Deals of the Week: Banks celebrate nation's 40th birthday with deals

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank is offering special rates for home and personal loans.

The country's banks are marking next week's National Day celebrations with a range of new products and prizes for customers.

To mark 40 years of the unification of the UAE, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), the second-largest Sharia-compliant lender in the Emirates, has launched a Gold National Day campaign.

The bank says all customers who apply for a home loan, personal loan or share financing for Dh75,000 or more will be rewarded with four grams of gold.

The 40-day promotion, which ends on December 31, will also give 40 new financing customers an opportunity to win 40 grams of the precious metal.

"The UAE National Day is a great opportunity for us to showcase our commitment to our customers and to cordially extend our congratulations to the leaders and residents of the UAE," says Tirad Mahmoud, the chief executive of ADIB.

"On this occasion, we remember the late Sheikh Zayed, who had the vision to establish a leading Islamic bank in Abu Dhabi. ADIB was the result of this vision and our success has made his vision come true."

Dhafer Luqman, the bank's head of product and retail expansion, says ADIB's financing products have competitive profit rates and are designed with the customer in mind.

"The ADIB National Day Gold campaign will make our products more attractive to customers, while at the same time adding to celebrations of the UAE's 40th anniversary," he says.

For more information, go to www.adib.ae.

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Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB), the Sharia-compliant lender, is celebrating National Day on December 2 with its 40th Sharjah Islamic Discount Festival, which offers customers discounts of up to 40 per cent on car finance and personal banking products.

It has also unveiled a new design for its MasterCard Prepaid Card, which depicts the UAE flag in a reflection of the "Spirit of the Union".

"The attractive discounts of the Sharjah Islamic Festival are up to 40 per cent on car finance, personal finance and share finance for a period of 40 days as from the launch day, which means the best offer in the country during this period," says Jassem Al Baloushi, the head of SIB's retail banking group.

Mr Al Baloushi says customers will also go into a draw to win a BMW 523i, as well as have a chance to win daily and weekly prizes of iPods, iPhones and iPads when they use their SIB MasterCard debit card. This offer ends on February 2, 2012.

Profit rates for car loans start at 2.79 per cent, while personal finance rates kick off from 3.79 per cent. The 40 per cent discount rate on these products ends on December 13.

"It is an excellent opportunity for those looking for the best deal of modern Islamic banking products," Mr Al Baloushi says.

SIB, which was known as National Bank of Sharjah, switched to Islamic banking in 2002.

For more information, visit SIB's website at www.sib.ae.