Abu Dhabi 10 November, 2004: As part of its ongoing efforts to continuously offer new and improved products and services through the latest technology, ADCB announced today the provision of E-guarantees for small business owners. Introduced to facilitate and simplify the labour guarantees issuing process lodged with the Ministry of Labour (MoL), ADCB will offer the efficient and cost effective service through its network of 36 branches.

Ajay Bimbhet, Head of Retail at ADCB, hailed the move as another milestone achievement, "We are delighted to be able to facilitate our customer's business needs with the introduction of this new service. Any small business owner is required by law to issue a labour guarantee. Now ADCB customers are able to utilise the E-Guarantee procedure from any one of our branches for the face value of the guarantee plus an additional service charge, which is significantly less than the current Letters of Guarantee system."

Simply by uploading their E-Dirham card at any ADCB branch, business customers are alleviated of the need to make an extra journey to the MoL when needing to submit labour guarantees. Once the E-Dirham Card is uploaded the process is centralized at ADCB Head Office which manages the transaction of the labour guarantee payment with the MoL.  

The E-Dirham is a pre-paid smart card devised by the Ministry of Finance & Industry (MoFI) in order to facilitate collection of revenues, providing the Government with a secure payment method, and providing a convenient payment tool for business customers.

"By using the bank's state-of-the-art technology we are able to centralise all support and back office operations, eliminating the replication across multiple locations and branches. The new system we have put in place is designed to ease the procedures for obtaining the E-Guarantees. Turn-around time is also reduced as it is delivered on the spot when all the necessary documents are presented," said Steve Dickens, COO of ADCB.

The provision of E-guarantees is in line with ADCB's business strategy, which will see it grow both its physical presence and enhance its many offerings as it strives to be one of the UAE's most modern and service orientated banks.

-Ends-

About ADCB
ADCB's paid up share capital of AED 1,250 million (USD 340 million) is the largest in the UAE. The Government of Abu Dhabi, through Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), holds 65% of the capital while the rest is held by various UAE Institutions and Individuals.

ADCB is among the top three banks in the UAE with assets as at 30/09/2004 of AED 32.693 billion and operating income of AED 784 million for the nine months ended 30.09.2004.

Joanne Kubba,
Account Manager
Impact Porter Novelli
Emirates Towers, 16th Floor
P.O.Box 19791, Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
Tel: +9714 330 4030 ext. 405
Fax: +9714 330 4031
Mobile: +971 50 655 6710
Email: j.kubba@ipn.ae

© Press Release 2004