Dubai
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has witnessed a “fantastic rebound” in its retail banking business as digital transformation proves to be a potent force in its recovery from the crippling effects of the coronavirus crisis. However, ADIB’s global head of retail banking, Philip King, told Arabian Business that the success of its digital operations will not be at the expense of its bricks-and-mortar branches. He said: “We’ll make sure that the digitalisation is a choice for the customer and our branches will also become more digital and more automated and that will again enhance the customer experience. But the human touch, in our view, needs to be there because that is what our customers are looking for.” ADIB is the fourth largest Islamic bank globally with total assets of $34 billion. The bank reported a net profit of AED1.12bn and net revenue of AED3.93bn for the first nine months of 2020. “Whether that was because there was pent-up demand from the struggles of the whole country and the consumers in quarter two I don’t know, but it was certainly a tremendous rebound for us,” King said.
He revealed that 50 percent of their cover cards were sold remotely as customers signed up through an app on their phone. “I suspect had we not given them that tool, we would have had 50 percent card sales less,” said King. ADIB’s global head of retail banking, Philip King While around one third of new accounts were opened online and two million transactions are performed every month through the ADIB mobile app.—Agencies
