As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive faster consumer adoption of digital banking transactions, DirectRemit saw a 10% growth in its user base from January to August 2021 as compared to the same period last year. The growth in transactions and usage is attributed to a growing consumer preference for contactless and round-the-clock access to banking and payments via digital channels.
DirectRemit is Emirates NBD’s flagship digital money transfer service that allows its customers to make remittances to India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and the United Kingdom in less than 60 seconds and free of charge via the bank’s mobile or online banking platforms. The digital funds transfer platform has continued to address the needs of customers during the pandemic, while eliminating the need to visit physical branches of the bank or remittance agents and avoiding the use of cash. As part of the bank’s efforts to continuously enhance the proposition, DirectRemit is now available beyond banking hours, enabling instant transfers to key partner banks round the clock.
Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD said, “Consumers have been adapting quickly to the ongoing situation and digital is now the primary mode of accessing banking services. As a front-runner in digital banking innovation, Emirates NBD has been at the vanguard of delivering banking experiences that offer convenience and flexibility. DirectRemit is a service that is popular with a lot of our customers and we will continue to enhance the platform to provide increased service coverage and value to users.”
Emirates NBD’s innovative customer engagement promotion, Bingo, which was launched in collaboration with City 1016 and Tag91.1 FM also saw an overwhelming customer response. Powered by DirectRemit, the social media promotion which took place across two months over eight episodes, leveraged online gamification to let users play Bingo virtually. The game was streamed online across five social media channels, reaching close to half a million people, with over 20,000 players and attracting an audience of a hundred thousand viewers.
