The Dubai-based Mashreqbank psc (Arabic: بنك المشرق‎ Orient Bank) is the oldest privately owned bank in the United Arab Emirates. Founded as the Bank of Oman in 1967, Mashreq was the first UAE bank to install ATM cash dispensers, the first to issue debit and credit cards and the first to introduce consumer loans. Today Mashreq provides conventional and Islamic personal banking services including deposits, loans and credit cards; conventional and Islamic investment banking services including corporate finance and investment advisory on mergers and acquisitions, initial in public offering and underwriting; conventional and Islamic asset management services including wealth management.
Mashreq has 12 overseas offices in nine countries, including Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa.
History
The oldest local bank in the United Arab Emirates, Mashreq Bank has provided banking and financial services to millions of customers and businesses since 1967. It was established in Dubai as the Bank of Oman, prior to formation of the UAE, under a decree of the Ruler of Dubai â€" Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
In 1993, the bank changed its name to Mashreq Bank and is now one of the UAE’s leading financial institutions. It has a strong retail and corporate banking presence throughout the Persian Gulf, with branches in Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
The Mashreq branch network extends across the UAE, with 50 percent of households banking with the company. It also has customer service centers in key retail locations and one of the largest ATM networks in the country. In addition the bank has overseas offices in 11 countries across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.
The first branch of the Bank of Oman â€" as it was known back then â€" opened in Deira in 1967, which was swiftly followed by a second branch opening on the other side of Dubai Creek in Bur Dubai. The next few years saw additional branches open in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. In 1971 the UAE was formed and the Qatar-Dubai Riyal (QRD) was replaced with the Dirham (AED) as the official currency of the state, a move which would go on to epitomize the state’s growth. The Bank of Oman soon became the first UAE bank to open a branch in Doha, Qatar.
It took just another five years for the bank to establish a branch network, reaching 10 local branches in 1976. The Deira headquarters opened a year later and all of the head ofï¬ce functions â€" previously housed in various branches â€" moved to the building. Soon after, Khorfakkan, Riqqa and Dhaid branches were inaugurated, as the bank’s assets crossed the AED2 billion mark.
From 1978 the company turned its focus to more international ventures. Business extended to markets in Egypt, Pakistan, London and Hong Kong. In addition, with the opening of branches in Kalba, Dibba, Fujairah and Um Al Quwain, the bank became the first and only bank in the UAE with its presence in all the seven Emirates.
A training centre, which began life as a library, was established in 1981 to help workers enhance their skills and knowledge. Subsequently it expanded to a fully fledged training facility catering to all learning and development needs of the bank’s staff. As a department it managed all in-house and external training needs of the bank. Shortly after this, it became the first local bank to introduce credit cards with Visa tie-up.
In 1983 the bank introduced the UAE’s ï¬rst ATM dispenser. This was made possible by connecting all of the branches to a central database. The bank started issuing Visa traveler's cheques in the same year and became the first bank in the region to get global Visa network connectivity. To cap a progressive decade, proï¬ts crossed the AED100 million mark and a branch was opened in New York.
The early nineties saw the initiation of a new transformation strategy, which resulted in a shift from a traditional to a more dynamic and modern bank. In addition to normal business development, the branch network began to expand further and operating efï¬ciency was improved.
As the new-look bank continued to grow, operations were centralized and the branches reworked. Branches got modeled as showrooms with tellers and customer service stations only. All back office functions were centralized away from branches. The results of the changes were imminent and saw the bank grow further. In 16 years the bank’s assets grew from AED1 billion to 10 billion.
In 1993 the name of the bank was changed from Bank of Oman to Mashreq.
The first chip-based credit card was introduced to the region by Mashreq in 2004, putting further emphasis on the pioneering nature of the company.
International banking
Overseas operations were centralized in 2005. In the ï¬rst phase, Hong Kong and UK operations were handled by Dubai. Bank’s proï¬t exceeded AED1 billion the same year, while assets reached AED50 billion in 2006.
Expansion
The system for risk modeling was introduced with probability of default and loss given default calculations. A retail application scorecard was also introduced. All centralized operation units and mindscape were moved to the dedicated twin building at the Dubai Outsource Zone in 2008. A total of 10 branches and a Mashreq Gold Centre were established during 2008 in Egypt. Kuwait operations also commenced in 2009.
Services
Five key areas: commercial and investment banking; retail banking; treasury and capital markets; international banking and Islamic banking.
Corporate and investment banking
This comprises corporate and commercial banking customers in the UAE. Trade finance, contracting finance, project finance, investment banking, corporate advisory, cash management, wealth management, SME and private banking are the major products and business lines making up this segment.
Retail banking
Retail banking is another key area. It includes products and services offered to individuals or small businesses in the UAE, Qatar and Egypt. The product offerings to customers include current accounts, savings accounts, fixed deposits, investment products, Mashreq Millionaire deposits, personal loans, auto loans, mortgage loans, business loans, credit cards with unique loyalty programs, bank assurance, overdraft, priority banking and wealth management services
Treasury and capital markets
Treasury and capital markets consist of customer flow business and proprietary business. Customer flow business includes transactions for foreign exchange, derivatives, margin FX, futures, hedging, investment products, domestic equities (brokerage) and asset management undertaken on behalf of customers. The proprietary business includes trading and investing activity undertaken on behalf of the group.
International banking
International banking cater for corporate and commercial business for the group’s overseas banking branches in Qatar, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait and the group’s correspondent banking business in other overseas branches. This includes trade services, reimbursements, reimbursement undertaking, reimbursement financing, export bills collection, risk participations.
Islamic banking
Islamic banking products are offered to customers across the above-mentioned four lines of businesses. The products in question are Ijara home finance, Mudarabah deposit, Mudarabah savings account, Musharaka finance, Murabaha commodity finance, Ijara underwriting, Musharaka LC, Murabaha LC and TR Murabaha, among others.
Subsidiaries and Associates
References
External links
- Mashreqbank profile on Zawya
- The Institute of Export page
