Abu Dhabi, (Business News Report)|| UAE digital bank Zand has won the backing of international financial institutions, with its launch approaching.
The bank was founded by businessman Mohamed Al-Abbar within the framework of keeping pace with the developing digital economy around the world.
Digital bank Zand has the backing of investors such as Franklin Templeton and the Aditya Birla group.
Abu Dhabi’s Al Hail Holding, Al Sayyah & Sons Investments, Global Development Group, M.A. Yusuff Ali of mega retailer Lulu Group, and Zand co-founder Olivier Crespin are also on board as investors, according to a statement.
According to the bank’s statement, the launch of Zand–which will offer both retail and corporate banking–in the UAE is “imminent,” the statement said, but it did not provide the financial details of the investments.
It is noteworthy that digital banks took off with the spread of financial technology in the Middle East, a region with a high Internet penetration and a largely young population.
Zand will be competing other digital platforms including Wio, backed by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ and the offshoots of traditional banks such as Dubai’s Emirates NBD.
A source in the digital bank said that procedures are in full swing to complete the procedures required by the UAE Central Bank to obtain the necessary licenses.
Zand, whose board of directors is chaired by Emaar Chairman Mohamed Al-Abbar, announced that it had completed the acquisition of the majority stake in Dubai Bank shares from Emirates NBD, according to a statement issued by it.
“As the first fully independent digital bank in the country, with a full UAE banking licence, Zand will provide innovative, effective financial solutions that help simplify businesses and lives, addressing the needs of both retail and corporate customers,” Alabbar had said during the announcement.
As for individuals, Zand will provide services that can be provided digitally, such as opening accounts, without going into developing services that are not available to digital banks, such as mortgages, for example, as the source disclosed.
