Given the developing situation around the Coronavirus – COVID-19 outbreak, the safety and wellbeing of our customers, our employees and the community, remains our top priority, as we put our Bank-wide precautionary measures into action. In accordance with the UAE government directives, and following global guidelines, Emirates NBD has rolled out its proactive business resilience and continuity plan.

The precautionary measures we have implemented include, but are not limited to the following:

• Split operations, where applicable, across Emirates NBD Group to ensure that there is sufficient space between our employees and that teams are not all working together from the same location. This has been implemented to ensure no interruption in service to our customers.
   
• Colleagues who are at greater risk i.e.(pregnant women, women with young children, staff with disabilities, senior employees, and staff with pre-existing medical conditions) are permitted to work from home. We have purchased additional equipment to ensure our staff safety is taken into consideration without any interruption to business continuity. Our staff have been trained on how to work from home and technology has been tested to ensure its effectiveness.
   
• In addition, flexibility has been provided for working parents (both mothers or fathers) whose kids are left unattended as schools close for the next few weeks.
   
• We have installed thermal scanning machines in our major office premises. These measures have been taken purely as a preventative step to ensure the health and well-being of our employees.
   
• All internal travel for meetings between offices are discouraged and we strongly encourage staff to make use of the technology provided and conduct meetings virtually. This has now been tested for over a week and is seen as a very positive step due to its ease and convenience.
   
• A strong drive towards digital and online training will be encouraged as classroom trainings will be put on hold. Live online training sessions will be piloted through modern technology.
   
• We also strongly advise against any internal or external large gatherings and have discouraged it for a while.
   
• As we understand it is difficult times for our staff so we have created a microsite to continuously ensure our staff are kept upto date with the recent developments as well as create a hotline for staff to raise any issues or concerns they might be facing.
   

We have also undertaken precautionary measures across our branch network, including additional deep cleaning and sterilization protocols, training frontline staff and installation of sanitizers around Emirates NBD Group buildings, when entering and leaving the premises, on entrances of each department and in elevators.

At Emirates NBD, we have spent years building a robust digital infrastructure to help customers manage their banking needs from wherever they are and whenever they need. Our digital platforms remain fully functional 24/7 and we encourage customers to access their mobile and online banking applications for their everyday transactions from the safety of their home. We are hoping with strong support from our clients we will be able to change behavior and encourage digital interaction with us.

In addition, Emirates NBD has created engaging video content on its social platforms to educate and encourage customers on its contact-less banking and payment solutions. Our branches across the country remain open for our customers’ convenience.

Emirates NBD closely follows medical protocols from global and national health authorities to ensure the actions we take and the safety guidelines we regularly share with our employees regarding hygiene, alertness to symptoms, social interaction and travel are comprehensive and appropriate. The Bank will continue to take, all the measures local health authorities advise to protect our employees and customers.

Nothing is more important for us than health and safety, and we are doing everything we can to protect and support our colleagues, customers, stakeholders and community as part of our firm-wide business resiliency and continuity plans.