Mashreq Bank is planning to open its first fully electronic branch without staff in January in what the chief executive said would become a way of the future.
Unveiling seven new technological products to be introduced to selective branches, Aziz Abdul Al Ghurair said retail banking was dramatically changing, in both how it operated and what it offered customers.
The new technology includes 24-hour video conferencing with a bank employee, various online banking options, including a preloaded tablet that allows customers to manage their accounts at home and the ability to use tap ‘n’ go technology to make small purchases in stores.
At a cost of about $50,000 per branch, the additional technology has been introduced to three Mashreq branches so far and is expected to be added to another five by the end of the year and 12 in total during the first stage.
Al Ghurair, who is also chairman of the UAE Banks Foundation, said while the increased technology meant fewer staff, it would enable the Mashreq to open branches in more locations, including staff-less centres.
The first will be within the Deira City Centre metro station, where 500,000 people travel through each month.
“You’ll see more branches, more electronic branches [and] you may see a branch of Mashreq with nobody there,” he said.
Alongside traditional banking services, Mashreq Bank also has launched what it says is one of only two automatic redemption loyalty programs in the world, in which customers can collect points when they use one of the bank’s credit cards at participating retailers.
The public also can now purchase cinema tickets at some branches, using a touch screen computer, or receive discounts at 650 restaurants across the UAE via Mashreq’s new Flavours mobile app.
Al Ghurair said banks were becoming increasingly holistic, with a broad range of services, similar to how 90 percent of an iPhone is used for non-phone call-related activities.
“[Customers] don’t have to go shop around, it’s all available here,” he said.
“Banks should be able to fulfil a whole suit of solutions for customers. We’ll see banks in the future moving away from what’s called traditional banking.
“Tomorrow we’ll be offering we’ll be offering [even] more, and the choice is the customer’s.”
Mashreq expects the technology to bring greater customer satisfaction but Al Ghurair would not detail what financial growth the bank hoped to see come from the investment.
He said, however, footfall in the two branches that have been trialling the technology had increased by more than 37 percent.
“We were afraid that customers would not like it immediately … but we’ve seen customers embrace this new technology and like it,” Al Ghurair said.
“There is a limit on what we can and, of course, the market is not only for us. But the good news is that the economy is doing well, consumers are back and life is back and people want to go back to living.”
He dismissed criticism that the gadgets and gimmicks could draw in customers who could not afford a loan or credit card, fuelling the UAE’s already high personal debt level.
“We are making the process very transparent and clear to the customer and [telling them] what is the consequence is for taking a loan for AED100,000 and he can do various scenarios,” Al Ghurair said.
“We want the customer to make the decision … we will only work as advisor, facilitator, for the loan.
“If you find the customer is getting crazy we’ll also tell him ‘this is too much’.”
Al Ghurair said bank lending had increased 4 percent so far this year but the figure did not reflect repayment of large loans taken out during the pre-crisis boom, which were being increasingly paid off, providing banks with more capacity to lend.
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