Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), UAE’s leading financial institution, will continue to develop its digital banking ecosystem as more customers switch to digital and will be at the forefront of banking innovation.
In line with its vision to become the world’s most innovative Islamic bank, ADIB has invested heavily in areas that will help it grow further in the future, including introducing new products and developing digital capabilities.
In 2021, ADIB recorded an 11 percent increase in digitally active customers. Currently, the bank has more than 700,000 digitally enabled customers of which a record, 75 percent of customers are active on a daily or weekly basis.
In the last two years, ADIB has introduced innovative features and services that provide easy and convenient banking services to customers. Currently, 40 percent of new customers open an account digitally through the face recognition feature. ADIB is the first bank in the UAE to offer this service by performing secure verification immediately before opening an account and with direct access to the UAE Government’s customer database.
About 30 percent of customers get instant digital personal finance through the bank’s app. At the same time, digital remittances accounted for 98 percent, while consumer profiles recorded 79 percent of the digital update process. Withdrawals and check deposits decreased within the branches, and more than 98 percent of withdrawals are done digitally, which represents an increasing reliance on digital payment services.
Digital adoption in corporate banking has also witnessed strong growth, with a 95 percent increase over the same period last year. Around 90 percent of corporate transactions are done digitally, up from 60 percent last year in 2021.
Mr. Sameh Awadallah, Acting Global Head of Retail Banking, stated that, “ADIB has been consistently moving towards digitalization and have achieved milestones in this area. We have now a solid digital infrastructure that we can capitalize on for our customers. We are proud to see fast digital adoption across our retail and corporate segments. Our teams have consistently worked hard to deliver the best digital banking services and tools to our customers to ensure they have everything they need to make easy and simple financial decisions. Our customers can expect more simplicity and convenience this year as we ramp up our digital offerings and capabilities.”
Last year, ADIB launched a series of new digital initiatives aimed at meeting the expanded needs of its customers.
WhatsApp chatbot
The bank launched ADIB Chat Banking, the UAE’s first Emirati customer care WhatsApp chatbot, in August. It supports customers with instant access to important information about their accounts and finances using general requests. The verified chatbot account now has over 150,000 users.
Digital kiosks
ADIB’s integrated digital kiosks, branded ‘Smart Tellers’ by ADIB, offer the services of a mini-branch and are available all days of the week, allowing customers to access a wide variety of banking services and products that are not typically available through traditional ATMs, such as instantly obtaining a personalized card and updating account details.
Turbo
The bank’s digital ecosystem for auto-related needs, “Turbo”, brings together several auto-industry partners on one digital platform to facilitate and centralize all consumers’ car-related needs, such as buying and selling cars, Takaful car insurance, and car finance.
Amwali
Amwali is ADIB’s ground-breaking proposition that brings together an entire suite of banking products and innovative technology to enable young customers to enjoy a whole new way of banking that is paperless, signatureless, and branchless.
Al Ghaf Paperless Programme
ADIB launched the Al Ghaf Paperless Program, an initiative aimed at eliminating paper usage at branches through digital banking solutions. Set to conclude by the end of 2022, the first phase of implementing the Al Ghaf paperless strategy involves minimizing the consumption of more than 2 million sheets of paper across ADIB’s branches by the end of 2021.
In addition, the Bank deploys AI technology and bots to clear cheques and automate certain processes. The goal is to have 65 percent of cheques cleared digitally and 90 percent automated processes, which will reduce cheque processing time and improve performance due to better risk management and fraud prevention.
