One of the largest banking groups in the Middle East, Emirates NBD has entered into a partnership with the world’s largest innovation enabler Plug and Play Abu Dhabi in order to enhance the bank’s open innovation ecosystem globally.
Through Plug and Play Abu Dhabi’s strong global network, Emirates NBD will extend its FinTech collaboration footprint to a wider reach of cutting-edge technology players from around the world.
According to the statement, the partnership program will be fully customized to Emirates NBD’s priority areas, in which Plug and Play Abu Dhabi will actively outreach and screen global startups that best fit Emirates NBD’s business needs to significantly improve its speed of innovation.
Miguel Rio Tinto Group CIO Emirates NBD
“The collaboration presents an excellent opportunity to explore FinTech capabilities and engage with the brightest startups from around the world, enabling us to implement solutions to our most critical business needs while improving the experience for our financial products and services. Emirates NBD is at the forefront of adopting new business models and emerging technologies by continuously partnering with government entities, FinTech accelerators, corporates, and regulators, to create compelling propositions for customers. Over the years we have successfully collaborated with several startups and accelerator platforms in the region and globally and will continue doing so.”
Mr. Babak Ahmadzadeh, Managing Director of Plug and Play Abu Dhabi said that, “Over the past 15 years, Fintech Investment and Acceleration has been one of our biggest areas of expertise. Of our 32 unicorns, 10 have been fintech or insuretech; and of 40+ offices worldwide, more than 10 have a Fintech operation over 70 of the most forward-thinking financial institutions to collaborate and innovate with startups.”
“Through this partnership, Plug and Play Abu Dhabi is humbled and excited to work with Emirates NBD to create meaningful fintech collaboration that impacts the bank’s innovation journey and supports digital transformation in the UAE, which is becoming more and more recognized as a global startup and venture capital hub week-by-week,” Mr. Ahmadzadeh added.
