The Banking Executive Magazine - September Issue 2022

WIO Bank State-backed Digital Bank Wio LAUNCHES IN UAE “We all have clear focus areas. If you are competing, you are com- peting for the customer’s good, and we are driving UAE national agendas together. It is about how we complement and grow the ecosystem; everyone is set to ben- efit from them,” said Khan. Patel explained: “To be customer- centric, we must work with our clients. Using technology, we have to build for the customer. If you look at the solutions SMEs get, many of them are broken; they start at a bank for funding and then end up looking elsewhere. At WIO, we are trying to streamline the process allowing customers to stop doing admin and focus on their businesses instead.” Khan added, “We launched serv- ices for SMEs last year, and all of us know that SMEs need faster so- lutions. Data doesn’t need to cre- ate new problems to solve: instead, use data to resolve exist- ing problems.” Meanwhile, DJ Choi, Chief Cus- tomer Officer at RAKBank, said: “Personalisation in banking is more relevant than ever as we are inundated with brand messages. Even the little shop below your building targets you with its branding messages. How do you make it stop, or how do you make it work to your benefit? That’s where personalisation becomes very relevant.” Choi said to the heads of various banks: “While the customer chooses you, you must also be choosing the customer. A clear strategy, risk and contact policy, and rules must be applied when communicating with the cus- tomer.” State-backed digital bank Wio an- nounced on Tuesday it had launched in the United Arab Emirates and would focus initially on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while eyeing an eventual public listing. Wio, which calls itself a "platform bank", has three main business lines: digital banking apps, embedded fi- nance and banking-as-a-service, the provision of banking through third- party distributors. Wio is 65% owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ and Alpha Dhabi, 25% by Etisalat and 10% by First Abu Dhabi Bank. The UAE central bank in February gave it initial approval to begin operations. "SMEs have a lot of pain points that have been under-catered to histori- cally for many reasons. And we be- lieve that starting by being close to them and understanding them is very important," Wio chairman Salem Al Nuaimi told Reuters in an interview. "Finding funding for them in different ways is something which we will have to do." Wio chief executive Jayesh Patel said the bank could provide its own fund- ing to SMEs, which it would serve with its Wio Business division, and also help them find other financing options. Setting up Wio Business was cur- rently the core focus, said Al Nuaimi. Patel said Wio was in talks with busi- nesses, including a regional e-com- merce player, to distribute its services. It planned to expand its offerings to retail customers "in the next few quarters". Wio would also look at po- tential acquisitions in the region as it sought to become the Middle East's leading platform bank, the chairman said. Al Nuaimi said Wio was well-funded thanks to its shareholders, so did not need an initial public offering of shares to raise funds, but nonetheless said one would likely happen at some point. "I think here in the UAE there is a good market that has been and will continue to grow for listed compa- nies. And so I think eventually we will get there," Al Nuaimi said. "There's no timeline for an IPO," he added. "The timeline is to get things done right." ISSUE 165 SEPTEMBER 2022 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 47