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10/07/2018

RAKBANK is now the new Official Bank of FC Barcelona in the UAE  

The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBANK) and FC Barcelona have announced a strategic Regional Partnership for 3 years extendable by another 2 years whereby RAKBANK has become the Official Bank of FC Barcelona in the United Arab Emirates. This partnership entails the launch of new FC Barcelona dedicated co-branded products including Mastercard Platinum Credit and Debit Cards. 

The contract was sealed in the presidential box at the Camp Nou and was attended by FC Barcelona’s Chief Executive Officer, Oscar Grau, while Frederic de Melker, Managing Director of Personal Banking, represented RAKBANK at the event.

With this association RAKBANK Barca fans can look forward to access FC Barcelona branded merchandise and opportunities to watch their favourite players at matches in Barcelona amongst other benefits.  

Frederic de Melker, RAKBANK’s Managing Director of Personal Banking commented: “We are delighted to partner with FC Barcelona, one of the world’s leading football clubs, to become their official bank in the country. UAE is a football loving nation of dedicated fans who avidly follow the game. Therefore, we deemed it fit to bring their favourite club closer home by building increased affinity of the segment with the Club and RAKBANK.” 

“We are very pleased with this strategic alliance between RAKBANK and FC Barcelona. The spirit of football is timeless and we aim to deliver unique value propositions through the RAKBANK co-branded Credit, Debit Cards, and other banking products. This also includes the BarcaRewards that are directly pertinent to FC Barca fans here in the UAE, which aims to offer exciting football benefits and privileges.” said Peter England, CEO RAKBANK.

FC Barcelona was founded 118 years ago in 1899, and is unique in many ways. The club is owned by its more than 145,000 members and can boast of being the most successful club in Europe over the last years. Since season 2004/05 they have won four of the Club’s five Champions League titles and nine of their 25 domestic league titles. Such unstoppable growth in recent years has led to a global reach of more than 315 million fans and made FC Barcelona a world leader on social media.

24/06/2018

RAKBANK has partnered with Xpress Money, one of the most dependable money transfer organizations in the world, to offer convenient money transfer services to RAKBANK customers through the Bank’s award-winning remittance service, RAKMoneyTransfer (RMT). The Bank’s money remittance service is available in 5 countries including India, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Nepal. By virtue of this partnership with Xpress Money, RAKBANK has expanded its RMT service to 20 new countries with a total reach of 25 countries* worldwide. It will also allow customers to make hassle-free money transfers with greater convenience and maximum security. 
 
RAKMoneyTransfer service has been specially designed to meet the remittance needs of customers who can conveniently remit money from their RAKBANK Account or Credit Card to the aforementioned countries. In addition, RMT offers another convenient choice of cash pickup options through 85,000 Xpress Money agent locations, out of the 200,000 locations that Xpress Money has globally. RMT also provides customers with highly competitive exchange rates to ensure the most convenient, secure and cost-effective transfer solution that can be completed at just the click of a button using RAKBANK’s Digital Banking platform and through all of the Bank’s branches. 
 
Peter England, RAKBANK CEO, said: “In line with the Bank’s strategy to offer customers a seamless banking experience, we are currently focusing on aligning our offering through strategic partnerships to increase the Bank’s remittance footprint. We are delighted to have partnered with Xpress Money to extend our RMT service into new territories with the objective of offering the expat community in the UAE the ability to immediately remit money back home. Therefore the partnership will enable our customers to make secure, faster and convenient money transfers to 20 countries.” 

Sudhesh Giriyan, COO, Xpress Money, said: “It has been a constant endeavor of Xpress Money to make money transfers easily accessible and affordable to customers globally. Through our global network of partners in 165 countries, we offer convenient money transfer services, with multiple pay-in and pay-out options, suitable to our customers’ needs. This collaboration gives us the opportunity to offer digital solutions through RAKBANK, elevating the level of their customers’ convenience as they can now send money anytime, to 20 new countries. We are happy to have partnered with a brand that is also working towards a similar objective that benefits the end customer.”

19/06/2018

RAKBANK recently worked alongside their partners C3 and Farnek respectively in order to host a financial literacy campaign at both the Dubai and Ras al Khaimah headquarters. The objective of the financial literacy campaign was to highlight to the Farnek blue collar employees, also C3 prepaid cardholders, about the ability to instantly transfer money to select Asian countries* at competitive rates with RAKBANK’s Award winning** RAKMoneyTransfer remittance service by conveniently using the C3 digital mobile application on their Smartphones.   

Farnek is a leading UAE-based facilities management (FM) company that provides cleaning services for the Bank and C3 is RAKBANK’s official Prepaid Card Service Providers. Hosted by C3 at RAKBANK offices, its aim was to educate the Farnek blue collar staff about prudent financial planning and the features of the C3 prepaid payroll cards such as immediate salary transfers, payroll solutions and savings that will help them achieve their financial goals.

Commenting on the campaign, RAKBANK CEO Peter England said: “The financial literacy campaign that was driven by C3 and supported by Farnek is in line with one of RAKBANK’s main CSR pillars of financial inclusion. We are committed to offering a more holistic banking experience by providing an entry into the UAE’s blue collar payroll schemes. The Bank has always been at the forefront of a well-defined segmentation strategy to deliver a diverse selection of products & services.”

“Since 2007, C3 has provided businesses, banks and exchange houses a payroll solution that allows blue collar employees to withdraw money and make physical or online payments. Digital technology and enhanced financial infrastructure have provided the key foundation for financial inclusion of migrant workers in the UAE. Thanks to the launch of the C3 Mobile Application, these workers can benefit from an extended range of digital financial services,” said Marwan Hachem, C3-Edenred’s Managing Director, Africa & Middle East.

Markus Oberlin, Farnek’s CEO, said: “At Farnek, technology and innovation are at the forefront of everything we do for our customers so naturally we want to ensure those brand values are offered to our staff. This partnership with RAKBANK and C3 adds another dimension to staff wellbeing and further underscores our commitment to our people who, through hard work and commitment, drive our business success.”

20/05/2018

RAKBANK has recently announced the introduction of a cognitive chatbot that allows Bank employees to interact with an Artificial Intelligence-powered IBM platform to help them answer questions, find solutions or quickly route pending requests to human advisors. Using AI technology will enhance the employee’s experience when facing technical roadblocks at work. The Bank will begin by making the system accessible to all its employees to answer queries on everything from ‘How do I change my password?’ to ‘How do I update my home address with the bank’? The chatbot will be able to answer these simple questions in just a split second while directing employees to a human to answer questions that are more complex. 

The chatbot service is powered by cloud-based AI technology from IBM based on an agreement between RAKBANK and IBM which was signed in early 2017. With the chatbot being able to find answers from a variety of sources of information instantly, staff are more efficient and productive. Offering a much simpler and faster process to resolve issues internally and find solutions will in turn benefit the customer. The chatbot also uses AI-based tone analyzing capabilities to better understand how an employee is feeling – for example, if they are unhappy or frustrated – and then change its tone and actions accordingly. 

Peter England, RAKBANK CEO, said: “We at RAKBANK believe in leveraging new technologies that constantly enhance the experiences for both employees and in turn customers. By using AI technology to power our chatbot, our employees are able to get answers to their simple queries easily and in real time. Leveraging AI is in line with not only our strategy here at the Bank, but also enables us to enhance our existing market-leading chat service. The second phase of the chatbot service is to introduce it to customers. In the near future, customers will be able to get answers to their simple queries with zero waiting time. RAKBANK will continue to find ways to improve efficiency across the Bank, and engage in strategic partnerships such as IBM that gives the Bank a competitive edge in the market. These are driven by our emphasis on innovation, which we regard as an essential vehicle for reaching future goals”.

13/05/2018

RAKBANK today announced that it has partnered with Air Arabia and Mastercard^®, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, to launch a co-branded Mastercard Platinum Credit Card, which cardholders can use globally for purchases and cash withdrawals. Air Arabia has an innovative loyalty program called Air Rewards that is based on spend rather than miles. Customers subscribing to the new co-branded credit card will immediately earn a joining bonus of 15,000* Air Rewards that will, in time, get them access to free flights and more rewards from Air Arabia. 

Additionally, ‘Air Rewards’ can be accumulated whenever cardholders make a purchase in the UAE or internationally on their co-branded Card, which can be redeemed conveniently all year round in the form of flights, meals and baggage vouchers with Air Arabia. To ensure customer convenience, the Air Arabia co-branded Mastercard Platinum Credit Card also offers a 0% easy payment plan of up to 12 months without a processing fee. Likewise, cardholders will benefit from the complimentary Sharjah Airport drop off and pickup services to and from anywhere in Dubai or Sharjah. 

“Over the years, the Bank managed to transform the concept of card reward programs in the UAE through a host of unique features and now we are extending Air Arabia’s Air Rewards loyalty programme to our cardholders,” said Peter England, RAKBANK CEO. “Staying true to the Bank’s prominent position as an innovative and dynamic player, our partnership with Air Arabia will help us offer Air Rewards to customers with every purchase they make using the Mastercard Platinum co-branded Credit Card.”

Commenting on the co-branded credit card launch, Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia, said: “This new co-branded credit card is a new value added product that we offer to our customers to enjoy superior services and unique benefits across our network. This new card will add tangible value to our frequent travelers’ and offer them attractive opportunities to earn Air Rewards points and redeem it for complimentary flights and other services. At Air Arabia we remain committed to constantly innovate to deliver great value to our customers.”

“In addition to offering the simplicity and convenience of Mastercard’s innovative payment technologies, our co-branded cards provide the consumers with a host of exciting benefits from their favorite lifestyle brands. With every purchase they make with this RAKBANK and Air Arabia Mastercard Platinum card, consumers can look forward to enjoying an array of travel rewards, coupled with a deep sense of trust they have come to associate with Mastercard, thanks to our multi-tiered safety and security features,” said Girish Nanda, General Manager, UAE and Oman, Mastercard.

Air Arabia is the Middle East and North Africa's first and largest Low Cost Carrier (LCC). The carrier fly passengers to over 140 destinations spread across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. Offering comfort, reliable and value for money air travel across its network; Air Arabia aim is to help passengers fly more often to more places at their own convenience. Moreover, Air Arabia operates from four main hubs - Sharjah International Airport and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport in the UAE, Mohamed V International Airport in Casablanca, Morocco and Borg Al Arab International Airport in Alexandria, Egypt.

29/04/2018

The National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (RAKBANK) announced a consolidated net profit of AED 205.1 million, an increase of AED 50.4 million over the first quarter of 2017. The Total Assets stood at AED 49.1 billion, which is an increase of 14.6% compared to 31 March 2017. Gross Loans and Advances closed at AED 33.6 billion, with a 10.3% increase over the same period of last year. Total income has declined by 2.3% when compared to the last quarter of 2017, and dropped by 3.4% in contrast to the same period in 2017. 

Commenting on the financial results, RAKBANK CEO, Peter England, said: “We have continued our efforts in the first quarter to strengthen and diversify our balance sheet and this is paying dividends in terms of lower provisions. After peaking by the end of 2016, provisions have continued their downward trajectory, reducing by 1.0% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2017 and 17.4% from the first quarter of 2017. Top line income has largely stabilised as the decline during 2017 in terms of net interest income has halted and we should see a steady growth throughout the year.” 

England also commented, “Besides the financial performance, RAKBANK has participated in several initiatives throughout the first quarter of 2018. One of the Bank’s endeavours was hosting the launch of Metals Focus Gold 2018 Annual Report at our Headquarters. This momentous event was a statement of intent for RAKBANK to roll out its RAKGOLD initiative that will contribute to the future development of the region’s bullion market. Moreover, in line with its strategy of assisting businesses in the UAE, the Bank partnered with Etisalat through their ‘Hello Business Hub’, which is a one-stop location that enables small and medium businesses and start-ups to set up their operations in the UAE. In addition, the Bank is continuously committed to strengthen its Digital Banking services to customers where it partnered up with FEWA and SEWA to make a tedious task such as paying bills seamless via all its diverse touch points.”

Furthermore, the Bank’s net interest income and net income from Islamic financing increased by 1.1% compared to same period last year. Likewise, non-interest income was down by AED 39.4 million to AED 243.9 million mainly due to a decrease of AED 29.1 million in investment income and AED 14.3 million in net fees and commission income. The Total Assets rose by 14.6% to AED 49.1 billion compared to 31 March 2017. This was mainly due to the increase in Gross Loans and Advances, which grew by 10.3% year-on-year from the strength of the Wholesale Banking, Business Banking and Personal Banking Loans. Customer deposits grew by 11.9% to AED 33.3 billion compared to the 31 March 2017 and this was mainly due from the rise of AED 3.1 billion in time deposits.

The Bank’s total capital adequacy ratio as per Basel III stood at 18.64% compared to 20.69% at the end of the previous year. The Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 17.47%. This level of capital provides the Bank with ample room for growth in 2018. The regulatory eligible liquid asset ratio at the end of the quarter was 13.6% compared to 15.0% at the end of 2017. The advances to stable resources ratio and stood comfortably at 88.0% compared to 87.8% at the end of 2017. 

04/04/2018

RAKBANK today hosted the launch of Metals Focus Gold 2018 Annual Report at its Dubai Headquarters located in Dubai Silicon Oasis. Metals Focus, one of the world’s leading independent precious metals research companies, has released its much anticipated Gold report in the Emirate to coincide for the first time with similar launch events in London, Mumbai and Toronto on the same day.

At the launch of Gold Focus 2018, RAKBANK introduced its RAKGOLD initiative, a division of its Treasury department, which represents the establishment of the Middle East region’s first full service end-to-end Bullion Banking unit. 

The event was attended by Peter England, RAKBANK CEO, Philip Newman, Director at Metals Focus, Neil Meader, Research & Consultancy Manager at Metals Focus, Vikas Suri, Managing Director of Treasury at RAKBANK, Jeffrey Rhodes, Principal Consultant to the RAKGOLD project and Founder of Rhodes Precious Metals Consultancy DMCC, along with other top management from RAKBANK and Metals Focus.

Speaking on the occasion, Peter England, RAKBANK CEO said, “We recognize the strong appeal for investing in physical gold across the UAE with many people having an unshakeable belief in the security and safe haven status that the yellow metal offers. The Bank is delighted to be associated with Metals Focus, given its highly regarded position in the global precious metals industry, and we see this landmark event as a statement of intent as RAKBANK rolls out its RAKGOLD initiative that will contribute to the future development of the region’s bullion market”.

Vikas Suri, Managing Director of Treasury at RAKBANK said, “RAKBANK began its involvement with the gold sector two years ago with the establishment of wholesale gold loan activities; over the last twelve months we have been working on developing the required infrastructure to enable the Bank to offer its Corporate clients, both Conventional and Islamic, as well as Retail, a wide range of suitable products and services that will support the physical gold sector in the UAE”.

Philip Newman, Director at Metals Focus said, “We are delighted to partner with RAKBANK on the launch of our annual Gold Focus 2018 report given their plans to establish full service bullion banking operations and we look forward to developing a deep and long lasting relationship”.

01/04/2018

In line with the Bank’s strategy in offering its customers a more holistic banking experience, RAKBANK recently announced the launch of the contactless* cash withdrawal facility that is available on more than 170 NFC enabled ATMs. The Bank has more than 200,000 active cardholders that are able to use their NFC enabled RAKBANK credit or debit card at any of the NFC enabled ATMs to conveniently withdraw cash. The integration of additional FinTech models into the Bank’s operations will provide new opportunities for customers similar to the Apple Pay and Samsung Pay experience, which were rolled out back in 2017. 

The Bank is committed to strengthen its Digital Banking services to customers, whereby cardholders do not have to register to gain access to this convenient service or take any unnecessary steps to use the facility. All cardholders need to do is to tap their cards on the clearly marked NFC reader that is available on RAKBANK ATMs and then enter their PIN and amount required to withdraw their cash. 

“RAKBANK has always been at the forefront of empowering customers with technology-based solutions that save them time, effort and money. While maintaining a customer-centric approach, the Bank built on the achievements of the previous year and set the scene for continued future growth, which emphasized the importance of innovation,” said RAKBANK COO, Geoff Stecyk. “This launch is the first of its kind in the UAE and is firmly aligned with the Bank’s focus on innovation to leverage emerging technologies in delivering new and personalized experiences that help our customers’ access simply better digital banking solutions,” he added. 

The Bank will continue to find ways to improve efficiency, and engage in strategic partnerships that will give the Bank a competitive edge in the market. Looking ahead, RAKBANK will continue to look to FinTech and other innovative solutions as it invests in product, service and technology enhancements. This will help the Bank offer the fullest possible range of products and services to its customers.

*Availability
Currently this facility is only available for RAKBANK Contactless Cards.

15/03/2018

RAKBANK successfully concluded its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today at its headquarters in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, where the distribution of a 30% cash dividend of the Bank’s paid-up capital to shareholders for the financial year ended 31 December 2017 was approved. The dividend recommendations will result in 62% of Group’s net profit being paid out.   

During the meeting, attendees unanimously approved all agenda items including the Bank’s consolidated balance sheet and profit and loss statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2017. Additionally, the shareholders approved to increase the regulatory credit risk reserve by AED 71 million to align it at 1.5% of the Bank’s total credit risk weighted assets.

RAKBANK Chairman, H.E. Mohamed Omran Alshamsi, presented a review of the year ended 31st December 2017. “Over the course of 2017, the Bank’s performance continued to improve. Year-on-year profitability increased, confirming the success of our strategy in supporting the diversification of our revenue streams, reduction of provisions, and improvement in asset growth and asset quality. Net Profit for 2017 totaled AED 810.5 million, increasing by 22.3% over the previous year. During the course of the year, our strategy focused on consolidating efforts to offer a service and product portfolio that would deliver a ‘Simply Better’ journey for all stakeholders. The strategy is focused on building the performance of new and improved business units, by continuing to innovate in the introduction and set-up of a more diverse range of activities. RAKBANK will continue to find ways to moderate its legacy operating costs, improving efficiency across the Group, and engaging in strategic partnerships with FinTech players that will give the Bank a competitive edge in the market.”  

“Our aim is to continue to diversify our loan book in core areas, while at the same time increasing revenue streams from non-interest income generated by our products and services, and expanding our footprint in the Wholesale and Treasury space. Furthermore, we have made great strides in consolidating the efforts of the previous year with new or revamped business units, all realising positive results. These accomplishments have, in part, been driven by our emphasis on innovation, which we regard as an essential vehicle for reaching future goals,” Alshamsi added.

05/03/2018

RAKBANK provides bill payment solutions to customers based in Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Fujairah and Sharjah.

RAKBANK is pleased to announce its recent partnership with Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA). The partnership will facilitate FEWA bill payment solution through the Bank’s Digital Banking platform and other touch points for RAKBANK customers that live and have businesses in the emirates of Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, and Fujairah. 

Similarly, last year the Bank signed an agreement with Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEWA) to facilitate the bill payment via its Digital Banking Platform for customers in Sharjah. The SEWA bill payment service offered to the Bank’s customers has currently been enhanced and they can now pay their bills through other touch points such as the Interactive Voice Response technology (IVR). 

Geoffrey Stecyk, COO of RAKBANK, said: “In line with the Bank’s commitment to strengthen its Digital Banking services to customers, the partnerships with FEWA and SEWA make a tedious task such as paying bills seamless. We are delighted to offer RAKBANK customers convenient, secure, and simple bill payment solutions through all the different touch points. This service means customers can take advantage of our effective Digital Banking platform to pay their bills on time from the comfort of their own home.”