22 May 2017
Bank leads on Instagram with highest number of followers among UAE banks

Dubai – Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE has announced it has become the leading bank on Instagram in the UAE, as a result of its strategic focus on social and digital platforms to engage with customers and UAE residents and enhance customer experience. The bank recently reached the milestone of 40,000 followers on Instagram, one of the most popular social platforms in UAE.

Over the past year, Emirates Islamic witnessed a rapid growth on social media, with its fan base and engagements more than doubling in 2016, over its accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. The bank uses social media to engage millennials through competitions, promotions and financial tips as well as to update the community on Corporate Social Responsibility activities run by the bank. In addition, Emirates Islamic has recently launched a Snapchat account targeting higher engagement with its younger, millennial customer base. 

Commenting on the bank’s approach, Wasim Saifi – Deputy CEO, Consumer Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates Islamic said: “As a bank that wants to continuously connect with the community, we aim at engaging with customers and transforming our products and processes to be always accessible and seamless across all our platforms, in line with customers’ needs and lifestyles. Millennials and the youth of today want to engage with service providers like banks primarily through digital means. We have thus invested in and strengthened our social and digital channels to meet these requirements and deliver a superior banking experience to our customers.” 

In 2016, the bank launched a new online banking platform plus revamped its website and saw a 13 per cent increase in the number of visitors once the new website was launched.  As part of the enhancement, the platform is optimised for mobile phone usage, includes financial tools and an enhanced ATM/branch locator for convenient directions to the bank’s branch and ATM network. 

“At Emirates Islamic, we will continue to drive our digital transformation and offer customers, especially the youth, relevant products and service across our digital and social channels. Visitors and followers to our social channels can enjoy a range of offers, promotions, product updates as well as an opportunity to provide feedback or suggestions,” added Saifi.

The bank’s social-digital banking proposition was recently recognised at the 2017 Service Olympian Awards, where the bank took home the awards for ‘Most Improved Website’ and ‘Best Social Media Reach.’

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About Emirates Islamic:
/Established in 2004, as Emirates Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic is one of the fastest growing banks in the UAE. Combining the best in Shari’a compliant services with the strongest levels of customer care and efficiency, the bank has established itself as a major player in the highly competitive financial services sector in the UAE. Offering products and services developed in line with the highest ethical standards, Emirates Islamic gives customers the transparency they seek in a strong, honest financial partner.

Emirates Islamic offers a comprehensive range of products and services across the Personal, Business and Corporate banking spectrum with a network of 64 branches and 204 ATMs/CDMs across the UAE. In the fast growing area of online and mobile banking, the bank has the reputation as an innovator, and was the first Islamic bank to launch a mobile banking app and the first bank in the Middle East to launch an App on the Windows 8 mobile platform.

Emirates Islamic has consistently received local and international awards, an acknowledgement of the bank’s strong record of performance, growth and market leading banking practices. The bank was named ‘Best Islamic Bank in the UAE’ at the 2015 World Finance Awards and also won the prestigious Euromoney Award for Innovation in Islamic Finance 2015. In the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2015, the bank was named ‘Best Retail Bank, UAE’; ‘Best Commercial Bank, UAE’; and ‘Best Wealth Management, ME’. The bank won several industry accolades in 2016, including Innovator in Islamic Finance by Global Finance magazine for EI trade, the world’s first of its kind Shari’a-compliant online Trade Finance and Supply Chain platform and Fastest Growing Bank – UAE at the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2016.

For further information please visit www.emiratesislamic.ae

Or please contact:
Amina Al Zarooni
Media Relations Manager, Emirates Islamic
Tel: 971 4 4397430; Mob: 971 56 6405080
Email: AminaAlZarooni@emiratesislamic.ae

© Press Release 2017