FAB announces completion of payments business carve out and launches new brand - MAGNATI

• Strategic milestone creates a focused and agile entity with regional growth ambitions, underpinned by a differentiated proposition and an intelligent payments platform
• Enhanced capabilities to partner with FinTechs empowering customers to excel in the digital economy
• Ramana Kumar named Magnati’s CEO  

Abu Dhabi, UAE: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) today completed the carve out of its existing payments business into a fully owned and operational subsidiary. The new brand name, Magnati, is built around energy, potential and partnerships, and underscores its mission to transform payments into possibilities.

As a rapidly growing and industry leading payments business operating in a buoyant market, Magnati will be able to unlock new growth opportunities through a focused and agile model, underpinned by an intelligent payments platform that creates value for customer, government, merchant and institutional clients.

This unique platform will enable clients to grow their core businesses by monetising data and using next generation technologies such as APIs, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to deliver improved experiences and increased efficiency. The Magnati platform will also provide enhanced capabilities to partner with FinTechs on product and service innovation.  

Magnati brings together four key business lines: a fast-growing acquiring business, strong and exclusive government solutions, and market leading consumer payments coupled with captive issuer processing business. Through value-added services built around data and platform capabilities, Magnati’s customer-led value proposition is a strong differentiator, empowering customers to excel in the digital economy.

Magnati is set up on a strong base of market leadership in government payments, merchant acquiring, prepaid cards and growing e-commerce segment. The payments company is currently positioned amongst the top two players in the UAE across direct acquiring, prepaid issuing and issuer processing.  In 2020, the business served over 30,000 merchants and to date issued more than 2 million prepaid cards and processed approximately USD 18 Billion in transaction value. Leading market share and increased volume growth even during the pandemic are testaments to Magnati’s client relationships and differentiated customer value proposition.

Hana Al Rostamani, Group Chief Executive Officer of FAB, said: “The establishment of Magnati as a growing, agile and focused payments business comes at a time when the region's transition to digital payments is accelerating.  By creating a standalone entity with its own strategy, and a highly experienced management team, Magnati will be able to leverage its technology, data and customer relationships, further unlocking value for the company, FAB and its shareholders. This is not only a key strategic milestone for FAB, it is also a watershed for the rapidly expanding payments industry.”

Magnati’s founding team brings an unmatched depth of payment, technology and data experience. It will be led by Ramana Kumar, previously Group Head of Payments and Digital Banking at FAB, as the new CEO of Magnati supported by the leadership team across business, operations and technology.

Ramana Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Magnati, said: “Magnati is now plugged in, charged up and ready to deliver on our mission to transform payments into possibilities. As a standalone business, we will be able to drive our strategy forward and pursue our growth ambitions, with a powerful brand name reflecting our emphasis on partnership, value creation and orientation towards the future. With FAB’s support, we are well positioned to deliver further benefits for our customer, government, merchant and institutional clients, helping them harness the opportunities of the digital economy, and shape the future of payments in the region.”

Magnati completes the carve out of FAB’s payments business and its transition from a transactional to a data-driven and platform business. All existing merchants and customers will transition to Magnati and the bank’s familiar point of sale devices and other customer facing devices will be rebranded over the coming days.

Magnati will operate as a fully owned FAB subsidiary, strengthening the Group’s leadership position in the rapidly expanding payments sector and accelerating its digital transformation agenda.

Visit www.Magnati.com for more information.

-Ends-

About First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

FAB is the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions. FAB’s vision is to create value for its employees, customers, shareholders and communities to grow stronger through differentiation, agility and innovation.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the bank’s international network spans five continents, providing global relationships, expertise and financial strength to support local, regional and international businesses seeking to do business at home and abroad. FAB is a trusted adviser and regional partner to major institutions, emerging companies and individuals seeking to do business in the UAE, the MENA region and beyond. As an engine of growth for the region, it helps customers to thrive and grow stronger by managing risk, providing access to capital and facilitating trade flows across developed and emerging markets.

FAB continuously anticipates evolving requirements, develops innovative solutions and moves in tandem with customers to offer an extensive range of tailor-made products via its market-leading Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) and Personal Banking Group (PBG) franchises.

Aligned to the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision, inspired by global standards and guided by the expectations of stakeholders, FAB takes a leading role in fostering development and driving change towards a more sustainable future. FAB sees beyond traditional banking and embraces a challenger mindset. Its ambition is to contribute to social and human development, which creates a dynamic, inclusive and tolerant society.

With total assets of AED 919 Billion (USD 250 Billion) as of December-end 2020, FAB is rated Aa3/AA-/AA- by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, respectively, the strongest combined ratings of any bank in the MENA region. The Bank has been ranked by Global Finance as the Safest Bank in the UAE and the Middle East, and the 32^nd Safest Bank globally. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks 2020 list, measured by Tier 1 capital, ranked FAB as number one in the UAE, second in the Middle East and #85 across the globe - in addition to ranking the bank #109 by assets in the same list. FAB is also a regional sustainability leader, and a constituent of MSCI ESG Leaders and FTSE4Good EM indices.

For further information, visit: www.bankfab.com, or https://www.growstronger.com/  Grow Stronger or https://www.bankfab.com/en-ae/updates  for COVID-19 related updates. 

About Magnati

Magnati is the new name for the payments business of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s safest financial intuitions. Focused on direct acquiring, issuer processing and acquiring processing, Magnati provides government, merchant and institutional clients with an intelligent payments platform that monetises data, using next generation technology to deliver improved experiences and increased efficiency. The Magnati brand is charged with energy and potential and is set to transform payments into possibilities.  With the power of FAB’s expertise and infrastructure at the core, Magnati will attract regional and global partners, setting a new standard for innovation and delivery in the payments industry. Magnati is a fully owned FAB subsidiary, strengthening the Group’s leadership position in the rapidly expanding payments sector and accelerating its digital transformation agenda.

Visit www.Magnati.com for more information.

© Press Release 2021