CBD set for ‘innovation-driven’ growth
dubai — Commercial Bank of Dubai, the first fully digital bank in the UAE, said on Monday it is on track to significantly outperform the market with better credit growth than the predicted industry average of 2-5 per cent in 2017.
Dr Bernd van Linder, the new CEO of the Dubai-based lender, said CBD is in a very good position following strong performance in the first quarter of this year. “We are confident that CBD will outperform the market significantly as we look ahead to the rest of 2017 for an innovation-driven growth.”
Strong top-line growth had powered the bank’s first quarter headline results, delivering operating profits of 9.5 per cent over 2016.
Speaking at a media roundtable, van Linder said the new UAE bankruptcy laws would have a positive impact and ultimately would be beneficial for all. “Particularly, the small and medium businesses, the SME sector, who are not asset rich, will benefit the most.”
Ruling out a credit squeeze situation in the UAE, he said: “Banks remain cautious, but there’s good business to be done and they’re not tightening on lending.”
On expanding operations outside of the UAE, van Linder, who took charge as CBD CEO in November 2016, said it is an option CBD has not excluded from its business development plans, but it will be market-driven.
“We see a lot of scope for growth in the UAE. Our business in Abu Dhabi is promising and we have plans to expand there. We remain very strong in Dubai and in the Northern Emirates. We’re confident that 2017 will be a good year for CBD and we plan to build on it,” said van Linder.
The outlook for the UAE and Dubai in particular looks good, he said. “The IMF recently forecast for the UAE a non-oil growth of 3.8 per cent and Dubai four per cent. We’re comfortable with that. For Dubai, 2017 looks like a reasonably good year. 2017 may look like 2016 but much of the pain is behind us now.”
Van Linder, said the UAE economy has been resilient to the impact of the slump in oil prices as it has benefited from a relatively diversified economy. “Dubai remains unchallenged in its pole position as the region’s financial hub as the UAE continues the course of diversification and new milestones.”
He pointed out that the UAE ranks 26 in World Bank Doing Business Report, jumping eight places, ahead of any Arab country. World Bank recognises the UAE as
We see a lot of scope for growth in the UAE. Our business in Abu Dhabi is promising and we have plans to expand there. We remain very strong in Dubai and in the Northern Emirates Dr Bernd van Linder, CEO of Commercial Bank of Dubai
one of the top 10 most improved business environments over the past year.
“Our strength is in our people and in customer service excellence. Customer convenience and centricity will be behind all our initiatives. We have a very good team, great talent and, importantly, very good franchises. Our priority is to build on it,” said van Linder.
“Another of our priorities is to use digital innovation to drive growth. To us, going digital means digitalization of the banking processes. It’s the hardest thing to do.
“At CBD, our strength is that our processes are superior, offering customers ease of access, peace of mind and a new experience.”
He said at CBD, the first fully digital bank in the UAE, as much as 96 per cent of all comparable transactions are digital now. “CBD Now is the way to go for our new customers. It offers real time customer account sign up, both in-branch and on-line, which is a completely new customer experience.”
“We will continue our efforts in developing better processes, improving our technology and introducing new products and services to the market,” said van Linder, who had been with Saudi Hollandi Bank for seven years before joining CBD.
He said CBD has a proud tradition of innovation that has seen us consistently bring advanced, technology-based banking solutions that make life simpler and more secure for our customers.
“We continue to demonstrate that pioneering spirit today by introducing ‘CBD Now’ the first digital-only bank that offers a completely digital way of banking, one that combines seamless customer experience with transparent and value- added services.”
In 2016, CBD launched a series of innovative and first-to- market digital banking initiatives aimed at making banking simpler, efficient and more personalised.
Some of these key initiatives included “real time customer account sign up”, both in-branch and on-line, a completely new customer experience for people moving to the UAE “movingtouae.ae”, as well as an advanced payments solution to support Smart Government and our corporate clients.
With Emiratisation a top priority, the bank will seek to achieve 7-8 per cent as it continues efforts in developing better processes, improving technology and introducing new products and services to the market, he said. “CBD has a proud tradition of innovation that has seen us consistently bring advanced, technology-based banking solutions that make life simpler and more secure for our customers,” he said.