Business Banking Account Onboarding Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2024

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the UAE's economy, constituting a significant portion of its business landscape. With approximately 350,000 SMEs having less than 250 employees and turnovers below AED 250 million, they represent over 95% of all businesses in the country and make substantial contributions to its GDP.

Access to banking services has been pivotal for the success and expansion of SMEs. However, it has long been a challenge for them, as SME banking presents high risks for financial institutions. Consequently, SMEs often endure prolonged document scrutiny and back-and-forth interactions with banks. Moreover, due to limited digitization and banks' subdued interest in this sector, SMEs have predominantly experienced offline banking journeys for their business needs.

RAKBANK has emerged as a frontrunner in serving the UAE SME sector, offering tailored products and services to meet their unique requirements. As a traditional SME bank, RAKBANK has excelled in providing core business banking products.

In Q4 of 2023, RAKBANK significantly enhanced its digital services for SME clients by introducing an end-to-end digital account onboarding journey. This journey enables SMEs to apply for a business account and receive instant approval. Customers can conveniently upload their documents on-the-go, and the platform includes mechanisms to verify document authenticity with relevant authorities, as well as the liveliness and authenticity of applicants. The primary objectives of developing this journey were to position RAKBANK as a “Digital Bank with a Human Touch”, reduce the turnaround time for opening business accounts, minimize the number of fields and clicks required in the application process, pre-populate fields for customer convenience, and decrease the cost of customer acquisition.