Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Emirates NDB have recently marked their fifth year of collaboration on the DIFC Fintech Hive, the largest financial technology hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. The Hive has successfully completed two sprints of its FinTech accelerator programme.
Supporting success
Emirates NBD has worked with DIFC Fintech Hive since 2017 and helps start-ups develop their ideas into working prototypes. 2020 saw Emirates NBD integrate with Norbloc, a leader in blockchain Know Your Client (KYC) technology and a participant of 2017 FinTech Accelerator Programme, for the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform. Other notable success stories include JigSaw, SmartEngine, Vision Labs, Verrency and Kasisto.
The FinTech Accelerator 2021 was run as a hybrid format with two innovation sprints, from May-June and September-October. Emirates NDB paid particular attention to concepts utilising Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and other technologies in the areas of compliance and payments, systems that directly impacted customer experience and straight-through processing (STP). Four Fintechs were selected for the next round and participants that meet the bank’s criteria will progress to the next stage where they will enter discussions with specialists on their model, technology and proof of concept.
AccelerateHer
As part of its partnership with DIFC FinTech Hive, Emirates NBD was also a key partner of AccelerateHer, a female-focused career mentorship program targeted at developing young women in the industry professionally and personally.
“We are delighted to strengthen our collaboration with the DIFC FinTech Hive for the fifth year, working towards our common goal of encouraging and supporting young promising Fintech start-ups. As a pioneer of innovation in the region’s banking sector, Emirates NBD has always had its finger on the pulse of innovation, looking to experiment and partner with players in the FinTech ecosystem,” said Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD, commenting on the announcement.
He added, “With the support of the DIFC FinTech Hive, Emirates NBD is constantly looking to discover and launch relevant FinTechs, who can help us accelerate our digital transformation journey and develop solutions that optimise not just customer experience but also our internal operations. We look forward to playing an active role in encouraging innovative partnerships in the UAE and the wider region and are excited to see further collaborations develop and thrive.”
Raja Al Mazrouei, Executive Vice President, DIFC Fintech Hive, said, “Emirates NBD has been our partner from the very beginning, and every year we see more of a drive for digital transformation and acceleration. The structure of our FinTech Accelerator sprints allows us to directly address our partners’ priority areas through accessing the most innovative FinTech solutions from all around the world. This year, Emirates NBD had access to a pool of 44 FinTech solutions and we are pleased to have hosted a pitch day for Emirates NBD to select the solutions they would like to take forward and work with. We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with the bank.”
In 2020, DIFC launched the FinTech Hive Scale Up programme to assist start-ups through strategic partnerships and investment resources.
