Mashreq launches new brand identity to reflect digital transition

Dubai bank will adopt a ‘challenger brand status’ to meet the evolving needs of customers

Mashreq chairman, AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, at the launch of the bank's new brand strategy. Antonie Robertson / The National

Dubai-listed lender Mashreq launched its new brand identity on Wednesday as part of efforts to realign its offerings as a digital-first financial institution.

Mashreq will adopt a "challenger brand status" by supporting the needs of every customer, the bank said in a statement.

The lender aims to achieve this through a "collaborative, digital-first approach to building a new banking-as-a-service" approach.

“'Rise every day' is a statement of intent that exemplifies where Mashreq has come from and where it is going in the context of today’s rapidly changing and ever more complex digital world,” said AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, chairman of Mashreq.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which led to lockdowns and social distancing around the world, hastened the move to digital financial and banking services as consumers switched to cashless payments and online shopping.

The UAE has seen the emergence of digital-only banks in recent years. In the first half of 2017, Emirates NBD launched Liv. bank, which is aimed at millennials. Mashreq also unveiled Mashreq Neo in the same year. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank unveiled Amwali, a digital-only bank targeted at Generation Z, last year.

Independent digital banks are also entering the market, including Al Maryah Community Bank, which secured a licence from the Central Bank of the UAE in April last year. This was followed by the launch of the UAE’s first independent digital bank, Zand, which caters to retail and corporate clients.

This month, Wio Bank, an Abu Dhabi-based digital lender, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ, Alpha Dhabi Holding, telecoms operator e& (formerly known as Etisalat) and First Abu Dhabi Bank, launched operations in the UAE.

“The new brand positioning comes at a very crucial moment as we lead the evolution of digital finance and the wider digital economy through the innovation and deployment of truly transformational platforms and solutions,” said Mashreq’s group chief executive Ahmed Abdelaal.

The lender has achieved significant cost savings and operational efficiency through digitalisation.

Mashreq reported a nearly 19-fold jump in its second-quarter profit as net interest income rose and impairment allowances fell. Profit attributable to owners in the three-month period reached Dh793 million ($215.9m), up from Dh42.3m during the same quarter last year.

The surge in profit came as the bank reported a nearly 37 per cent increase in net interest income and an almost 73 per cent decline in loan impairment charges annually during the period.