A RAKBank employee withdraws money from an ATM machine after using the new app. Jaime Puebla / The National
A RAKBank employee withdraws money from an ATM machine after using the new app. Jaime Puebla / The National

RAKBank introduces MobileCash app to make transferring money simple



The 50-plus banks operating in the UAE are fighting for customers’ attention. From dates and coffee in the atrium (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank) to the greatest number of ATMs (Emirates NBD), all claim an advantage.

RAKBank today waded into the fray. It unveiled a new vehicle to attract the banking public, an app called MobileCash that the bank is positioning as a pared-down way to transfer money.

The recipient doesn’t even need a bank account – they enter a code and pick up the money from a RAKBank ATM. So if you want to send money to the kids or the gardener you tap the app, put in the recipient’s phone number and amount and push send, job done. The recipient doesn’t even need a smartphone.

“There are a few other banks in the country that have done something similar, but if you look at the user experience it’s not so simple, one has to log on and go through the internet banking etc,” said Peter England, the chief executive of RAKBank. “Ours is as simple as possible. It doesn’t need to be a smartphone or to someone with a bank account. They go and pick the money up from one of RAKBank’s ATMs using a code that is sent to them. If they have the app it will tell them their closest ATM machine.”

Technology is an increasingly easy way for banks to differentiate themselves, but perhaps for not much longer. In June the UAE Banks Federation said that it had launched its mobile wallet project. The use of “smart wallets” is intended to enable government services to be paid for using state-of-the-art technology with the ability to make purchases, store money and transfer it to others securely.

“I don’t see the government’s smart wallet project happening any time soon,” said Mr England. “Our MobileCash app didn’t cost a huge amount, probably less that a few hundred thousand dirhams. For us information technology is not a revenue driver, it is a service which we offer to our customers. We have seen 25 per cent of all our customers sign up for mobile banking, and about 5,000 more sign up every month, so it obviously offers something different to them.”

RAKBank’s press launch of its new app suggested a more emphatic approach to engaging with the public and may be the starter pistol for a broader movement into the banking sector as a whole.

“We are seeing increased account openings across the board, we are 15 per cent [to] 20 per cent up on last year. Our lending volumes are through the roof, the balance sheet grew about 14 per cent this year so the bank is expanding very fast,” said Mr England. “We may look at an Islamic banking subsidiary. We currently have a finance company subsidiary but we see Islamic penetration of products on new sales about 40-50 per cent, particularly on auto loans, so it’s a very strong area for us.”

RAKBank, in which the government of Ras Al Khaimah is the biggest investor, posted revenue in this year’s second quarter of Dh874.3 million, up 10.6 per cent from the year-earlier quarter.

The latest quarter’s net income of Dh365.9m was, however, 6.6 per cent lower from a year earlier.

ascott@thenational.ae

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter

Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press

Getting there

The flights

Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.

The stay

Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net 

Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama

Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Match info

Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')

Southampton 0

The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press 

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

How Beautiful this world is!
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20S%20Frederick%20Starr%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Oxford%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20290%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2024%3C%2Fp%3E%0A