By Andrei Skvarsky.
United Arab Emirates banks Mashreq and Emirates NBD have launched pioneering digital banking propositions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in what can solve a major problem for an economy nearly entirely consisting of SMEs.
Abu Dhabi-based daily The National, citing the UAE government, said SMEs account for about 98 per cent of businesses in the country and are the source of more than 60 per cent of gross domestic product.
Citing a government-commissioned survey, the paper said nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs consider banking the biggest problem in setting up a business. It can take up to three months to open a bank account.
Via Mashreq’s NeoBiz digital platform an account takes “just 20 minutes” to open, according to the bank’s website.
Mashreq, which is the UAE’s oldest lender and is headquartered in Dubai, said in a statement that NeoBiz makes a full transaction feasible and provides an onboarding service, a know-your-customer (e-KYC) facility, and an Emma chatbot.
NeoBiz, accessible through Mashreq’s website and an app, is now fully available to customers.
The digital banking solution of Emirates NBD, E20., will initially be available to a select group of entrepreneurs by invitation only as a way to test its key features, according to the website of the lender, the UAE’s largest bank by assets. E20. is expected to be fully open to customers around the first quarter of 2020 if the test phase is successful, according to the website.
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