Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has inaugurated a new phone banking center with a capacity of receiving more than 3,500 calls per day.
The new center was established due to the tremendous increase in volume of customer calls which recorded an increase of 40 per cent increase in the first six month of 2005, as compared to the first half of 2004.
The center, which will be offering more than 45 services for customers, was inaugurated by Saad Abdul Razak, CEO of DIB. Senior officials and executives from various DIB branches and departments were also present at the opening.
On the occasion of the inauguration, Wasim Saifi, Senior Vice President, Retail and Business banking at DIB, stated: “The call center comes as part of DIB’s plans to strengthen its communication channels with its customers. The center will provide 24 x 7 service to customers, such as utility bill payments, balance inquiry, transfer funds to accounts, activate credit cards, among others.”
He added “The call center counts on 44 highly qualified and trained employees that are equipped with cutting-edge tools and technologies that enable them to best serve customers and develop convenient solutions for each particular case.”
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), established in 1975, is the world’s first Islamic bank to have incorporated the principles of Islam in all its practices.
DIB is a public joint stock company and its share is quoted on the Dubai Financial Market. The bank enjoys a reputation as a leader and innovator in maintaining the quality, flexibility and accessibility of its products and services. In a very short space of time it has created market leading services and products that are setting benchmarks for the rest of the sector.
The bank’s recent financial results confirm the strength of its balance sheet and profitability. Figures for the year ending December 2004 reported a 36 per cent increase in net profits including depositors’ profits, to reach AED 1.02 billion (US$278 million) compared to AED 751 million (US$205 million) for 2003. The bank’s assets at the end of December last year had grown 35 per cent in the same period to AED 30.8 billion (US$8.3 billion), against AED 22.8 billion (US$6.2 billion) for the equivalent year previously.
The bank has been proactive in creating partnerships and alliances at local and international level. DIB has adapted an aggressive expansion strategy, which started with the establishment of DIB Pakistan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of DIB. The bank has also co-managed Pakistan’s US$600 million first Sovereign Islamic bond issue that received a tremendous response from investors. The steps taken mark DIB’s ambitious plans to roll out its operations into regional and international markets as part of its overall strategic plan.
DIB has also shown its outstanding capabilities by being appointed to provide specialist financial solutions for huge developmental projects within the UAE, one of which led to the world record US$1 billion Islamic bond issue. The issue was arranged for the Government of Dubai’s Department of Civil Aviation to raise funding for the second phase of the expansion of Dubai International Airport. The bank also managed financing of US$350 million for Nakheel. The financing made further capital available to build on Nakheel’s blue chip portfolio of developments such as The Palm in Dubai.
