Sunday, Sep 15, 2013
Dubai: UAE-based Mashreq Bank, which has recently posted a significant net profit growth, will continue to focus on providing value-added customer services in the coming months and year ahead to expand its market reach.
The bank announced that due to its continued investment in customer service, it was able to improve its non-interest income by 23 per cent in the first half of the year. Efficient management of costs and risk charge has enabled the bank to post a 39 per cent increase in net profit during the same period.
Mashreq CEO, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, said the bank has invested significantly in improving their customer service offering in order to make banking more convenient for everyone and to further cement their leadership in retail banking. “We want to excel in customer service. We want to be known as the best service provider that provides superior service to customers,” said Al Ghurair.
The bank has just announced that its mobile app called Snapp is now available on the Windows 8 platform. It offers several features such as real-time bill payment and investment, mutual authentication through one-time password and SMS notification.
Discounts
With the facility, users are able to conveniently find a plethora of services that provide discounts, such as dining, movies, clubbing and shopping. It also provides GPS navigation guides for customers to reach their desired merchant outlet.
The bank has also eliminated the need to wait for cheque books and ATM cards to be delivered after account opening. With its enhanced service, customers can open an account and walk away with a debit card and cheque book within minutes.
“You don’t have to wait anymore. No other bank has done this today. It took some investment. It took some fine tuning of technology, but that’s the kind of service we want to give,” Al Ghurair said.
Advances up 15 per cent
The bank’s advances in the first six months of the year increased by 15 per cent, while its current account, savings account balances went up by 19 per cent. Its advances to asset ratio increased from 54.9 to 58.4 per cent. As a result, the bank’s net interest margin improved from 2.6 per cent for the full year 2012 to 2.9 per cent for the first half of 2013.
Al Ghurair also announced that, thanks to their international presence and reputation, their business in Egypt has not been affected by the unstable political situation there. “Our business in Egypt has even prospered both in the corporate and retail side. Our bottom line has grown by 30 per cent during the first six months,” he said.
By Cleofe Maceda Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
