October 15, 2019

ABU DHABI, 14th October, 2019 (WAM) -- Banks operating in the UAE have increased their investments in bonds since the beginning of 2019 to make for losses caused by a fall in proceeds from their other investment instruments, including loans.

The value of investments in bonds by banks during the first eight months of 2019 amounted to AED10.3 billion, which increased their total investments to AED91.2 billion at the end of August, a growth of 12.7 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

The UAE Central Bank cut its key interest rate in August for the second time"...

October 13, 2019

GCC banks will successfully navigate a less-than-favourable macroeconomic environment in 2020 supported by their solid financial profiles, a leading global ratings agency said.

'We believe that GCC banks' financial profiles will remain stable in 2020, absent any unexpected shocks. In our view, the two main sources of latent risk for GCC banks are geopolitical risk and a significant drop in oil prices, with the former including a potential full-scale military intervention in the region and the latter a weaker global economy,' S&P Global Ratings said in a report.

In"...

October 10, 2019

The Central Bank of the UAE directed local banks to reduce the early settlement fee on mortgages to a maximum of 1 per cent or Dh10,000, whichever is less, to those borrowers who want to exit their mortgages early.

The apex bank said in a circular that borrowers who had already paid 3 per cent settlement fee can get the refund from their banks within 30 days.

The early settlement fee was set at 3 per cent in June 2018.

'Early settlement or partial settlement fee for applying to home loans"...

October 3, 2019

ABU DHABI, 2nd October, 2019 (WAM) -- The Central Bank of the UAE, CBUAE, has announced that it will be issuing a commemorative coin in celebration of Hazza Al Mansoori, the first UAE national to travel to space.

'His launch marked a significant day in our history as a nation,' the Central Bank said in a statement today.

'We also take the time to remember our Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the pivotal role he played in Hazza and UAE’s success. For back in the 1980s, fueled by a strong desire to have the UAE be a key"...

October 2, 2019

A retail business unit of Standard Chartered Bank in the UAE has let go of about 100 staff as the lender increasingly digitises its services.

The third-party business unit of the bank has made the job cuts in recent weeks, a bank official said on Tuesday, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We are continuously reviewing our businesses and accelerating our shift towards digital and consumer preferences,” a spokesperson of the bank said in a statement, declining to comment on specific details.

Lenders"...

October 2, 2019

Visa (NYSE:V) and Revolut, the leading fintech in Europe, today announced a new agreement that will help Revolut expand its business globally. Leveraging Visa’s brand, scale and global acceptance footprint, Revolut will be able to bring its product offerings to five new regions, reaching 24 new markets, for a total of 56 markets globally. Under the terms of the agreement, Revolut will primarily issue Visa-branded cards in the global expansion.

Revolut"...

October 1, 2019

The UAE’s Central Bank is seeking comments and feedback from experts on a draft regulation on loan-based Crowdfunding Platforms CFPS, before it is approved and issued, CBUAE has announced.

In a statement published by the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency, the objective of the proposed regulation is to put in place a framework for licensing, regulating and monitoring loan-based CFPs and to establish standards that the Central Bank will expect them to follow.

These requirements, the CBUAE added, will protect the financial system from the risks posed by CFPs"...

September 30, 2019

ABU DHABI, 29th September, 2019 (WAM) -- The Central Bank of UAE, CBUAE, is seeking comments and feedback from experts on a draft regulation on loan-based Crowdfunding Platforms,CFPs, before it is officially approved and issued.

Crowdfunding is solicitation of funds from persons through a platform for a specific purpose.

The apex bank says the objective of introducing this regulation is to put in place a framework for licensing, regulating and monitoring loan-based CFPs and to set out the standards that the Central Bank expects them to meet. The purpose of both the"...

September 26, 2019

DUBAI, 25th September, 2019 (WAM) -- Emirates NBD today announced that it has created E20., the UAE’s first digital business bank for entrepreneurs and Small and Meduim-sized Enterprises, SMEs, businesses.

In a press release issued by Emirates NBD on Wednesday, E20. will enable start-ups, sole proprietors, freelancers, gig economy workers, fintechs and insurtechs and small-to-medium sized companies to open a bank account and carry out their day-to-day banking requirements easily through a mobile app as well as access a variety of services to help them in managing their business.

Commenting"...

September 26, 2019

DUBAI, 25th September, 2019 (WAM) -- Catering to the growing banking demand of SMEs, Mashreq today announced the launch of NeoBiz, the first digital banking proposition in UAE that will offer customised digital offerings for SME’s including start-ups and young businesses in the country.

With the motto, 'Built for business', NeoBiz offers key services including digital onboarding, transparent and simplified products, digital assistant and full transaction capability online. In addition, it offers value added services with single application and preferred pricing.

Supplementing"...