Emirates NBD Boosts AED 1 Billion Digital Transformation With New Milestone in Core Banking System Upgrade

- Bank completes third phase of international core banking system upgrade in Saudi Arabia, following earlier upgrades in Singapore and the United Kingdom

- Marks a significant milestone in the bank's four-year transformation programme and its focus on enterprise-wide technology consolidation and upgrades

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the region, has completed the third phase of its international core banking system upgrade, as it forges ahead with its ongoing digital transformation efforts to boost innovation and efficiency across its domestic and international operations.

Leveraging advanced Finacle technology, the third phase of the project sees the rollout of the new core banking system for Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia, following prior launches in Singapore and the UK in November 2018 and July 2019, respectively. By end-2020, all Emirates NBD entities and markets will be consolidated onto one single, updated core banking platform, enabling the bank to offer new financial services more rapidly across all markets while reducing global IT costs.

The global initiative is the bank's biggest in its ongoing AED 1 billion digital transformation that will enter its fourth and final year in 2020. It has already delivered many large-scale enterprise system improvements. This includes completing one of the world's largest Calypso upgrades to enhance treasury services, strengthening the bank's global payments capabilities with a new payments hub, and introducing smartTrade for trade finance customers, while simultaneously building world-class, in-house cloud, agile, enterprise data, security and API-based architecture capabilities. 

Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD, said: "Emirates NBD is proud to announce the third phase of our international core banking system upgrade in Saudi Arabia, following successful launches in Singapore and the UK."

"This is another important milestone in our long-term digital transformation strategy that has already delivered numerous major upgrades and consolidations to our enterprise applications. In 2020, our focus is on concluding our most complex, multi-entity initiatives like the core banking system upgrade while ensuring all of our technology enhancements increasingly translate into seamless, innovative financial services for our customers," he added.

About Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading Bank in the MENAT region. As at 30th September 2019, total assets were AED 675.6 Billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 184 Billion). The acquisition of DenizBank represents a significant milestone for Emirates NBD with the Group expanding its presence to 13 countries, servicing over 14 million customers. The Bank is ranked among the top 20 in the Forbes' list of the World's Best Regarded Companies, securing a leading spot among global brands.

The Group has a significant retail banking franchise in the UAE and is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 94% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Bank announced the creation of E20., a digital business bank for entrepreneurs and SMEs while Liv., the lifestyle digital bank for millennials continued to be the fastest growing retail proposition in the UAE. Emirates NBD was named 'Best Digital Bank in the Middle East' at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence in 2019, affirming the Bank's status as a digital banking leader among its regional peers.  

The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Turkey, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 980 branches and 3964 ATMs / SDMs. The Bank has a large social media following, being the only bank in the Middle East ranked among the top 20 in the 'Power 100 Social Media Rankings', compiled by The Financial Brand for 2019. Emirates NBD is a major player in the UAE corporate segment and has strong Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets & treasury and brokerage operations.

The Group is an active participant and supporter of the UAE's main development and community initiatives, in close alignment with the UAE government's strategies, including financial literacy and advocacy for inclusion of People with Disabilities under its #TogetherLimitless platform. The Bank is recognised for the pioneering efforts in employee volunteering and corporate social responsibility by IMPACT2030, the corporate volunteering arm of the United Nations. Emirates NBD Group is a Premier Partner and the Official Banking Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai.

For more information, please visit: www.emiratesnbd.com