Page 66 - AAE PR REPORT - January 2024

1/15/24, 9:18 AM UAE's biggest banks turn apps into stock trade platforms - is this next big battle in financial services? | Banking – Gulf News
“AI-driven KYC, electronic due diligence, global FX settlements, domestic and

international money transfer became fully doable without visiting a bank branch or

speaking to customer services department.”

All of which find favour with today’s retail investors, populated by a significant number
of millennials and Gen Z’ers.

So, to keep them clicking on stocks and more, banks and trading platforms need to

ensure optimum CX – or user experiences.

“The battle for wealth management is going to be won through user experience,” said

Sarkar. “What matters most to the investor is how intelligent, intuitive and rich the app

is. And how much analytics, choice and personalisation is provided.

“It’s an exciting time for customers to invest…”

Banks in the UAE are fully clued into that sentiment – and hope their clients will choose

their apps to do so.

Which UAE bank is adding another feature to their app:

* Emirates Islamic Bank launched a Sharia-compliant digital wealth and equity trading

platform on its EI + app - and became the first Islamic bank in the UAE to offer such
a feature. The platform allows clients to manage investments by trading in Shariah-

compliant equities in both local and international markets. As an introductory offer,

customers using it will be able to trade in stocks at zero commissions until March 31

2024.

* Mashreq introduced the 'Mashreq UAE' aimed at providing a 'superior' digital

experience. It merges the original Mashreq app with the Mashreq NEO one for a

unified, single-login platform. "Because of the demonstrated success of our digital
banking platforms in the UAE and other global markets, we have undertaken expansion

to new markets, such as Egypt, Pakistan, and scaling up our presence in the GCC,"

said Fernando Morillo, Group Head of Retail Banking, Mashreq.

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