Emirates NBD unveils innovation lab
UAE © Wikipedia
Emirates NBD has established its Future Lab, part of its digital strategy to speed up the development of digital and mobile banking services in the UAE.
The bank says the lab is the “first of its kind in the UAE banking sector”, and will act as a “strategic think tank” in addition to being a testing centre for ideas, products and services for the bank’s retail and wholesale banking customers. It is managed and operated by an in-house team of business and technology experts.
Abdullah Qassem, group chief operating officer at Emirates NBD, says the lab’s “key goals will focus on developing personalised consumer-centric offerings that will seamlessly integrate with our advisory services”.
Future Lab will focus on three specific areas: digital first; self-service; and process innovation. In its first year, it will collaborate with existing partners and clients in the private and public sector as well as identify fintech innovators to create concepts for prototyping.
The bank cites several launches as proof of its “forward-thinking ethos”. For instance, mePay, a peer to peer mobile funds transfer service, social banking, Emirates NBD Fitness Account, a ‘Like to Donate’ Facebook app and Emirates NBD Pay were all crowd-sourced via in-house innovation programmes across staff levels.
Emirates NBD is also planning to launch the UAE’s “first” digital bank targeted at millennials. The new bank (and Future Lab) are all part of its three-year AED 500 million ($136 million) strategy to improve its processes, products and services.
