Aligned to the UAE Innovation Month initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, Emirates NBD Group, a leading banking group in the region, hosted a range of activities under its inaugural Emirates NBD Group Innovation Month.

The month-long programme marked the fifth anniversary of the bank's annual Innovation Day and was steered by Emirates NBD Future LabTM.

During Innovation Month, Emirates NBD employees competed to provide the most innovative ideas on how to improve the bank's products, processes and services. Concurrently, a social media campaign titled #YouMakeUsBetter encouraged the bank's customers to suggest banking solutions to make banking easier and more convenient. The bank also hosted innovation forums for employees and young students across the country. This was undertaken in collaboration with key technology leaders such as Amazon and Google, as well as its strategic partners including Youth Hub, Emirates Digital Association of Women, ArabWIC and OpenUAE.

"As the UAE's digital banking leader, Emirates NBD is committed to helping to continuously raise the bar for innovation excellence in the country, aligned to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Emirates NBD is deeply committed to innovation, particularly digital innovation and we have our new, dedicated Digital Office at the forefront to drive this agenda. We have also looked towards our employees as well as our customers for their deep understanding and experience of banking with us, and we believe that some of our best innovations have stemmed from their feedback. Emirates NBD is pleased to inaugurate its first ever Group Innovation Month and we look forward to putting the creative ideas into action," said Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD.

"The sheer quantity of first-to-market solutions we have introduced in the UAE is a true testament to our focus on being an innovation-led bank. Whether it be Liv., the country's first digital-lifestyle bank; Facebanking, a unique feature that allows customers to chat with bank representatives at any time, from anywhere, or ChequeChain, our Blockchain solution to reduce counterfeit cheque fraud, these solutions have found their inspiration in employee and customer feedback. The month gave us the opportunity to celebrate creative thinking, which is core to our business model, and engage with our customers, employees and the community to further foster a culture of out-of-the-box thinking," added Evans Munyuki, Group Chief Digital Officer, Emirates NBD.

Emirates NBD Group's Innovation Month will culminate on 28 February at a demonstration day held at Dubai's World Trade Centre. Shortlisted ideas across three categories; Employee Innovation, Academia Innovation and Partner Collaboration will be presented to a panel of industry experts. Emirates NBD Future LabTM will then help bank employees as well as young students and partners transform their proposals into prototypes. Four teams will be selected as the event winners.

Emirates NBD's Innovation Month supports the Arab Innovation Forum taking place between 26 and 28 February. The bank is a platinum sponsor, represented by Liv., Emirates NBD's lifestyle-banking millennial proposition , where it will present highlights of its success during its inaugural year.