Business & Money | Sunday 29 May, 2016 5:19 pm |

 Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, bagged ‘Mobile Payment Product of the Year 2016’ at the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services held recently in Hong Kong. The bank’s mobile app was recognised for its DirectRemit, Shake n’ Save, and mePay mobile based services and the launch of new important features including the Mobile Cheque Deposit facility and Mobile Queuing System.

The award ceremony was held in conjunction with the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention, one of the leading retail banking events in the Asian market. Emirates NBD’s Mobile Banking App was lauded for its DirectRemit platform that allows customers to transfer funds in less than sixty seconds to India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Pakistan via a smartphone or online at competitive exchange rates and zero service charge. The introduction of DirectRemit has resulted in a 97% increase in transfers among customers within the India and Philippines channels, while services such as the Shake n’ Save mobile savings account and mePay, an easy to use mobile to mobile transfer services, have become preferred ways of banking on mobile.

Commenting on the win, Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President & Group Head – Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD said: “We are extremely proud that our mobile banking app has been recognised internationally. At Emirates NBD, we are constantly trying to make banking simple and efficient by introducing digital innovation. DirectRemit is a game-changer in the UAE funds remittances sector as it has completely transformed the transfer process by making it quicker, cost-effective and accessible at your fingertips via online and mobile banking.”

The bank’s mobile banking app was also recognised for implementation of two innovative services introduced last year including the Mobile Cheque Deposit Facility and mobile queuing system. Customers can capture the image of the cheque and then upload it via the bank's mobile app, saving them the hassle of visiting a branch or a Cheque Deposit Machine (CDM). In addition, the bank has introduced the ‘Mobile Queuing Ticket’ service, a functionality that enables all our customers to obtain a queuing ticket for their branch transactions via the mobile app, even before reaching a branch, thus reducing the waiting time at the branch.

 

Sarkar added: “Our cheque deposit facility displays our client-centric strategy and serves both private and priority banking customers. The mobile queuing system is already being used by many of our customers and has added significant convenience. Going forward, we will continue to create digital banking solutions that automate and simplify daily banking services.”

The winners of The Asian Banker Awards were selected after a stringent three-month evaluation process based on a balanced and transparent scorecard administered by prominent global bankers, consultants and academics. The event in Hong Kong was attended by 200 senior bankers from award winning financial institutions in countries across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.