Week in money

From a new banking platform for Millennials in the UAE to overvalued gold and a falling pound, here is a round up of money news from the last week.

New banking platform for millennials

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has partnered with Fidor Bank to launch the region’s first “community-based digital bank”. The platform is aimed at millennials who prefer using digital technology to manage their money. Founded in 2009, Fidor Bank claims to be the world’s first “fintech bank”. The new platform will be available to ADIB’s existing and new customers in the months to come.

Spend and earn airline vouchers

Mashreq has announced a Buy to Fly promotion for October offering its cardholders airline vouchers worth up Dh2,000 when they shop for electronics at any of the bank’s partners. These include purchases at Sharaf DG, Emax, Jumbo, Jacky’s and more, as well as any spending on jewellery or airline tickets. The Dh2,000 voucher is given to outlays of Dh60,000, a Dh1,000 voucher is awarded for Dh30,000 and Dh750 for Dh15,000. To enrol, customers must SMS ‘FLY to 4250.

We’re back to the Brexit risks. Sterling has taken a bit of a knock

This from Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank in Singapore, who commented on Monday after sterling dropped to the weakest level since July 6 on. The fall came after prime minister ­Theresa May told delegates at her Conservative Party’s annual conference she would invoke Article 50, signalling the start of the Brexit process, by the end of March.

65%

The Dubai developer Select Group pre-sold about 65 per cent of its latest Dubai Marina project this week, ahead of launch. Select Group announced the launch of Studio One – a Dh450 million, 31-storey tower in Dubai Marina – on Monday, but according to Rahail Aslam, the company’s founder and chief executive, most of the building had already been sold to existing investors.

‘Gold overvalued by 25%’

Gold tumbled 3.3 per cent on Tuesday, the most since July 2015, breaching below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since June. But this could be a prelude to a bigger sell-off, according to Deutsche Bank chief global strategist Binky Chadha. “Gold looks to be 20 to 25 per cent overvalued,” he said.

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