National Bonds' ‘Sukuk Express' Receives High Uptake from Customers

About 300,000 Savings Bonds Issued via ‘Sukuk Express’ since Launch in February 2015

Dubai-UAE: 20 May, 2015 - National Bonds Corporation (National Bonds), the leading sharia-compliant savings and investments company in the UAE, has announced that ‘Sukuk Express’, a new service launched by the company in February 2015 has received high uptake from customers across the UAE. More than 300,000 savings bonds have been issued via the service since its launch in February 2015.

Sukuk Express allows customers to increase their savings with up to AED20,000 daily in via 1,000 quick payment machines that have been installed across the length and breadth of the country, including the borders and remote areas. The machines have been designed by MBME (The Cube), a market leader in kiosk and self-service payment solutions.

National Bonds has monitored customer responses online and through its distribution centers in the country over the last three months. The company has found that National Bonds’ ‘Sukuk Express’ has encouraged customers to increase their savings largely due to its quick and safe depositing mechanism.

The charts provided below indicate the number of instant saving transactions conducted via the quick deposit machines since the launch of the service. Dubai has recorded the highest number of transactions via the new service (28%), followed by Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Commenting on the success of ‘Sukuk Express’, Mohammad Bitar, Chief Commercial Officer from National Bonds, said: “This service has exceeded our expectations in attracting savers from all nationalities. Among the new savers that have opted to use Sukuk Express, Emirati citizens topped the list, followed by residents from other nationalities such as India, Pakistan, Syria and Jordan.

“The high degree of interest in Sukuk Express reflects the effectiveness of the new system in boosting a culture of saving in the UAE and the resulting increase in saving through National Bonds’ savings programs using advanced technology. We will continue to innovate and develop new products and services that satisfy contemporary life requirements and are in harmony with the UAE leadership’s directions to provide best-in-class customer services.”

For his part, Dr Anas Barbouti, CEO of MBME, said: “The great interest in National Bonds’ Sukuk Express service through leveraging MBME’s quick payment machines reiterates the growing need among customers for services that save time and effort. Today, technological advancements offer many solutions and ideas to help us develop value-added services that guarantee a satisfactory level of safety and flexibility in online financial transactions. MBME is keen to deploy state-of-the-art tools and methods to ensure our customers’ convenience and the safety of their savings. We seek to communicate with different social segments to understand their needs and deploy an effective strategy to meet their present and future demands.”