Mashreq Al Islami continues to demonstrate its digital leadership in Islamic banking through the breadth and quality of the services and products it provides. It is Euromoney’s best Islamic digital bank this year.
That leadership, under group chief executive officer Ahmed Abdelaal, was shown in many different areas across retail banking and wealth management, ultimately creating a near purely digital customer experience that other Islamic banks struggle to match.
The focus of the bank’s management on investing in, innovating and improving its digital services and products has put it at the forefront of digital Islamic banking globally. Importantly, this investment is paying off with customers; almost 100% of all retail banking transactions took place digitally last year.
The bank’s universal digital banking model makes this possible. This starts with fully digital customer onboarding for personal finance, credit cards and account opening, and encompasses state-of-the-art mobile and online banking capabilities, digital self-service channels, and interactive mobile and wearable interfaces, including AI bots and payment tech for watches.
Mashreq plans to launch a 100% digital bank for mass-market customers – Mashreq Al Islami Neo – and a fully digital business banking platform called, Mashreq Al Islami Neobiz.
It is also investing in automation and plans to offer shariah-compliant digital shares trading applications and financing.
It also plans to strengthen its wealth-management platform by offering an expanded range of Islamic digital wealth solutions, including being able to apply for and invest in securities online and digitally manage investment portfolios. Part of this development includes a digitalized onboarding process for customers to invest in local IPOs.
Mashreq Al Islami has created a near purely digital customer experience that other Islamic banks struggle to match
In addition, the bank will be rolling out a fully digital auto-finance application process, face-recognition account-opening capabilities, and digital auto insurance with UAE insurer Salama.
It is still the only Islamic bank to provide a loyalty programme on a customer’s entire banking relationship. The Salaam Rewards scheme – supported by an advanced digital platform – enables customers to earn points as they spend; points which can be used to buy flights, hotels and electrical goods.