Deals of the Week: DIB's new Dubai branch offers personalised services

Dubai Islamic Bank's structured business solutions division, plus faster remittances for Indian expats and new global payment services for small and medium businesses.

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Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic lender in the UAE by total assets, has opened its first Al Islami Private Banking branch in Dubai, offering clients an exclusive service that includes personalised advice and products such as structured investment solutions.

The new concept aims to give customers access to special services to help them achieve their financial goals, the bank says.

"DIB began its journey in 1975 with the opening of our first branch at Al Maktoum Road, Dubai," says Abdulla Al Hamli, the chief executive of DIB.

"It's no coincidence, then, that we are opening our first new concept private banking branch at the same location.

"The launch of this exclusive branch reiterates our commitment to offering our private banking customers the most sophisticated, innovative banking services available in the UAE."

DIB, the world's first fully fledged Islamic bank, has 15 private banking centres in several DIB branches across the Emirates.

For more information about Al Islami Private Banking, go to www.dib.ae.

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Al Ansari Exchange, the country's largest exchange house, and Federal Bank, the Kerala, India-based lender, have tied up to offer a faster remittance service for Indian expatriates in the UAE.

The Fed Flash service uses the latest in remittance technology, which allows customers to send their money in real time and the recipients to receive it within minutes.

"They can be assured of a speedy process as both the sender and the receiver will receive an SMS confirming the transaction," says Rashed Ali Al Ansari, the general manager of Al Ansari Exchange.

Federal Bank says customers can remit money to its more than 750 branches in India. "The SMS feature ... takes out apprehension both at the send and receive sides of remittance and saves on follow-up costs," the lender says.

To find out more about the service, go to www.alansariexchange.com.

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Small- to medium-business owners in the UAE seeking a simple solution to their cross-border payments and foreign exchange (FX) transfers can now take advantage of a new service being offered by Western Union and Emirates International Exchange.

Western Union's Business Solutions allows SMEs to manage their international transactions, reduce risk and act on market opportunities via a range of options, such as online FX trading.

Western Union is hoping to cash in on the growing global SME payments market, which is estimated at US$24 billion (Dh88.1bn).

"As the number of small- and medium-sized companies doing business internationally in the UAE continues to grow, so does the need for fast and reliable global payment solutions," says Jean Claude Farah, Western Union's senior vice president for the Middle East and Africa.

Go to www.westernunion.com for more information.