retail Banking Awards 2019; ‘Best Retail Bank’ and ‘Best Digital Banking Proposition’ by Islamic Business & Finance Magazine; and ‘Best Banking Product’ (Kunooz) by Global Banking & Finance Review. The Bank was recognised for ‘Most Improved Website’ at the 2018 Service Olympian Awards.
As part of its commitment to the UAE community, the Emirates Islamic Charity Fund provides financial aid to those in need, with a focus on food, shelter, health, education and social welfare contributions.
