Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 07 June 2020: Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, and Visa (NYSE: V), the world’s leader in digital payments, today announced the renewal of their partnership with a five-year agreement. Partners since the inception of Emirates NBD, this renewal demonstrates both entities’ ongoing commitment to growing digital payments in the UAE and offering innovative experiences and products that deliver value to the bank’s different customer segments.
As part of the five-year partnership agreement, Visa has secured exclusivity over Emirates NBD’s debit card offering to personal, priority, private and business banking customers, and the debit card programme for Liv. Emirates NBD’s lifestyle digital-only bank. In addition, the two companies have renewed their agreement on existing credit offerings which include premium products such as Visa Infinite Privilege, Visa Infinite and Visa Signature.
Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head – Retail Banking & Wealth Management, Emirates NBD, said: “As the market leader in payment cards, we are delighted to renew our strategic partnership with Visa, enabling Emirates NBD to continue to deliver unique and innovative payment products. Supported by our long-term collaboration with Visa, Emirates NBD has created payment offerings that are unmatched in value and scale, enhancing our customers’ lives. We are also delighted to continue to receive industry recognition for the Emirates NBD “U by Emaar” Visa credit card, one of our most popular products, that has received widespread customer acceptance and positive feedback since its launch.”
The renewed partnership will see both entities continuing to work together to (i) drive growth of digital payments through data-led solutions, (ii) deliver differentiated products in the market using innovative platforms, (iii) deepen customer engagement with experiential offerings through Visa’s sponsorship assets, and (iv) drive operational efficiencies and cost reduction through Visa’s risk and data solutions.
Shahebaz Khan, UAE General Manager, Visa, commented: “We are delighted to renew our long-standing partnership with Emirates NBD. Over the years, we have closely worked together to develop several exclusive, attractive products and loyalty programs that deliver seamless, secure and rewarding experiences to cardholders on their daily, retail, leisure and travel spend. And what’s more, we make sure that our co-branded offerings continuously evolve to resonate with the bank’s different customer segments and their changing preferences. As we renew our partnership for another five-year term, we remain committed to growing digital payments, bringing more innovative products to market and delivering customer-centric solutions to benefit cardholders.”
Emirates NBD was also honored with Visa’s Global Quality Service Award (GSQA) for its operational excellence and fastest-growing co-brand card program – “U by Emaar”. for the enhanced value and seamless redemption it delivers to cardholders at the point of sales.