The Corporate and Institutional Banking division of Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, NorthAfrica and Turkey) region, has reported an increasedpreference for digital banking amongstits clients, with more than96% relying on the bank’s digital platforms for all payment transactions and more than99%processing their payrolls digitallyas of September 2021.

Supported by a continued focus on technology led corporate banking solutions, the bank has also witnessed an overall increase in client onboarding volumes, with more than 40% increase in client onboarding for the first nine months of 2021 as compared to the same period in2019.

Emirates NBD’scorporate digital bankingplatform businessONLINE has been designed to simplify working capital management, streamline complex operations, and offer corporates full visibility across financial relationships, accounts, and activities, delivering a single view across all their markets. The bank recently enhanced its digital banking suite withofferings such as Virtual Accounts, Liquidity Management, API Banking and Digital Supply Chain Finance, empoweringbusinessestomonitor cash flows in real time and respond to rapid changes in the macro landscape.

Emirates NBD has alsowitnessed an overall increase in transactions on its digital trade finance platform, smartTRADE. Trade finance requests received through the platform increased 2.5 times in the same period, as clients preferred to use digital channels over branch counters for their trade finance requirements. In 2020, the bank launched its first-to-market solution that digitizes processing of inward guarantees using Robotics Processing Application and Machine Learning that has enabled multiple government clients to manage 100% of their inward guarantees digitally using smartTRADE, thereby eliminating paper usage and driving Straight Through Processing.

Emirates NBDwas the first in the region to offer digital supplier onboarding on its digital supply chain platform – smartSCF. With the recent addition of dynamic discounting on smartSCF, Emirates NBD is also the first UAE bank to offer the option of discount bidding to suppliers registered with a company on the platform.

Ahmed Al Qassim, Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head, Corporate &Institutional Banking, Emirates NBD said:“As part of our vision to be the most innovative bank for our clients, we are continuously creating relevant solutions that empowerbusinessesand enhance their banking experience.We have encouraged, advised, and supported our clients through this step-by-step transformation, making the transitionas seamless and exciting, as possible. We will continue the end-to-end digitization of corporate banking with support from ourinternal teams and technology partners. With UAE achieving the prestigious 10th rank in the World Digital Competitiveness index in 2021, we look forward to further supporting the nation’sdrive towards digitisation in all aspects of business.”

Anith Daniel, Group Head of Transaction Banking Services, Emirates NBD Corporate and Institutional Banking, said: “Our enhanced digital product suite has supported UAE businesses in their transition towards a more digital and efficient direction. We remain committed to supporting our clients by offering innovative Trade finance, Supply Chain finance and Cash management solutions that help them conduct their business more efficiently and welook forward to leadingnew initiatives that help us facilitate efficient working capital management and create rewarding client experiences.”