FAB, QIB, and SNB lead Middle Eastern digital banking with AI, APIs, check digitization, and streamlined onboarding, delivering faster, transparent, and customer-focused financial services.
Middle Eastern banks showcase bold digital transformation strategies, including check digitization, AI chatbots, API banking, and enhanced digital client onboarding. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), and Saudi National Bank (SNB) in particular, are showing a variety of strategies to enhance their digital offerings and improve customer experience.
FAB has significantly advanced its digital banking solutions for both itself and its customers. Key digital offerings include check digitization, an AI chatbot, automated direct debits, electronic invoice and payment systems, digital signatures, API banking, digital client onboarding, SWIFT GPI, and multiple finance and ESG initiatives. These innovations have enhanced convenience, boosted financial inclusion for SMEs, reduced the need for branch visits, improved liquidity, cut costs, minimized paperwork, accelerated collections and reconciliation, ensured payment transparency, and enabled straight-through processing.
QIB has undergone a similar transformation in corporate and institutional banking and now delivers over 90% of services digitally, including onboarding and AI-based financing. The payoff has been more than 30% cost savings through automation and reduced reliance on branches. A monitoring system tracks KPIs, transaction data, adoption rates, customer satisfaction, and financial impact. A multifunctional team supports digital innovation, including strategic investments in AI, cybersecurity, and a mobile-first user experience, positioning QIB as a regional leader. This aligns with Qatar’s digital-economy goals and QIB’s vision for efficiency and accessibility.
SNB’s digital transformation has yielded new features for corporate clients, focusing on convenience and efficiency. Key improvements include the ability to add, update, or delete account representatives and authorizers online, eliminating paperwork and delays and mitigating risks. Clients can request checks online that are cleared or still in draft, and increase cash-deposit limits digitally via deposit cards. These enhancements have reduced turnaround times, increased transparency, and offer customers direct control over essential account operations, creating a faster, more reliable, and more customer-friendly banking experience.
