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NBAD launches mobile payment service

Abu Dhabi, November 9, 2008: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has today rolled out the NBAD Arrow service, an SMS based payment service that allows customers to access their bank accounts via mobile phones to pay, send, and receive money 24 hours a day.

Luup, a world leader in the mobile payment industry, powers the NBAD Arrow Mobile Payment service.

NBAD account holders are now able to use the NBAD Arrow service to make a wide range of payments and money transfers instantly and securely from their mobile phones.

"As the UAE's number one bank, NBAD keeps up to speed with the latest banking technology to provide customers with a fast, secure, reliable and convenient banking experience," said Mr. Ahmed Al-Naqbi, Senior Manager, Channels and Electronic Banking Services at NBAD .

The NBAD Arrow services launched today are the first in an 18-month roll-out plan agreed between NBAD and Luup which will extend to remittances, salary payouts, merchant payments and bill payments.

Mr. Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, Luup CEO, congratulated NBAD on their latest customer service initiative. "Luup is now building a global Mobile Payment Network by partnering with leading banks and financial institutions around the world, with initial focus on the GCC and South Asia. In NBAD we have found a partner who shares our core values such as customer-focus and innovation" said Luup CEO.

In the first stage of the service roll-out, the Luup system will allow NBAD Arrow service users to make transfers from their NBAD bank account to anyone in the UAE using their mobile phones. If the receiver is also an NBAD Arrow service user, the money goes straight into their bank account, otherwise the amount can be withdrawn from any NBAD ATM within 24 hours by using a code received via SMS.

In addition, Arrow users can instantly pay utility bills to Etisalat , DEWA , ADWEA and other suppliers, as well as donate to charities like the UAE Red Crescent.

"The fact that we are the first bank in the region to roll out the Luup mobile payment system illustrates our progressive mentality in adopting global technologies and services to serve our customers even better. With a successful platform operating in Europe, Luup has the infrastructure, technology and business know-how that matched NBAD 's criteria and needs," Mr. Al-Naqbi added.

" NBAD is a pioneer in the m-payments space because the bank's senior management realized early on that the existing payment systems lag behind the available technology. NBAD has received many prestigious awards for its innovative products and services. Last month, the bank won ACN Arab Technology Award for Banking & Finance project implementation and CIO of the year and one of the systems the jury especially lauded was our 'SMS Money Transfer' service," he added.

NBAD believes that in a world going increasingly mobile, payment mechanisms need to keep pace with people's lifestyle. Being able to pay bills, transfer money to family or top up mobile credits from anywhere at any time has become a necessity for large sections of society. This is especially true in the Middle East region where mobile phone penetration rates outstrip Internet penetration rates by far. In the UAE, for example, mobile penetration has exceeded 100 percent. Luup's mobile payment technology therefore provides a platform that is accessible to a huge segment of society.

"In 2003, the Luup group of companies was the first to be granted an e-money license, which we used for our operations in the European Union. Soon, we will be the first to connect customers of multiple banks, and allow them to send money directly from one account to the other using mobile phones. This is a huge advance for the industry, which, until now, has revolved around small-scale, local operations," Mr. Jørgensen added.

Luup's research and development team continues to push industry boundaries in order to create the most convenient, secure and cost-effective mobile payments service on the market. With this level of commitment from Luup, NBAD is confident that Arrow will enhance its customer satisfaction levels as well as revenue prospects.

-Ends-

About NBAD
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) , The Number One Bank in the UAE, was incorporated in 1968. NBAD has a network of 80 branches in the UAE in addition to Cash offices that are spread out at remote locations to provide banking services to customers stationed at offshore oil operations and in desert locations as well as other government organizations. NBAD also has three Shift offices inside the security areas of the Abu Dhabi International Airport providing currency & traveler's cheques exchange services.

The branch network is widened further with 223 ATMs through which customers perform a variety of transactions.

Besides brick & mortar branches, NBAD provides 24 hour internet banking accessibility through NbadOnline and NbadDirect, as well as account access and personalized customer support through the 24-hour Call Centre.

NBAD 's overseas network stretches from Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain in the G.C.C., Egypt and Sudan in Africa, London, Paris, and Geneva in Europe to Washington D.C. in the U.S.A.

The bank provides its customer with a wide variety of financial services targeted at all segments of the retail and corporate market in addition to Fund Management, Brokerage, Leasing, Property Management businesses and Private Banking.

NBAD is rated senior long term/short term A+/A-1 by Standard and Poor's, Aa3/P1 by Moodys and AA-/F1+ by Fitch giving one of the strongest combined rating of any Middle Eastern financial institution.

NBAD is an award winning leader in the UAE and GCC financial services industry. Awards won by the bank include the Middle East Excellence Award 2008, the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2007, the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award, Dubai Quality Award, 'Best Bank in UAE' from Euromoney and Banker publications, 'Human Resources Development Award' from the Emirates Institute for Banking & Financial Studies, the 'Middle East e-Banking Country Award', the 'Outstanding use of IT in Financial Services Award, and excellence award for 'Best use of Technology' from Banker Middle East.

About Luup
Luup is a global provider of mobile payment services, systems and infrastructure, enabling a wide range of payments to be instigated and managed from a mobile phone. The company specializes in payment processing, the development of mobile payment applications and the hosting and management of stored value accounts. Launched in Oslo, Norway in 2002, Luup is now partnering with banks and financial institutions around the world creating a global mobile payment network. Today Luup has operations in the UAE, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, and China and will be available in some South Asian countries soon.

For Media enquires, please contact:
Ehab Khairi
Media & PR Manager
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Tel: +97126111190
Mob: + 971508126799
Email: ehab.hassan@nbad.com
Web: www.nbad.com

For Media enquires, please contact:
Lauren Martin-Pedersen
Director of Brand and Communications
Luup
Oslo, Norway
lauren.martin@luup.com
Tel: +47 90 66 30 94

Bassam Salha
PR Account Manager
Intermarkets Advertising
Dubai - UAE
B.salha@intermakets-adv.com
Tel: 04 3344404

© Press Release 2008