How Digital Banking Systems Enhance Customer Experience?

Posted on March 24, 2022March 24, 2022 by admin

Technology is ever changing and continues to revolutionise the world in which we live. In less than a decade, the lives of every single person worldwide have changed from being digital second to digital first. As technology is developing towards providing a comfortable lifestyle, people’s preferences are changing with respect to living in this easily accessible digital world. The world has seen significant improvements and advancements digitally in the last few years alone. These advancements would only continue to grow and inspire people to adapt to the changes in their lifestyles. Gadgets like laptops, smartphones, tablets, and computers have become an integral part of almost everyone’s daily life. Internet and online preferences have seen a significant rise, adding to the comfortable lifestyle of an individual.

The Continuous evolving landscape, cutting-edge competition, along with rising customer expectations have become a general thumb rule to adapt to in almost every industry. The banking sector is no exception and is one of the first industries to adapt to digital advancements. The banking and financial sector being the backbone of any economy is understandably on the frontline for digitalisation and advancement. This is also why many insurances, banking services, and financial institutions and providers have to keep up with the new trends to tend to their customers promptly.

SoulWallet helps you compare and find the best credit card across various banks, that are suited for your needs for you to have an easy and hassle-free experience. The well-researched, solidly structured, unbiased content along with unique tools at SoulWallet help you make well informed financial decisions for your personal and business transactions. In the process, SoulWallet helps you identify the options that will let you save money and enjoy the best perks.

Digitalisation in Banking

With the digitalisation of the banking sector, more and more people prefer to manage their financial activities from making payments, transactions like transferring of funds, checking their bank account statements to applying for loans and credit cards by simply logging into their digital banking portals and conducting these activities from the comfort of their homes or from on the move without having to visit the bank. Digital banking is a system that helps banks and financial institutions to digitalise their banking services and make them convenient to use for the customers as per their convenience. Digital banking services can include activities like money deposits, withdrawals, management of the customer’s bank account, application for financial products, like credit or debit cards, management of loans and other transactions.

Digitalising the banking sector has also helped grow their customer base and transactions can be carried out easily from any area of the world. In order to incorporate this, various digital platforms have established easier links between people from different remote corners, connecting them to the banking and financial institutions and providing them with the service they need. That is why the preference for digital banking for both customers and bankers is thriving.

In many cases, physical restrictions and complications lead to a sharp surge in a demand for an online platform for financial activities and digital banking services. A study by Mastercard revealed that 62% of the respondents in Europe expressed a keen desire and interest in moving from the physical banking aspect to banking using digital platforms in the year 2020. With the complications arising due to the pandemic, over half of the world’s population prefers using online facilities and banking apps more than ever and have expressed a more positive interest in digital banking overall. Customers have switched banks for banks that offer banking features that provide safe, quick, and convenient access to their finances online. Fast, simple, and effortless digital experiences have now become the default mode for consumers throughout their lives, and it’s becoming increasingly important for banking too, particularly as all the big techs have upped their involvement in their respective sectors.

Digital banking authorizes its customer’s personalization at the scale that drives between 5 and 15% revenue growth for the corporations in the financial service sectors. Banks functioning digitally have also witnessed a reduction in costs and streamlined processes. This end-to-end integration has also helped provide an engaging customer experience in financial services that allow business transformation with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Customer Experience in Banking

In the year 1999, when the world was steadily digitalising, Dell’s then Chief Information Officer Jerry Gregoire proclaimed, “the customer experience is the next competitive battleground.” The two decades since have shown this to be a very accurate prediction in all sectors of business.

All the efforts a bank puts in making each and every one of their individual clients feel important while interacting and transacting with the bank is referred to as the customer experience (CX). The cumulation of all the interactions that a customer perceives along the entire journey is also a part of the customer experience. Customer experience is the most important aspect in the banking and financial sector. Every strategic approach taken by the banks is to meet the demands of their customer and to satisfy their customer needs. In this day and age, it is crucial for banks and financial institutions to digitally transform themselves to deliver a consistent banking experience online for their customers.

A study by the digital banking report has concluded that improving the customer experience in banking should be the first goal for all banking institutions and financial service providers. The banks that invest in the customer experience trends have a higher rate of recommendation, greater wallet share and are more likely to up and sell or cross-sell products and services to existing customers.

In the financial service industry, customer experience carries equal weightage, if not more. Addressing customer suggestions and preferences is much more impactful in the long term and forms a loyal customer base. Banks and financial institutions that adopt new trends and strategies to revamp the banking and financial service experiences are steady in the market and have a loyal and expanding customer base. Banks and financial institutions that have used digitalisation and technology to create seamless, convenient, and intuitive customer experiences have dominated their markets.

What are the Customer Expectations from Digital Banking Experience?

Customers expect their banks should focus on creating an experience culture that would nurture all their needs, build trust, and offer personalised experience as per their convenience.

The key customer expectations when it comes to digitised banking experience are:

Easy accessibility – Banks and financial institutions need to provide quick and easy to use digital platforms that are accessible across multiple devices, mainly smartphones and computers. Various features and banking transactions should be carried out easily on these platforms without any wait time. The high quality banking experience along with easily connecting with the bank directly is a must.

Real time assistance – Often customers need real time assistance and prefer instant support. This not only builds confidence in the customers but also encourages loyalty and recurring customers. Using live assistance tools like co-browsing and video chats, banks can provide real time support and help to their customers. Chatbots also help scale their support and customer interactions.

Personalised services – Customers almost always prefer personalised services and relevance as per their needs. They would look for products and services that match their needs and provides subsidies that would be beneficial to their needs and usage. Banks can identify the key business drivers and deliver personalised support that would help shape the customer experience in banking.

Data security – Many customers are sceptical about their financial and important personal information being misused or taken advantage of. Data security is the most crucial point for any banking and financial sector. Customers need to feel safe sharing their finance and personal information with the bank. A healthy relationship between banks and customers is only created with a secure network and when a bank can guarantee security to the data of their customers.

Multifunctionality – Customers prefer banks that offer them options and solutions to any of their problems immediately. The banks need to keep pace with the latest developments of the market and technology and offer services across different channels simultaneously.

Design – Many traditional banking institutions often do not concentrate on their interfaces and fail to attract new clients. A customer today will prefer banks to have an exceptional UI along with easy to use website or mobile apps. Investing in improving digital channels attracts more customers.

Three ways Banks can conquer Customer Experience in Digital Banking

Banks hold enjoy strong customer relationships and trust since their establishment. Even with the services and products becoming available digitally, most of the customers trust their banks and banks that offer superior and personalised services. To further thrive in this digital era, banks need to harness the available advanced banking technology. This will allow the banks to match with the seamless and intuitive customer experiences offered by other big tech and their competitors.

To conquer customer experience in digital banking, banks need to focus on three key areas:

Transform the business models and mindset to a customer first approach – The customer first mindset requires banks and financial institutions to think about customer needs relentlessly and make things easy and accessible for the customers.

Leverage advanced banking technology – All banks require advanced digital banking solutions that help them manage their customers worldwide. Using technologies like application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud, and artificial intelligence allows banks to analyse and manage their vast amounts of data and large customer base.

Maintain and extend your trust advantage – Trust being the most important factor, offers a valuable advantage to build close and personal relationships with customers. Combing technology with customer experiences, banks can enhance customer experience and develop stronger trust with their clients.

Tips to Improve Digital Transformation

For banks to succeed in digital transformation and to avoid outdated assumptions while creating exceptional services that focus on their customers, banks should follow the following customer experience tips:

Serve more instead of selling
Make emotional connections with customers instead of overloading them with lots of information
Provide actionable solutions to customers instead of just focusing on features
Create an integrated flow for the customers instead of disintegrated experiences
Become disruptive instead of being protective

Ways to Improve Digital Customer Experience in Banking

The adoption of digital enablement technologies by banks that are able to function together smoothly is required to orchestrate a connected and enhance customer experience.

The following strategies are options for banks to achieve this state:

Proactive engagement for improved financial management – Financial institutions have various means and innovative methods to collect data, analyse and channel strategies to diversify the means of engaging customers and building better and stronger relationships in real time. By educating customers, notifying customers without delays, and conducting surveys help banks in conducting proactive customer engagement.

Offering live assistance – Mapping a consumer banking journey is an excellent way to gain a detailed understanding of the customer’s experience. This can help banks discover common customer complaints, gain insights into improving the consumer journey, help in identifying the touchpoints customers have with the bank and understand their expectations better. This also helps in improving customer resolution time, reducing sale cycle and number of touchpoints for the customer.

Using chatbots as Financial Concierge – Artificial intelligence has played a significant role in technological development. Using AI chatbots is a common practice for customer interactions. This helps in providing faster and more accurate solutions to customers in real time and help in connecting with the right department and bank personnel without much response delay. The chatbots also provide customer information to the banks to help them identify the customer and the problem quicker and thus provide accurate solutions.

Prioritise a seamless omnichannel customer experience – Modern customers prefer to connect with the bank across various different channels according to their convenience. Banks need to provide the same time of services across all channels, both online and offline.

Understand the customer journey – Creating an unrivalled customer experience is an aspiration of all banks and this can be achieved by following the end to end customer journey. Customer needs, actions, barriers, and motivation can be considered at every stage of the customer journey and any shortcomings can be dealt with immediately without wasting time.

Make use of big data and analytics – Understanding customers is the foundation for sustainable competitive advantage in the digital banking and financial sector. With the help of analytics and data, banks can gain valuable insights to segment customers, evaluate opportunities, and predict models to strengthen engagements and increase the customer experience of digitalised banking services.

Using a personalised customer experience approach – Personalisation is imperative, and every customer demands it. These elements help banks to put customers first, leverage this customer data and deliver multi channel customer experience, thus improving the customer experience overall worldwide

Transparency, Security, Trust as customer experience tools – Forbes says that customers want to feel valued, appreciated, and confident, and customers who feel this, will advocate the brand. Using these tools builds deep trust and cultivates loyalty in customers who in turn recommend the bank or financial institution to others, thus providing more value to the banks.

Trends Reshaping Customer Experience in Banking for 2022

Enhancing Products & Services with Mobile App Data – In this age and time many mobile banking applications aren’t so much as nice to have rather than on a need to have basis. Banks without this capability are at a severe disadvantage, as customers have come to expect convenient and easy to use a mobile app as a basic necessity. These apps and software enable the banks and financial institutions to analyse the data collected and the machine learning algorithms can help the banks to extract valuable information in return from this customer data, which can then be leveraged to develop new products, optimise the existing processes, better empower customers, and improve the overall customer experience.

The Branch of the Future – Customers do not prefer to visit the physical branches as frequently as they once did and pecks like complimentary coffee and free Wi-Fi aren’t enough to draw modern customers to their physical branches. Physical branches see themselves competing with their own online platforms for customer attention. With the need to reimagine the physical branches to a branch of the future many banks are taking steps in modernising their physical branches to offer more technological services. For example, some branches display mobile, and tablets loaded with their banking apps on display, while some banks have capitalised on the value of one on one, face to face interactions with customers to help them utilise their money better and offer consultative services for the same.

Advising Services – As customers look for ways to grow their money in a safe and secure manner, usually find themselves in a whirlpool of information on the internet and random financial advice, which may or may not be practical for them or may be too broad to be of any real use. Banks can use this opportunity to improve their financial services and pair their customers with in-house financial advisors who can provide tailored advice as per their customers’ needs. This will not only help build trust and better relationships between the banks and the customer but will also offer a competitive advantage. With the help of customer relationship management (CRM) technology, banks can collect and analyse data and build detailed customer profiles which in turn, the in-house advisors can use to gain overall knowledge of their customers thus being able to offer personalised services.

Artificial Intelligence – A customer these days would prefer to reduce human interaction and would prefer to have automated services. This is also apt with the situation where the customer is put on hold while calling the bank’s customer service helpline to report an issue. With the volume of incoming calls steadily increasing and having a limited number of bank representatives on hand to field them, banks have to find innovative ways to tackle this situation without losing the trust of their customers. With the help of artificial intelligence, banks stand to save a substantial amount of resources and help customers more accurately while also improving customer experience in banking. Using artificial intelligence in an innovative manner, banks can also provide virtual assistants to provide money management tips and tricks to customers.

Automated Onboarding – For most banking customers, a quality customer experience hinges on their first impression with bank interaction. This first impression takes place during customer onboarding in the bank. Traditionally, a lot of paperwork and documents were required along with multiple visits to the banks. Digitalisation and making onboarding an electronic process has made it easier for customers as well as for banks. Customers can do it as per their convenience and from the comfort of their homes, whereas banks can use the automated process to compile the data with ease and accuracy, further enhancing the overall customer experience.

Support for Digitalization & Remote Service – In the last year alone, the importance and need for digital channels and remote services have been highlighted quite a bit. Making this transaction digital has been proven to be difficult for many banking customers, more specifically customers from older generations and customers who do not have access to digital platforms. In the coming years, banks need to double their efforts to smooth this transition for their customers. Providing additional support in terms of educating customers, to providing step by step tutorials and interactive videos would help increase customer knowledge and thus improve the overall customer experience. The more comfortable and confident a customer would feel while interacting on the digital platforms and remote services, the better their overall financial services customer experience will be.

“Humanizing” Digital – Even though artificial intelligence and digital platforms are leading banking customer experience; trust is always built on human interaction. To make this a comfortable union, a growing number of banks are offering a mix of artificial intelligence and live support for customer services, generating efficiency gains while still providing customers with the kind of personal touch they need. As technology advances, artificial intelligence and chatbots can be made more personal and be given personalities to have a more customised conversation with the customer and be able to leverage sentiments to detect emotions and respond appropriately.

Hyper-personalisation – Personalisation has been topping the customer experience list for years and the advancements made are tailored around that. The next frontier of personalisation is hyper-personalisation. When compared to standard personalisation that uses data analytics to deliver targeted marketing and sales messaging to different customer segments, hyper-personalisation is using a combination of predictive analytics like artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor individual customers’ real time usage data and provide services and suggestions accordingly. Armed with this technology, banks can queue more targeted and one on one marketing campaigns and offers.

Proactive Engagement – One of the best things about advanced analytics is that it provides financial institutions with a level of insight into their customers that once seemed impossible. Today, banks can monitor customers’ financial health and proactively offer assistance with financial management or suggest opportunities to grow their wealth. Depending on customers’ preferences, this service can be offered over digital platforms or in person. Watching out for their customers’ interest to demonstrate the value added enhances the overall financial services customer experience.

Doing the Right Thing – The past two years have been challenging and has placed a significant financial strain on individuals as well as businesses. Banks can help their customers by being transparent about their process, data management and being honest about their policies and practices. Sustainability, honest and transparent business models go a long way in ensuring trust between a customer and the financial institution. Offering financial advising services to help their customers regain their footing shows concern and helps build a long term relationship between banks and their customers. Ultimately, doing the right thing by the customer is about demonstrating to customers that you intend to put their best interests first.

Tips for banks on Improving the Customer Experience

Assemble a dedicated customer experience team solely for that purpose
Establish strong feedback loops to gain valuable insight
Take an iterative aspect to optimization
Keep the customer at the centre of the business
Be honest and promise only what they can deliver
Enhance the mobility of products & services
Be a financial advisor throughout the customer’s journey
Mirror customer experience of branch to internet banking
Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate routine tasks to save time and optimise value

Popularity of Digital Banking in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates has always been keeping a steady pace with global developments, especially in the era of digitalisation of banking. From the year 1960, with the introduction of ATMs and later internet banking and mobile banking, banks and financial institutions in the UAE have always been in the now. Today, banks propose digital only solutions; and lately, non-bank entrants are also joining this digital banking fray.

The banks and financial institutions in the UAE began to realise the challenges and opportunities of the financial technology revolution that had begun sweeping across all the industries in the second half of the previous decade. This prompted a number of banks and financial institutions to launch digital banking initiatives. These initiatives ranged from separate digital only banking platforms to strengthening of existing mobile banking platforms, rationalising branch based services, and refocusing staff on value-added services rather than repetitive and less-profitable branch operations.

Top Digital Banks in the UAE

Currently, UAE is home to more than a dozen digital banks with the numbers expanding rapidly. From personal banking to banking optimised for businesses and youth, there are a number of options currently available in the UAE.

Emirates NBD LIV
Mashreq Neo
Yap
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB)
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Banks and Financial Institutions Driving Customer Engagement for Banking in the UAE

Here are some of the customer engagement strategies used by the big players in the UAE’s banking and finance sector

RAKBANK

Is relentlessly focusing on user education reflections in the surge in adoption and usage
RAKBANK is one of the largest and most prominent banks in the UAE. They have prioritized user education in their strategy. The Bank is focused on informing and educating customers about contactless and digital wallet payments via various digital channels such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay, Fitbit Pay, and SwatchPAY. RAKBANK communicated about the safety and convenience offered by the digital payment options to nudge a habit formation among customers.

Commercial Bank of Dubai

Is prioritising financial inclusion and is optimising customer onboarding process
The customer’s shopping preferences are changing from physical stores to predominantly online channels, thus changing the mode of payment and banking in general. Digitization of services has accelerated in the last two years by the pandemic and thus resulted in a phenomenal uptick in digital adoption. Commercial Bank of Dubai has introduced end-to-end seamless onboarding, to make the process easier and faster for customers. Consumers can now open an account from the comfort of their homes in under two minutes and less than ten clicks using their Emirates ID.

Mashreq Bank:

Is unlocking meaningful engagement with customers by deep diving and extensively studying customer behaviour and personalization

Banks and fintech have had a tremendous opportunity to deepen their relationships with their customers in the last two years. These relationships need not be limited to transactions but can span multiple other use cases like school fee payment, food order, and other services the Bank can facilitate. Banks need to make the customer’s life easy across all digital touchpoints and provide relevant and personalized experiences for various age groups and segments. Mashreq Bank analyses customer behaviour understands it and makes proactive decisions to personalize communication using AI-enabled optimization.

Banks by understanding the different areas of customer experiences can come up with an extensive customer engagement strategy to reduce the gaps between customers and the bank. The significance of the digital banking experience can be attributed to the various benefits offered like reduced operational costs, retaining customers, and the ability to stay ahead of competitors by using the latest technologies. The customer experience in the banking ecosphere holds massive untapped potential for growth, from meeting the day-to-day needs of consumers and focusing on preparing for disruptive future technologies.

list of best emirates skywards credit cards in UAE

Best Skywards Credit Card in UAE

Posted on March 22, 2022November 21, 2023 by admin

What are the best Emirates Skywards credit cards for UAE residents?

As the world’s populace fervently hopes, we are all finally putting the nightmare of Covid 19 behind us and hopefully getting back to our pre-pandemic lives. Here in the UAE life has pretty much gone back to normal and one can’t help but notice the air of optimism of all the possibilities that now lie ahead which were a distant dream for the last two years. One of the biggies of course is that travel is back on the menu again folks! Whether it is to just go back and visit our families and loved ones or to be able to travel again as tourists and visit new destinations which was, let us admit, a favorite indulgence but almost cruelly denied to us these past 2 years.

As UAE residents we are so fortunate to have access to Emirates Airlines which is easily one of the best airlines in the world and is the obvious airline of choice when considering any international travel for us. How often do we find ourselves looking for reasons to stretch our budgets a bit to justify any price differences travelling with Emirates versus other budget airlines? Deep down we know that traveling with Emirates is quite simply the best option in terms of the entire experience – right from the dedicated terminal, class leading on demand in-flight entertainment options, direct routes saving us the hassle of multiple stops and of course for the well-heeled travelers amongst us, the Emirates business class lounge experience which is second to none!

A great option for residents and citizens to enjoy the many benefits of flying with Emirates Airlines is to use an Emirates Skywards credit card which is offered by some of the leading banks in the UAE. These credit cards are offered as a partnership between Emirates Airlines and the bank and offer a multitude of benefits to customers who have these credit cards. These benefits can vary from earning Emirates Skywards miles on purchases made with the credit cards, gaining membership to exclusive Emirates Airlines membership tiers including Skywards Silver status, and in some cases, even the coveted Skywards Gold Tier membership status. These tiers bring their own significant benefits to customers and ‘earning’ them by getting a credit card is a quick and easy way to gain entry into these exclusive membership categories. But these are just a couple of examples and as you will find out these credit cards offer a wide array of benefits to suit every individual profile.

Given the popularity and demand for flying with Emirates it is no wonder that several leading banks offer co-branded Emirates Skywards credit cards as part of their credit card portfolio offerings. And as can be expected, not all of these cards offer the same level of benefits or are indeed even offered to the same profile of customers. There are no fewer than 14 different Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards currently available in the UAE and it is no easy task to identify which of them is best suited to you. But fret not, our team here at Soulwallet.com has done the heavy lifting to help you find the best ones suited to your specific needs.

Banks in UAE that currently offer Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards are –

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
Citibank
Dubai Islamic Bank
Emirates Islamic Bank
Emirate NBD
RAKBANK

Across these 6 banks there are currently a total of 14 different Emirates Skywards credit cards offered. These are broadly categorised based on the minimum income required to be eligible for each credit card, the features and benefits offered, annual fees charged and so on.

Income Eligibility

The monthly minimum income requirement for Emirates Skywards credit cards are as below:

Credit Card	Minimum Salary
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Platinum Credit Card	AED 5,000
Citi Emirates World Card	AED 12,000
Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 12,000
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Card	AED 15,000
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 15,000
Emirates NBD Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 15,000
Citi Emirates Ultimate	AED 18,000
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card	AED 20,000
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Card	AED 25,000
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card	AED 25,000
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 25,000
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 30,000
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 35,000
Citi Emirates Ultima Card	AED 36,750

As can be seen from the table above, there is an Emirates Skywards credit card option available for customers with income segments starting from as low as AED 5,000, which incidentally is also the minimum monthly salary required as per UAE Central bank regulations for a credit card.

Which is “The Best Emirates Skywards credit card” in the UAE?

While many readers would want to scroll directly to this section to find out the ‘winner’, the reality as is often the case, is that among the multitude of options available there is no single “Best Emirates Skywards credit card” for everyone. Different Emirates Skywards credit cards offer different benefits. In the sections below we will help you identify which one is the “the best Skywards credit card for you” based on your specific needs, spend patterns and priorities as an individual.

Best “PREMIUM” Emirates Skywards Credit cards

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards to EARN SKYWARDS MILES FROM REGULAR SPENDS

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for BONUS SKYWARDS MILES

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card

Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for BEST JOINING OFFERS

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card

Citibank Emirates World credit card

Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for EMIRATES SKYWARDS MEMBERSHIP TIERS

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

Best for COMPLIMENTARY EMIRATES AIRLINES HOME CHECK-IN SERVICES:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card

Best for HEALTH & FITNESS BENEFITS:

Dubai Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card

Best for EMIRATES SKYWARDS MILES PURCHASE DISCOUNTS

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

Best for CINEMA OFFERS & DISCOUNTS

Citibank Emirate Ultima credit card

Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card

Citibank Emirates World credit card

Best for COMPLIMENTARY AIRPORT DROPS & TRANSFERS

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

Best to EARN EMIRATES SKYWARDS TIER MILES

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black credit card & Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

Best “PREMIUM” Emirates Skywards Credit cards

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

The ADIB Emirates Skywards credit card is arguably the best premium Skywards credit card available not just for the range of benefits it offers but also being the most competitive in several key aspects. This card offers very generous Emirates Skywards miles for spends at Emirates Airlines, for international spends as well as for domestic retail spends in the UAE. In addition to the excellent Skywards miles rewards offered, this card also offers:

3 Emirates Skywards miles per USD of spend at Emirates Airlines, up to 2 & 1.5 Skywards miles per USD for international and domestic spends respectively
Fast track to Skywards Gold tier membership for BOTH the primary as well as a supplementary card holder
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership
Up to 120,000 Bonus Emirates Skywards miles (highest amongst all credit cards)
Complimentary Emirates home check-in services (only credit card to offer this benefit)
Complimentary airport transfers across UAE (up to 4 per year)
Complimentary valet parking benefits at Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Unlimited complimentary airport lounge access for each cardholder plus a guest
Highest category of Mastercard credit cards – ‘Mastercard World Elite’ benefits & offers

Minimum Salary requirement: AED 25,000

Annual Membership Fee: AED 4,500

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

The Citibank Ultima credit card is an exclusive premium credit card offering from Citi which is well known to be one of the leading credit card issuers in the world. Among other benefits this card offers the card holder the unique opportunity to hold a metal credit card. The Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card offers an extremely well-rounded feature set of good Skywards miles rewards across most categories, an excellent joining offer for customers applying online, and many other significant benefits including:

5 Emirates Skywards miles per USD of spend at Emirates Airlines, up to 1.5 & 1 Skywards mile(s) per USD for international and domestic spends respectively
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership
AED 2,000 statement credit for online applications
Credit card is made of metal (only one among all Skywards credit cards)
Complimentary cinema offers at both VOX & Reel cinemas
Unlimited complimentary airport lounge access for each cardholder plus a guest
Highest category of Mastercard credit cards – ‘Mastercard World Elite’ benefits & offers

Minimum Salary requirement: AED 36,750

Annual Membership Fee: AED 3,000

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card offers premium features comparable with any other Skywards credit card offered by any bank in the UAE currently. It has the distinction of offering the highest Skywards miles earn rates across all Skywards credit cards in the UAE and also offers a host of excellent benefits including:

5 Emirates Skywards mile per USD of spend at Emirates Airlines, up to 2 & 1.5 Skywards miles per USD for international and domestic spends respectively
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership
Fast track to Skywards Gold tier membership for BOTH the primary as well as a supplementary card holder
Complimentary airport transfers across UAE (up to 4 per year)
Complimentary valet parking benefits at Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Unlimited complimentary airport lounge access for each cardholder plus a guest
Highest category of Visa credit cards – ‘Visa Infinite’ benefits & offers including purchase protection, travel insurance & medical cover and so on
25% discount on purchase of Emirates Skywards miles
Option to earn 1 Skywards Tier mile for every 4 Skywards miles earned

Minimum Salary requirement: AED 25,000

Annual Membership Fee: AED 4,200

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard is a premium credit card offering from RAKBANK that offers several unique benefits to card holders including:

Opportunity to earn Skywards miles across all spend categories with a unique tier-based rewards system
Complimentary Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership
Fast track to Skywards Gold tier membership by maintaining an AED 500,000 deposit in an Emirates Islamic Skywards Savings account
Complimentary airport transfers across UAE and in India (up to 6 per year)
Unlimited complimentary airport lounge access for each cardholder plus a guest
Complimentary cinema offers at VOX cinemas (50% off for up to 4 tickets each month)
15% discount on purchase of Emirates Skywards miles
Option to earn 1 Skywards Tier mile for every 4 Skywards miles earned
Highest category of Mastercard credit cards – ‘Mastercard World Elite’ benefits & offers
Complimentary Discovery Black membership
Free petrol delivery via CAFU

Minimum Salary requirement: AED 20,000

Annual Membership Fee: AED 1,499

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best credit cards to “EARN SKYWARDS MILES FROM REGULAR SPENDS”:

This is perhaps the most important feature to be considered for any Emirates Skywards co-branded credit card as the main purpose for a cardholder is to maximize the Skywards miles earned during regular purchases made using their credit card.

This is also an aspect where there are significant differences in earning rates and eligibility requirements between the different Emirates Skywards credit card options available. Readers are advised to review these conditions carefully before arriving at a decision on which card is best suited to their specific spend patterns.

Please note that the best credit cards identified in this category tend to be ‘premium’ credit cards as they understandably have the best rewards as well as features and benefits that the bank can offer. As such, these credit cards are likely to have higher annual membership fees. However, the benefits offered by these credit cards most often can easily justify the annual fees charged. This is especially true if the cardholder takes advantage of the specific features and benefits on offer – another reason to ensure they apply for credit cards most suited to their specific needs.

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

The ADIB Emirates Skywards credit card is arguably the best premium Skywards credit card available not just for the range of benefits it offers but also being the most competitive in several key aspects. This card offers very generous Emirates Skywards miles for spends at Emirates Airlines, for international spends as well as for domestic retail spends in the UAE. This credit card would easily have been the only choice for earning miles but for the fact that it offers lower miles earning rates on several categories.

The ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:

3 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices
2 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies
5 Skyward miles for all other local purchases
25 Skywards miles for these categories – supermarkets, government transactions, utilities, education, petrol stations, real estate, public transportation, Salik and charities.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card has the distinction of offering the highest Skywards miles earn rates across all Skywards credit cards in the UAE on spends at Emirates airlines and on international spends and domestic spends offers almost as many Skywards miles as the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card. While it appears that all categories are covered under these 3 segments, there are certain categories of spends where this credit card offers much lower earn rates.

The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:

5 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices
2 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies
1.5 Skyward miles for all other local purchases
15 Skywards miles for spends on these categories – supermarkets, government services, utilities, education, petrol stations, real estate, insurance, car dealership, telecommunications, and quick service restaurants

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card

The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card is arguably the best credit card to maximise Emirates Skywards miles earnings as it offers an excellent combination of high earn rates on specific categories as well as no excluded spend categories. This is indeed a rarity as almost all other Emirates Skywards credit cards have restrictions on some segments of spend (such as groceries, utilities and so on) that have a lower earning rate.

The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:

2 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices
5 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies
1 Skyward mile for all other local purchases
A cap of AED 25,000 on government spends per statement (which we believe is quite generous!)

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

The Citibank Ultima credit card offers an attractive combination of a high earn rate along with minimal spend category restrictions. This credit card offers an even better earning rate on purchases made at Emirates as compared to the DIB Skywards Infinite above, however, it also pays a lower earnings rate on two specific categories and awards no miles on a few categories.

Emirates Skywards miles earned per USD (equivalent) spent on the card:

5 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices
5 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies
1 Skyward mile for all other local purchases
Spends at groceries/supermarkets and related to real estate will earn 0.5 Skywards miles per USD of spend.
Spends on government services, utilities, and telecommunications do not earn any Skywards miles.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

The Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card is also a good option for earning Skywards Miles on regular purchases. However, this card has a few categories on which earning rates are much lower than the base rate.

Emirates Skywards miles earned per USD (equivalent) spent on the card:

5 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices
5 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies
1 Skyward mile for all other local purchases
2 Skywards miles for spends at duty free, online food delivery and car booking apps
25 Skywards miles for domestic purchases relating to groceries, supermarkets, insurance, car dealership and quick service restaurants
1 Skywards miles for domestic purchases relating to government services, utilities, education, petrol stations, real estate, transit and telecommunication

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best for “BONUS SKWARDS MILES”:

Several credit cards award “bonus” Emirates Skywards miles based on specific criteria, such as a minimum spend levels achieved on the credit card within a specific time period. In this category, there can be varying opinions on which is the “best” option as some cards award higher total maximum bonus miles but at the same time require higher spend levels and over shorter time periods as well. The “best” option here would be determined by the individual’s specific spend patterns.

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card

Cardholders will be awarded a total of 120,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles with this credit card which is the maximum offered by any Emirates Skywards credit card in the UAE. 50,000 welcome bonus miles are offered on payment of the membership fee, and another 70,000 Skywards miles are awarded if a total spend of AED 140,000 is met within the first 6 months of card issuance.

This credit card was chosen the winner as it has the best combination of the total bonus miles awarded and the overall minimum spend requirement over a period of 6 months. In addition, there are no specific spend category restrictions.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

The Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card offers the next best Skywards bonus miles after the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card. Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles:

35,000 “Welcome Joining Miles” on payment of the joining fee
40,000 additional “spend based miles” if cumulative retail spend of USD 25,000 is achieved within 3 months
“Annual miles”: 25,000 miles will be credited if USD 7,500 is spent at Emirates (online or at sales offices) within the first 12 months

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card

This credit card offers cardholders 75,000 bonus Skywards miles but requires a balance transfer of at least AED 50,000 to earn 25,000 of the total miles. Earn up to 75,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles:

25,000 miles on card activation
25,000 miles if spend of USD 20,000 is achieved in the first 4 statements
25,000 on balance transfer (minimum balance transfer of AED 50,000)

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best for “JOINING OFFERS”:

While it is usually not advisable to apply for a credit only to take advantage of a specific joining offer by the bank, it is worthwhile considering the joining offers in addition to all other benefits and features offered by the credit card.

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

Customers that apply online can get AED 2,000 back as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 25,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card

Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 800 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 20,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Citibank Emirates World credit card

Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 400 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 10,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best for “EMIRATES SKYWARDS MEMBERSHIP TIERS”:

As most readers are probably aware the Emirates Skywards Miles programme offers different “Tiers” of membership – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each of these tiers offer different benefits to members, with the type and number of benefits increasing in that order – starting with Blue and ending with Platinum which offers the maximum benefits.

An important feature offered by some Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards is automatic membership for the cardholder into a higher tier of the Emirates Skywards programme simply by virtue of having the credit card. This saves cardholders from having to ‘earn’ the minimum tie” miles required to be eligible for the specific tier level, obtained normally through purchase of tickets on Emirates airlines.

In this aspect as well, there are a few differences in the options available among the various Emirates Skywards credit cards. Most of these credit cards offer direct membership to the Silver Tier for the primary cardholder. A few credit cards also provide supplementary card holders the opportunity to enjoy Silver status, subject to a few conditions being met. However, only 3 credit cards offer cardholders the option to upgrade to the Gold Tier Skywards membership. This can be considered to be a significant perk of having the card by people who value the Gold membership tier in the Emirates Skywards program.

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card

The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card offers card holders the opportunity to fast track to Emirates Skywards Gold tier membership by simply spending AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines within 12 months from the card issuance date. This credit card also offers one supplementary card holder the option to get Gold tier membership status by spending AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines and payment of an annual membership fee of AED 4,000. This is the quickest option to gain Emirates Skywards Gold tier membership amongst all Skywards credit cards offered in the UAE.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card

Both Emirates Skywards credit cards offered by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) offer cardholders Skywards Silver Tier membership as a basic feature of the card. However, in addition they both also offer cardholders the option to upgrade their Silver Skywards membership tier to the Gold tier if specific spend based criteria are met. Additionally, both these cards also offer the supplementary cardholder with the opportunity to upgrade to Gold tier status.

With the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card cardholders can get Skywards Gold Tier membership by simply spending AED 5,500 at Emirates airlines within 12 months. For the supplementary card holder, a spend of AED 200,000 (+ AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines) within the first 12 months is required to get fast tracked to Emirates Skywards Gold Tier membership status.
For the ADIB Emirates Skywards World credit card the primary cardholder can get Gold tier membership with a total spend of AED 150,000 and spend of AED 5,500 on Emirates within 12 months
For the supplementary cardholder: total spend of AED 300,000 and spend of AED 5,500 on Emirates within 12 months

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card

The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard offers cardholders Silver tier membership as a default offering. Additionally, it also offers the opportunity to fast-track to Skywards Gold tier membership based on the below criteria being met:

Minimum spend of AED 5,500 at Emirates
On maintenance of an average quarterly balance of AED 500,000 in the customer’s RAKBANK savings account

This credit card also offers supplementary cardholders the option to enroll in the Skywards Silver Tier membership at a fee of AED 900 per year.

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

The below Emirates Skywards credit cards all offer the primary cardholder complimentary Skywards Silver Tier membership as a benefit:

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best for “ASSOCIATION FEATURES AND BENEFITS”:

The relevance of this for a cardholder is that there are specific benefits and features offered by these associations to the cardholder by virtue of the partnership between the bank and the association. Similar to the different tier levels available in the Emirates Skywards miles programme, both Visa and Mastercard offer different “tiers” or levels of benefits for different credit card types.

Please note that these association features are offered in partnership with the banks and are for the most part a standard offering for the specific credit card type across all banks. Examples of these include VIP airport lounge access, travel insurance cover, car rental offers and so on. Please note that the type of benefits offered vary significantly between Visa and Mastercard.

These (Visa/Mastercard) features must not be confused with specific features offered by banks directly to their cardholders which are not part of the Visa or Mastercard benefits. Examples of such bank-specific features include complimentary valet parking, cinema tickets, airport transfer offers and so on.

Customers are advised to review closely all the features offered for each credit card to understand all the benefits available before arriving at the best credit suited to them.

Below is a categorization of the available Emirates Skywards options based on their Visa or Mastercard credit card association type:

Mastercard

Mastercard World Elite:

This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card
Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard credit card

Mastercard World:

This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World credit card
Citibank Emirates World credit card

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Visa

Visa Infinite:

This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black credit card
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card

Visa Signature:

This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:

Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Signature credit card

Visa Platinum:

This is the third highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:

Dubai Islamic Emirates Platinum credit card

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Unique benefits available through various Emirates Skywards credit cards:

Complimentary Airport Transfers

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
- Enjoy chauffeured airport pick-up or drop off service complimentary 6 times each year in the UAE or avail of this service a maximum of 3 times in India (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi – within city limits).

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card
- 4 complimentary per year anywhere in the UAE. Value of rides capped at AED 150 in Dubai and Sharjah and AED 350 in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and other Emirates
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black credit card
- Take advantage of up to 4 complimentary airport transfers per calendar year to or from Dubai airport.

Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card
- Up to 4 complimentary airport transfers per calendar year in UAE. Only transfers within city limits, i.e. no intra-city transfers.

Cinema Discounts & Offers

Citibank Emirate Ultima credit card, Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card & Citibank Emirates World credit card
- Enjoy up to 4 “Buy-1-Get-1” complimentary movie tickets with VOX Cinemas each month on any day of the week.
- Up to 2 “Buy-1-Get-1” complimentary movie tickets plus 20% off food & beverage with REEL cinemas each month on any day of the week.
- (Please note both the above benefits are available only for bookings made on the Primary credit card)
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
- 50% off at VOX cinemas at all times, up to 4 times each month
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card, Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature credit card
- Enjoy up to 3 “Buy-1-Get-1” complimentary movie tickets at REEL Cinemas each month on any day of the week.
- (Please note both the above benefits require a minimum spend of AED 3,000 per month)

Complimentary Emirates home check-in:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card – 4 times per year for passengers traveling from Dubai.
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card – 2 times per year for passengers traveling from Dubai.

Health & Fitness Benefits:

Dubai Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card
- complimentary access to the Emirates Towers health club (and swimming pool) at any time, any day of the week.

Discounts on Emirates Skywards Miles

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
- 15% discount on buying Skywards miles for self or as a gift (minimum purchase of 2,000 miles required)

Earn Emirates Skywards Tier Miles

Emirates Islamic Skywards Black credit card, Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card & Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature credit card
- Earn 1 Skywards Tier Mile for every 4 Emirates Skywards
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
- 15% discount on buying Skywards miles for self or as a gift (minimum purchase of 2,000 miles required)

We hope this article has been useful in giving you a better understanding of the various Emirates Skywards miles credit card options available in the UAE. While we have highlighted the best options for specific benefits offered by these credit cards we highly recommend that you review all the features in detail before deciding which is the best credit card for you. After all, the process of identifying the best option and applying for a credit card is not something undertaken regularly and therefore getting it right will not only help you maximise potential saves but will also help you enjoy the unique benefits most relevant to your individual preferences.

Detailed features and benefits along with side-by-side comparisons of all these credit cards and more can be found at www.soulwallet.com.

UAE specific investment options

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by admin

UAE specific investment options

Investing your savings provides financial security to present and future for you and your family.. It helps you grow your wealth, generate inflation-beating returns, and helps create regular income. Investing some amount from your savings allows you to put your money in vehicles that have the potential to earn back strong rates of return and help you save for retirement.

The laws and transactions in the UAE are straightforward and encouraged by a business-friendly, well regulated financial environment. As one of the world’s fastest and freest economies, UAE has a global minded business culture with a stable and investor friendly global market. The ever-growing economy of the UAE offers a multitude of choices when it comes to investing.

Investment in the UAE is growing at an incredible rate with an expanding range of asset classes to choose from. Amongst the multitude of choices, investors are welcomed to invest in stock exchange trading, bonds, real estate purchase, private pension schemes, funds, gold, and deposit accounts. Along with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah are also attractive fonts for investments.

Benefits of investing in UAE

Having a global mindset and a liberal business environment, UAE is an excellent place to invest to grow your finances. The tax-free zones and various investment opportunities provide a dynamic financial sphere for investors to make the most of their money.

Economic stability and conducive business environment
Strategic location
Strong financial reserves and large sovereign wealth funds along with sustained government spending.
Freedom from tax
Growing tourism, thus growing economy
UAE ranks among the leading countries in the world in 100 global development indicators
Investors don’t need a residency visa to invest
UAE is a major player in the international trade networks
UAE allows 100% foreign ownership
Buying properties worth more than AED 500,000 means you become eligible for a residency visa as well

The world-class capabilities, services, legal frameworks, government aid, infrastructure, and resources available help international investors, entrepreneurs, professional talents, and start-ups to invest in the UAE market making it a very promising market, which has shown steady growth and development for several years in a row.

Investing in UAE

Whether you’re a an Emirati, or an expat residing in the UAE, the journey to invest and gain financial independence inevitably starts by learning how to invest money in the UAE. With the availability of multiple vehicles for investments and options, it can get challenging and confusing. You can invest your money as a lump sum or as a Regular savings plan/Systematic Investment Plan (SIP).

In lumpsum investments, you can optimize your savings to grow wealth or create a passive income. In regular monthly investments, you can accumulate capital and grow wealth for important long-term financial goals, for example for retirement.

Some of the most popular investments tools in the UAE are:

Stocks
Bonds
Mutual funds
ETFs
REITs
Real estate
Bank deposits
Pension plans
Cryptocurrency
Gold

Investing plan

In order to avoid the errors, an investor can make while investing it is essential to have an investing plan. The plan helps the investor in avoiding mistakes or following and trusting different sources blindly.

Some of the errors an investor can make are:

Stock investing in individual companies instead of diversified portfolios
Investing based on other’s advice without conducting research
Following the trends blindly even if it doesn’t match your goals
Being locked into insurance or saving plans for a long time.
An over-focus on real estate instead of stock market assets

Therefore, before starting your investments, you need to create an easily actionable investment plan to guide you in your wealth-making decisions.

The first step is to understand your current situation and create an outline for your existing assets to understand where you stand currently.
Create a list of all the debt you owe. For example, mortgage, business loans, credit cards, car, or property loans, etc.
Next, create a clear investment goal for yourself and answer the question of why you want to invest. It could be for financial independence, growing your wealth, retirement, or capital for your business ideas.
Once the investment goals are defined, they are converted into clear objectives.
These objectives will further help you in deciding what type of investment you would like to carry out and what options are available for the best possible outcome.
Once you have an objective it also becomes easier to create a budget and decide how much you want to invest.
Financial planners often recommend the budgeting practice of following the 50:30:20 rule. In this plan, you allocate to spend 50% of your income on essentials, 30% on discretionary spending, and save/invest the remaining 20%.
Doing so helps to build the habit of spending less than you earn and you will enjoy the benefit of compounding.
Financial planners also advise on starting an emergency fund before investing.
An emergency fund is money set aside to cater for unplanned and unexpected expenses resulting from job loss, medical crisis, natural disasters, unexpected repairs, etc.

Factors to consider when investing in the UAE

Before investing an investor would need to consider various factors that would come into play for investing in the UAE market. It is advisable to seek clarity and financial help to invest smarter and to make the most out of your investments in accordance with your goals and objectives. Some of the factors to consider are:

The investment opportunities available to a foreigner or resident expat
The stability of the regulations around foreign investment in the UAE
The levels of protection available to foreign investors in the UAE
The incentives provided for foreign investment in various sectors
The aid and encouragement available from the UAE government
The exchange rates of home currency and the currency of UAE
The incentives provided by banks and financial institutions

Soulwallet provides services that would help customers make the most of a wide range of personal finance solutions, from credit card cards, to personal loans, Islamic credit cards, mortgage loans, bank accounts and a lot more.

Types of investments

The UAE is one of the world’s easiest places to invest or conduct business in. With government encouragement, economic expansions, and a diverse private sector, investors can invest in different types of investments. Residents as well as expats and non-residents can start trading on the UAE Stock Exchange with minimal paperwork. Getting a business license to set up a local business to trade locally or internationally is also a relatively quick and easy process with many of them offering 100% foreign ownership. The real estate market is ever growing and in demand thus providing benefits to many foreign investors who reap the profits. Private pension schemes, mutual funds, gold, and other asset classes are also popular investing options there.

Some of the types of investments an investor can make are:

Property investment in the UAEReal Estate is a growing and in demand sector in the UAE with more and more expats investing in property in places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi for more than two decades. With the help of government incentives, straightforward paperwork, and tighter regulations limiting property speculation, real estate is creating a stable as well as an affordable market for investing.

Business investments in the UAE
UAE government is welcoming expats and non-resident foreigners to set up a business in the UAE. With incentives like 100% ownership (i.e., no local partner is required) in a free zone, where incentives such as no taxes, no restrictions on business, employment, or a trade offer an exciting opportunity for investors. Expats can also set up an onshore company.

Investing in stocks and shares in the UAE
Investing in the United Arab Emirates stock market is quite easy and straightforward. An investor would need to open a trading account with a broker registered with one of the exchanges in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and an Investor Number to trade. Dubai has two stock exchanges: Dubai Financial Market and NASDAQ Dubai. NASDAQ lists both domestic and international companies. It offers trading in REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and equity derivatives (futures and options).

Investing in Mutual funds
Mutual funds are one of the best investment options that can be considered by investors who wish to invest a smaller amount. They offer a good long term investment option with reduced exposure to risks. Mutual funds also offer a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) where an investor can invest a certain amount monthly for a short period of time. financial institutions like ADCB, CBD, Mashreq, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered offer mutual funds.

Deposit accounts and e-saver accounts investments in UAE
These accounts designed specifically for banks to provide higher returns to the customers. Deposit accounts range from fixed deposits of 1-24 months with higher interest rates. E-saver accounts are offered by banks such as Emirates NBD, HSBC, Mashreq. Saving accounts are offered by ADCB.

What is an Investment Bank?

An investment bank is a financial intermediary that provides and performs a variety of services for its customers. Some of the services provided by an investment bank are underwriting and providing financial advisory, brokerage services for their clients and acting as an intermediary between the investing public and securities issuers.

Some of the most popular and revered names in the UAE are:

Emirates Investment Bank
Noor Capital
HSBC Financial Services
Rasmala
SHUAA Capital
Allied Investment Partners
Citibank UAE
Commercial Bank of Dubai

Investment Guide for Expats in Dubai

Along with residents and locals, a large number of expats and non-residents are investing in the UAE, more specifically in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. With a vast number of tools available for investors to invest in, there are a lot of risks to consider before investing. Expats would need to consider a few points in mind before investing in a foreign market.

The currency risk: There is a currency risk involved while investing and investors should keep a check on their home country currency as well and invest accordingly in USD or AED to avoid loss or decline in profits.
ETF: Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) is one of the most popular options that is considered by expats to invest in. ETFs are listed on the stock exchange and can be very cost effective for traders as they do not expose the trader directly to underlying assets.
Offshore investment: Places like Dubai have a number of financial institutions that provide services for offshore investment planning. For an expat, this is an attractive opportunity as holding a portfolio of investments outside their home country can help mitigate their risk. The financial planners will advise you on how to diversify your portfolio in a healthy and safe manner with stocks, bonds, individual trusts, mutual funds, unit trusts, etc.

The economy and the financial world of the UAE have evolved significantly over a few decades. With attractive incentives and government aid, the market in the UAE is growing more and more desirable. Residents, as well as expats, are using the markets to maximize their wealth to live a financially healthy life. Rather than keeping and saving the money only in the bank, people are choosing to understand the market and make their dormant money earn more money for themselves.

UAE is an oasis of the economic, financial, and political market on a global scale. The government’s ambitious development goals for the country offer a degree of certainty for investors and markets to keep investing in the UAE markets. With proven growth and handsome returns, many expats and non-residents are getting more and more confident and comfortable about investing in the UAE.

Soulwallet offers, well-researched, unbiased content along with unique tools that helps you make well informed financial decisions.

The editorial team at Soulwallet is committed to accurate and relevant content intended to assist our readers while making personal finance decisions. We are glad to get feedback on the article and make necessary corrections if required. You can email the editorial team at support@soulwallet.com. Our editorial advice, recommendations and product assessments are not influenced by business partners

A Comprehensive Guide to Personal Loan Interest Rates in 2021

Posted on August 24, 2021August 24, 2021 by admin

A personal loan is a loan that may be secured or unsecured and is offered with minimal documentation. You can use the funds from this loan for any financial need. Like any other loan, you must repay it as per the agreed terms with the bank in easy EMI (equated monthly installments).

Personal loans in UAE today are the preferred means of short-term credit. The bank offers personal loans based on two types of interest rates – flat rates and reducing rates. A flat rate of interest on a loan refers to when the interest and sum payable is calculated at the start of the repayment schedule and do not change until the loan has been paid off. Whereas in terms of reducing rate of interest on a loan the principal amount reduces after each installment. The interest percentage (which remains constant) is charged on the reduced amount, every month. Thus resulting in different installment amounts each month.

Types Of Personal Loans

Personal loan with salary transfer: This is most probably the first loan one can avail from the bank where the customer holds a salary account. These loans are low in interest rates compared to the other personal loans without a salary transfer. Banks offer competitive interest rates for their customers for such loans and generally require a minimum salary requirement of AED 5000 (which differs from bank to bank). If you wish to take the loan from another bank where you don’t have any account then you have to maintain an account with the bank and transfer the salary into it every month.

Personal loan without salary transfer: This is one of the popular loans that allow the loan seeker to apply for a personal loan without having to transfer their salary into a particular bank account. Interest rates are higher for such loans and the lending amount might be lower than a Salary Transfer loan.

Expat loans: Expatriates are those people who live in the UAE but aren’t residents of the UAE. To help them manage their financial needs easily, banks offer personal loans to ex-pats as well with attractive interest rates and repayment tenure up to 48 months.

Buyout loans: When you take a personal loan that can be used to pay all of your previously existing loans or a credit card debt it is known as a buyout loan. In this type of loan, the borrower has to pay a fixed monthly payment to the bank for a pre-defined period that is usually two years to five years to pay off your buyout loan. Both UAE nationals and ex-pats can apply for such loans.

Consolidation loan: Debt consolidation services allow for the consolidation of all your outstanding liabilities arising from various loans or outstanding dues on credit cards into one single consolidated liability. Such loans are advantageous because you are being able to manage all outstanding liabilities together in one consolidated form.

Consider the comparison table below on interest rates offered by banks in the UAE

Bank Name	Loan Name	Fixed Interest Rate	Reducing Interest Rate	Minimum Salary	Maximum Loan Amount
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank	Personal Finance	3.25%	5.90%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank	Personal Loan	6.25%	11.33%	AED 10,000	AED 250,000
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank	Personal Loan For Expatriates	6.25%	11.33%	AED 10,000	AED 25,000
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank	Debt Settlement	3.58%	6.50%	AED 8,000	AED 1,000,000
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank	Education Finance	3.85%	6.99%	AED 8,000	AED 250,000
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank	Personal Finance	3.72%	6.75%	AED 8,000	AED 1,000,000
Al Hilal Bank	Personal Finance	3.25%	5.90%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Arab Bank	Personal Loan	3.30%	5.99%	AED 5,000	AED 550,000
Citibank	Personal Installment Loan	7.71%	14.00%	AED 8,000	AED 175,000
Citibank	Salary Transfer Loan	3.85%	8.00%	AED 8,000	AED 250,000
Commercial Bank Of Dubai	Personal Loan	3.03%	5.50%	AED 8,000	AED 750,000
Deem Finance	Personal Loan	11.01%	19.99%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Dubai Islamic Bank	Liabilities Settlement Finance	0%	0%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Dubai Islamic Bank	Personal Finance	6.06%	11.00%	AED 5,000	AED 2,000,000
Emirates Islamic	Personal Finance	2..17%	3.94%	AED 5,000	AED 1,000,000
Emirates NBD	End-Of-Service Benefit Backed Personal Loan	3.30%	5.99%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Emirates NBD	Loans For Nris	2.20%	3.99%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Emirates NBD	Salary Transfer Loan	2.63%	5.99%	AED 5,000	AED 1,000,000
Emirates NBD	Salary Transfer Loan For UAE Nationals	2.63%	5.99%	AED 5,000	AED 3,000,000
Emirates NBD	Loans For New To Country, New To Employment	2.63%	5.99%	AED 10,000	AED 400,000
Emirates NBD	Personal Cash Loan	4.96%	8.99%	AED 10,000	AED 500,000
Emirates NBD	UAE National Personal Loan With Additional Income	3.18%	5.24%	AED 10,000	AED 3,000,000
Emirates NBD	Personal Loans For Self-Employed Professionals	10.40%	18.90%	AED 20,000	AED 300,000
Emirates NBD	Personal Loans For Self-Employed Individuals	10.40%	18.90%	AED 25,000	AED 0
First Abu Dhabi Bank	Buyout Loans	4.08%	7.40%	AED 5,000	AED 5,000,000
First Abu Dhabi Bank	Landlord Loans	5.10%	9.25%	AED 5,000	AED 2,000,000
First Abu Dhabi Bank	Islamic Personal Finance	2.64%	4.99%	AED 7,000	AED 5,000,000
First Abu Dhabi Bank	Personal Loans For UAE Expats	4.99%	3.99%	AED 7,000	AED 5,000,000
HSBC	Personal Loans	4.13%	7.49%	AED 7,500	AED 750,000
Mashreq	Debt Consolidation Loans	0.00%	0.00%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Mashreq	Personal Loan For Expatriates	6.25%	11.50%	AED 5,000	AED 1,000,000
Mashreq	New To UAE, New To Employer Loan	4.07%	7.38%	AED 7,000	AED 150,000
Mashreq	Non Salary Transfer Personal Loan For Expatriates	14.10%	25.60%	AED 7,000	AED 150,000
Mashreq	Emirati Personal Loans For Pensioners	0.00%	0.00%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Mashreq	Personal Loans For Emiratis	0.00%	0.00%	AED 10,000	AED 3,000,000
Nbf	Personal Loans	3.25%	6.25%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Rakbank	Non Salary Transfer Loan	5.99%	10.86%	AED 5,000	AED 1,250,000
Rakbank	Business Finance	12.00%	21.00%	AED 50,000	AED 3,000,000
Sharjah Islamic Bank	Personal Finance	0.00%	0.00%	AED 5,000	AED 0
Standard Chartered	Saadiq Personal Finance	4.16%	7.55%	AED 15,000	AED 1,000,000
Standard Chartered	Debt Consolidation Plan Loan	3.89%	7.05%	AED 30,000	AED 1,000,000
Standard Chartered	Personal Loan	3.89%	7.05%	AED 30,000	AED 1,000,000
Union National Bank	Expatriates Loan	3.13%	5.68%	AED 5,000	AED 500,000
Union National Bank	Education Loan	4.96%	9.00%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Union National Bank	Non Salary Transfer Loan	7.72%	14.00%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Union National Bank	Rent Loan	4.96%	9.00%	AED 10,000	AED 0
Union National Bank	UAE Nationals Loan	2.48%	4.50%	AED 10,000	AED 500,000
United Arab Bank	Personal Loan For Expatriates	3.03%	5.49%	AED 7,500	AED 2,000,000
United Arab Bank	Personal Loans For UAE Nationals	3.03%	5.49%	AED 7,500	AED 2,500,000

The above interest rates are purely indicative. Interest rate is generally based on factors such as

Bureau Score
Income
Loan Amount
Employer

The Biggest Advantages of Using an EMI Calculator Before Applying For Your Personal Loans in UAE

Before finalizing any personal loan, you should always use the EMI calculator because it will assist you to evaluate, simulate and arrive at the maximum loan amount, interest rate and affordable easy monthly instalments will help you select the best suited personal loan as per your budget. Soulwallet personal loan EMI calculator is easy to use, simple to understand, and is quick to perform. All you need is to use the slider to adjust the loan amount, interest rate (reducing), and tenure. You will get the EMI, total repayment, total interest, and interest rate (flat) as per your input.

All you need to know about Emirates Skywards Credit Cards!

Posted on March 26, 2021March 27, 2021 by admin

The Emirates Skywards miles programme is one of the best, premium airmiles programmes offered by any airline in the world. It gives members the opportunity to redeem their Emirates Skywards miles against flight ticket purchases and ticket upgrades on Emirates airlines in addition to other options such as hotels and travel bookings.

Skywards miles programme members can earn miles by purchasing tickets on Emirates airlines, however, another popular option to earn miles used by thousands of UAE residents is by using an Emirates Skywards co-branded credit card. These credit cards are issued as part of a joint arrangement between Emirates Airlines and the banks issuing the credit cards.

In the UAE there are several such co-branded airline credit cards offered by many banks. While the main objective to apply for an miles credit card is primarily to earn rewards in the form of “miles” and use those miles for flight tickets and upgrades there are other unique benefits offered by these cards which also vary significantly from one credit card to another. The focus of this article are Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards and to help readers understand which of the many options available are best suited to them.

Banks in UAE that currently offer Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards are –

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
Citibank
Dubai Islamic Bank
Emirates Islamic Bank
Emirate NBD
RAKBANK

Income Eligibility

The monthly minimum income requirement for Emirates Skywards credit cards are as below:

Credit Card	Min. Salary
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Platinum Credit Card	AED 5,000
Citibank Emirates World	AED 12,000
Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 12,000
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Card	AED 15,000
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 15,000
Emirates NBD Skywards Signature Credit Card	AED 15,000
Citibank Emirates Ultimate	AED 18,000
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Card	AED 25,000
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card	AED 25,000
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 25,000
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 30,000
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite Credit Card	AED 35,000
Citibank Emirates Ultima	AED 36,750

Which is “The Best Emirates Skywards credit card” in the UAE?

While many readers would want to scroll directly to this section to find out the ‘best’, the reality, as is often the case, is that among the many options available there is no single “Best Emirates Skywards credit card” for everyone. Different Skywards credit cards offer different benefits. In the sections below we will help you identify which one is the “the best Skywards credit card for you” based on your specific needs, spend patterns and priorities as an individual.

Please note that the best credit cards identified tend to be ‘premium’ credit cards as they understandably have the highest rewards as well as features and benefits that the bank can offer. As such, these Skywards cards are likely to have higher annual membership fees. However, the benefits offered by these credit cards most often can easily justify the annual fees charged. This is especially true if the cardholder takes advantage of the specific features and benefits on offer – another reason to ensure they apply for credit cards most suited to their specific needs. However, there are also a few Emirates Skywards credit cards which have very low annual fees while still offering good benefits which can also be considered.EARNING SKYWARDS MILES FROM EVEN REGULAR ‘EVERY DAY’ SPENDS

Best for – Maximum Miles Earning Potential

This is perhaps the most important feature to be considered for any Emirates Skywards co-branded credit card as the main purpose for a cardholder is to maximize Skywards miles earned by using their credit cards. This is also an aspect where there are significant differences in earning rates and eligibility requirements between the different Skywards credit card options available. Readers are advised to review the conditions carefully before arriving at a decision on which card is best suited to their specific spend patterns. It is important to note that the cards in this category typically do not offer high earn rates on some regular, day-to-day categories such as groceries, utilities, fuel, school fees etc. but instead offer very high earn rates on almost all other types of spends - think electronics, clothes, luxury, travel, dining and most other categories. Depending on the individual’s spend patterns these cards are potentially the best options to earn the absolute maximum Skywards miles from your credit card spends.
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card	Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black Credit Card	Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
The ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card is an excellent option to maximise your Skywards miles earnings as it offers 3 Skywards miles per USD spent at Emirates Airline as well as offering 2 Skywards miles/USD for foreign currency spends and 1.5 Skyward miles/USD for domestic purchases.	The Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black Credit Card offers 3.5 Skywards miles for every 1 USD spent at Emirates airlines. This is the highest offered by any credit card in the UAE currently.	The Citibank Ultima credit card offers an extremely attractive combination of a high miles earn rate along with very minimal spend category restrictions. This credit card offers an even better earning rate on purchases made at Emirates as compared to the DIB Skywards Infinite credit card (which is also a great option). So, if you are a big spender at Emirates then this is the card to get to maximise your Skywards rewards. Compared to the Dubai Islamic bank Skywards Infinite card, it pays a lower earnings rate on two specific categories.
Earn rates are lower for specific everyday categories such as groceries, utilities, government spends, fuel, school fees, Salik etc. but for almost every other type of spend category this is an excellent option. In addition to the high Skyward miles earn rates, this card also has other very compelling features including complimentary Emirates Airlines home check-ins, Skyward Gold tier membership and so on.	In addition to this, it also offers 2 Skyward miles per USD equivalent of foreign currency spends and 1.5 Skyward miles per USD of domestic spends. This is again the highest offered by any Skywards credit card in the UAE (along with the ADIB World Elite Skywards credit card which also offers the same). While this card has lower earn rates for some specific every day categories (grocery, fuel, utilities etc.) for all other purchases this is indeed a really powerful option to maximise your Skywards miles earnings.	Emirates Skywards miles earned per USD (equivalent) spent on the card: 2.5 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices 1.5 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies 1 Skyward mile for all other local purchases Spends at groceries/supermarkets and related to real estate will earn 0.5 Skywards miles per USD of spend and government services and utilities spends earn no miles

Best for – Earning Skyward Miles From Even Regular “Everyday” spends

These credit cards have the most ‘coverage’ of spend categories, that is they hardly exclude any category of spends from earning miles. Hence these cards have the advantage of ensuring that you earn Skywards miles no matter whether you’re buying groceries or paying for your child’s school fees. Depending on your individual spend patterns, these cards could potentially save you the most of all the Skywards credit card options available. To see your specific individual savings on each please use the Savings Calculator on www.soulwallet.com.
Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card	RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card	Dubai Islamic Bank Emirates Skywards Signature Credit Card
The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card is arguably the best credit card to maximise Emirates Skywards miles earnings as it offers an excellent combination of high earn rates on specific categories as well as no excluded spend categories. This is indeed a rarity as almost all other Emirates Skywards credit cards have restrictions on some segments of spend (such as groceries, utilities and so on) which have a lower earning rate.	The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card is also a great option to earn rewards on regular everyday spends. This card has a different way of awarding points – a fixed number of points are awarded for specific spend ranges. As the number of Skywards miles are fixed for a specific spend range the actual earn rate can vary depending on how much you have specifically spent within that range. But rest assured, it is very competitive with other options available and again with the key benefit of not excluding several regular day to day spend categories (groceries, fuel, telecom, utilities etc.). This card does, however, have a maximum cap of 40,000 Skyward miles per month.	The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Signature Credit Card is a great option just like it’s bigger “brother” the DIB Skywards Infinite credit card. While it offers a slightly lower earn rate it also has a lower annual fee (AED 1,500 vs. AED 2,500) and also has the added benefit of having a lower minimum salary requirement (AED 15,000 vs. AED 35,000 for the Infinite). It also offers an excellent combination of high earn rates on specific categories as well as no excluded spend categories.
The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below: 2 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices 1.5 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies 1 Skyward mile for all other local purchases A cap of AED 25,000 on government spends per statement (which we believe is quite generous!)	Spend based Tiers: - 600 miles for 2000-4999 - 2000 miles for 5000-9,999 - 5000 miles for 10,000-19999 - 8000 miles for 20000-29999 - 11000 miles for 30000-39999 - 16000 miles for 40000-49999 - 20000 miles for 50000-74999 - 30000 miles for 75000-99999 - 40000 miles for > 100,000	The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below: 1.5 Skywards miles for purchases made at Emirates online or at Emirates sales offices 1 Skyward miles for purchases made in foreign currencies 0.75 Skyward mile for all other local purchases A cap of AED 25,000 on government spends per statement (which we believe is quite generous!)

Best for – “Bonus” Skywards Miles:

Several credit cards award “bonus” Emirates Skywards miles based on specific criteria, such as a minimum spend levels achieved on the credit card within a specific time period. In this category, there can be varying opinions on which is the “best” option as some cards award higher total maximum bonus miles but at the same time require higher spend levels and over shorter time periods as well. The “best” option here would be determined by the individual’s specific spend patterns.
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card	Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card	Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Cardholders can get up to 120,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles with this card. 50,000 welcome bonus Emirates Skywards miles are awarded plus an additional 70,000 bonus miles if a minimum retail spend of AED 140,000 is achieved within 6 months of card issuance.	The Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card offers cardholders the opportunity to earn up to 100,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles:	Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card offers cardholders the opportunity to earn up to 75,000 Emirates Skywards Miles
This credit card has a good combination of the total bonus miles awarded and the overall minimum spend requirement over a period of 6 months. In addition, there are no specific spend category restrictions.	35,000 “Welcome Joining Miles” on payment of the joining fee 40,000 additional “spend based miles” if cumulative retail spend of USD 20,000 is achieved within 3 months "Annual miles”: 25,000 miles will be credited if USD 7,500 is spent at Emirates (online or at sales offices) within the first 12 months	25,000 miles on card activation 25,000 miles if spend of USD 20,000 is achieved in the first 4 statements 25,000 on balance transfer (minimum balance transfer of AED 50,000)

Best for – Joining offers:

While it is usually not advisable to apply for a credit only to take advantage of a specific joining offer by the bank, it is worthwhile considering the joining offers in addition to all other benefits and features offered by these credit cards.

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card

Citibank Emirates World credit card

Customers who apply online can get AED 2,000 back as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 25,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved. Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change.

Customers can avail AED 1000 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com
Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 800 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 20,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change.

Customers can avail AED 1000 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com
Customers that apply online on Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 400 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 10,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change.

Customers can avail AED 500 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com

While it is usually not advisable to apply for a credit only to take advantage of a specific joining offer by the bank, it is worthwhile considering the joining offers in addition to all other benefits and features offered by these credit cards.
Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card	Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card	Citibank Emirates World credit card
Customers who apply online can get AED 2,000 back as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 25,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved. Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change. Customers can avail AED 1000 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com	Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 800 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 20,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change. Customers can avail AED 1000 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com	Customers that apply online on Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 400 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 10,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.Pls do verify on Citibank website before proceeding as this offer might change. Customers can avail AED 500 worth gift cards on booking. This offer is exclusive to customers who apply on Soulwallet.com

Best for –Emirates Skywards Tier Membership

As most readers are probably aware the Emirates Skywards Miles programme offers different “Tiers” of membership – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each of these tiers offer different benefits to members, with the type and number of benefits increasing in that order – starting with Blue and ending with Platinum which offers the maximum benefits.

An important feature offered by some Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards is automatic membership for the cardholder into a higher tier of the Emirates Skywards programme simply by virtue of having the credit card. This saves cardholders from having to meet the minimum “tier” miles required to be eligible for the specific tier level, obtained normally through purchase of tickets on Emirates airlines.

In this aspect as well, there are a few differences in the options available among the various Emirates Skywards credit cards. Many cards offer direct membership to the Silver Tier for the primary cardholder. A few credit cards also provide supplementary card holders the opportunity to enjoy Silver status, subject to a few conditions being met. However, only 3 credit cards offer cardholders the option to upgrade to the Gold Tier Skywards membership. This can be considered to be a significant perk of having the card by people who value the Gold membership tier in the Emirates Skywards program (which offers, among other benefits, 16kgs of excess baggage allowance, guaranteed seats even on fully booked flights and so on).

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card

RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black Credit Card

This card offers cardholders Skywards Silver Tier membership as a basic feature of the card. However, in addition it also offers cardholders the option to upgrade their Silver Skywards membership tier to the Gold tier if they spend AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines within 12 months of getting the card.

What’s more this card also offers the supplementary cardholder with the opportunity to upgrade to Gold tier status if a total spend of AED 200,000 is achieved in 12 months and 5,500 of that is spent at Emirates Airlines.

The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard offers cardholders Silver tier membership as a default offering. Additionally, it also offers the opportunity to fast-track to Skywards Gold tier membership based on the below criteria being met:

Placing a deposit of AED 500,000 in the customer’s RAKBANK Emirates Skywards savings account. This credit card also offers supplementary cardholders the option to enroll in the Skywards Silver Tier membership at a fee of AED 900 per year.
This card offers customers Silver membership as a default tier for maintain the card. However, similar to the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card the Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black credit card offers customers the opportunity to upgrade to the Skywards Gold tier status by simply spending AED 5,500 at Emirates on their credit card (no additional spend criteria required).

This card also provides the option for the supplementary to be upgraded to the Skywards Gold tier membership by spending AED 5,500 at Emirates and by paying an annual membership fee of AED 4,000.

As most readers are probably aware the Emirates Skywards Miles programme offers different “Tiers” of membership – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each of these tiers offer different benefits to members, with the type and number of benefits increasing in that order – starting with Blue and ending with Platinum which offers the maximum benefits. An important feature offered by some Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards is automatic membership for the cardholder into a higher tier of the Emirates Skywards programme simply by virtue of having the credit card. This saves cardholders from having to meet the minimum “tier” miles required to be eligible for the specific tier level, obtained normally through purchase of tickets on Emirates airlines. In this aspect as well, there are a few differences in the options available among the various Emirates Skywards credit cards. Many cards offer direct membership to the Silver Tier for the primary cardholder. A few credit cards also provide supplementary card holders the opportunity to enjoy Silver status, subject to a few conditions being met. However, only 3 credit cards offer cardholders the option to upgrade to the Gold Tier Skywards membership. This can be considered to be a significant perk of having the card by people who value the Gold membership tier in the Emirates Skywards program (which offers, among other benefits, 16kgs of excess baggage allowance, guaranteed seats even on fully booked flights and so on).
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card	RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card	Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black Credit Card
This card offers cardholders Skywards Silver Tier membership as a basic feature of the card. However, in addition it also offers cardholders the option to upgrade their Silver Skywards membership tier to the Gold tier if they spend AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines within 12 months of getting the card. What’s more this card also offers the supplementary cardholder with the opportunity to upgrade to Gold tier status if a total spend of AED 200,000 is achieved in 12 months and 5,500 of that is spent at Emirates Airlines.	The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard offers cardholders Silver tier membership as a default offering. Additionally, it also offers the opportunity to fast-track to Skywards Gold tier membership based on the below criteria being met: Placing a deposit of AED 500,000 in the customer’s RAKBANK Emirates Skywards savings account. This credit card also offers supplementary cardholders the option to enroll in the Skywards Silver Tier membership at a fee of AED 900 per year.	This card offers customers Silver membership as a default tier for maintain the card. However, similar to the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card the Emirates Islamic Bank Skywards Black credit card offers customers the opportunity to upgrade to the Skywards Gold tier status by simply spending AED 5,500 at Emirates on their credit card (no additional spend criteria required). This card also provides the option for the supplementary to be upgraded to the Skywards Gold tier membership by spending AED 5,500 at Emirates and by paying an annual membership fee of AED 4,000.

Best for – Association Benefits

Credit card associations refer to organizations that set common transaction terms for merchants, issuing banks and acquiring banks. The associations we are referring to in our context here are Visa and Mastercard. All the Emirates Skywards credit cards issued in the UAE are either associated with Visa or Mastercard. The relevance of this for a cardholder is that there are specific benefits and features offered by these associations to the cardholder by virtue of the partnership between the bank and the association. Similar to the different tier levels available in the Emirates Skywards miles programme, both Visa and Mastercard offer different “tiers” or levels of benefits for different credit card types. Please note that these association features are offered in partnership with the banks and are for the most part a standard offering for the specific credit card type across all banks. Examples of these include VIP airport lounge access, travel insurance cover, car rental offers and so on. Please note that the type of benefits offered vary significantly between Visa and Mastercard. These (Visa/Mastercard) features must not be confused with specific features offered by banks directly to their cardholders which are not part of the Visa or Mastercard benefits. Examples of such bank-specific features include complimentary valet parking, cinema tickets, airport transfer offers and so on. Customers are advised to review closely all the features offered for each credit card to understand all the benefits available before arriving at the best credit suited to them. Below is a categorization of the available Emirates Skywards options based on their Visa or Mastercard credit card association type:
Mastercard 1. Mastercard World Elite: This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards: ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard credit card 2. Mastercard World: This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards: ADIB Emirates Skywards World credit card Citibank Emirates World credit card	Visa 1. Visa Infinite: This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards: Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite credit card Emirates Islamic Bank Emirates Skyward Black credit card Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card 2. Visa Signature: This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards: Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature credit card Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature credit card Emirates NBD Skywards Signature credit card 3. Visa Platinum: This is the third highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards: Dubai Islamic Emirates Platinum credit card

Credit card associations refer to organizations that set common transaction terms for merchants, issuing banks and acquiring banks. The associations we are referring to in our context here are Visa and Mastercard. All the Emirates Skywards credit cards issued in the UAE are either associated with Visa or Mastercard.

The relevance of this for a cardholder is that there are specific benefits and features offered by these associations to the cardholder by virtue of the partnership between the bank and the association. Similar to the different tier levels available in the Emirates Skywards miles programme, both Visa and Mastercard offer different “tiers” or levels of benefits for different credit card types.

Please note that these association features are offered in partnership with the banks and are for the most part a standard offering for the specific credit card type across all banks. Examples of these include VIP airport lounge access, travel insurance cover, car rental offers and so on. Please note that the type of benefits offered vary significantly between Visa and Mastercard.

These (Visa/Mastercard) features must not be confused with specific features offered by banks directly to their cardholders which are not part of the Visa or Mastercard benefits. Examples of such bank-specific features include complimentary valet parking, cinema tickets, airport transfer offers and so on.

Customers are advised to review closely all the features offered for each credit card to understand all the benefits available before arriving at the best credit suited to them.

Below is a categorization of the available Emirates Skywards options based on their Visa or Mastercard credit card association type:

Mastercard

1. Mastercard World Elite:
This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card
Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard credit card

2. Mastercard World:

This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:

ADIB Emirates Skywards World credit card
Citibank Emirates World credit card

Visa

1. Visa Infinite:
This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:
Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card

Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates Islamic Bank Emirates Skyward Black credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card

2. Visa Signature:

This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:

Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Signature credit card

3. Visa Platinum:

This is the third highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:
Dubai Islamic Emirates Platinum credit card

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

Best for – Low-Fee, High Value Offered

Citi Emirates Ultimate Credit Card

While most of the above credit cards are premium credit cards and have reasonably high annual fees, the Citi Emirates Ultimate credit card offers excellent benefits for a very reasonable annual fee of only AED 800. Not only is this among the lowest fees on an Emirates Skywards credit card, this card also offers customers to earn the annual fee back as a statement credit if retail spend of AED 20,000 is made within 90 days of getting the card.

This card also has a very healthy Skyward miles earning rate of 1.25 Skyward miles per USD for all international spends and 1 Skyward mile per USD of domestic spends. Other benefits include free VIP airport lounge access for the cardholder plus a guest at over 1,000 lounges worldwide and golf and movie offers in the UAE.

Unique benefits offered by some Emirates Skywards credit cards:

Complimentary Emirates Airlines home check-in 4 times a year – ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card.
Complimentary access to Emirates Towers Health Club at any time, any day – Dubai Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card.
15% discount on buying Emirates Skywards Miles – RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card.

The below Emirates Skywards credit cards all offer the primary cardholder complimentary Skywards Silver Tier membership as a benefit:

Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World credit card

All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com

We hope this article has been useful in giving you a better understanding of the various Emirates Skywards miles credit card options available in the UAE. While we have highlighted the best options for specific benefits offered by these credit cards we highly recommend that you review all the features in detail before deciding which is the best credit card for you. After all, the process of identifying the best option and applying for a credit card is not something undertaken on a regular basis and therefore getting it right will not only help one maximise potential saves but will also help enjoy specific benefits most relevant to your individual preferences.

Detailed features and benefits along with side-by-side comparisons of all these credit cards can be found at www.soulwallet.com.

Online Credit Card-Related Fraud – What to watch out for?

Posted on April 29, 2020September 13, 2020 by admin

One of the best things about the Internet today is that you can purchase literally anything from the comfort of your own home. Whether you are browsing Souq or your favorite online clothing retailer based in the UAE, your next item can be at your door with just one click of the button.

That being said, there are some downsides to online shopping. One of the most notable is online credit card-related fraud. There are plenty of bad actors out there who are looking to steal your credit card number. With your credit card in hand, they can do a significant amount of damage before they are caught.

Yes, popular credit cards do offer some fraud protection. However, you cannot rest on your laurels, as there is no guarantee that your credit card company will reimburse you. Because of this, we want to take this time to share some key things to look out for related to online credit card fraud. Whether you think that you may a victim or you are simply trying to be proactive, these tips can keep some of your hard-earned cash in your pocket.

Things to Monitor to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

One of the first and most effective ways to prevent credit card fraud is to familiarize yourself with popular credit card scams. While it’s impossible to know every online credit card scam out there, understanding what some of the most popular look like can help you avoid them. While it is a never-ending task, it is a great habit to build in your personal finance life.

You can find some of these popular credit card scams by clicking here. For example, there is a scam where criminals call your phone and pretend they are from your credit card company’s fraud department. They ask you to verify some personal information—including the security code on the back of your credit card. Another scam involves credit card skimming, where fraudsters will steal your credit card number through a skimming device and use it to make later purchases. And you cannot forget about common phishing scams, where scammers impersonate your bank and try to have you click on a malicious link and enter your login information. These are just some scams that you’ll need to evade in your day-to-day shopping life.

From being knowledgeable about credit card scams, you’ll next want to be cautious when actually using your credit card online. Many Internet retailers have done a great job making their websites more secure. Nonetheless, you should only enter your credit card information on a website that is legitimate. Some scammers create websites that appear to be real, but were set up solely to steal credit card information. Be especially careful when making purchases on websites that do not have an “https://” in the address bar or a lock in the lower right corner of your browser.

Next, be careful when shopping on websites that are too good to be true. This is another common-sense rule in the world of personal finance. While there are plenty of great deals on the Internet today, you should be wary of those that seem truly unique or out of this world. It may be that a scammer or bad actor is simply trying to entice you to provide your credit card information without sending you your purchase.

Finally, make sure to monitor your accounts. For as much as we may want to monitor all of our purchases, we may fall short. Life gets in the way. A seemingly benign purchase on a new website may lead to stolen credit card information. Yet even though we may not be able to monitor every threat, we can view our statements every month. By getting into a monthly habit of reviewing your credit card purchases, you can quickly discover (and correct) any fraudulent activity.

Stay Vigilant

For as many benefits that Internet shopping brings to our lives, we must protect ourselves from the downsides. Credit card fraud certainly exists in the UAE and throughout the world. Whether you are a holder of several popular credit cards or just obtained a new credit card, we urge you to stay vigilant. By doing so, you will save yourself from tremendous headaches down the road.

Soulwallet is a personal finance comparison portal in the UAE. With a team of “out of the box” thinkers and a deep understanding of the UAE consumer banking industry, we help customers make the best choices while shopping for financial products such as credit cards and loans.

Five Reasons to Consider Doing a Balance Transfer on Your Credit Card

Posted on April 22, 2020September 13, 2020 by admin

The sudden rise of COVID-19 has presented varying degrees of economic stress among UAE residents. Institutions like the UAE Central Bank and some of the UAE’s biggest banks have acted swiftly to relieve some of this unexpected, yet very real financial pressure. Yet even with that assistance, this is a great time for all UAE residents to take a hard look at their current finances.

There are several ways that you can proceed, but we believe that one of the first things you should do is closely look at the balances on your credit cards. For many of us, our credit card balances are some of our highest payments per month. While we may be able to pay off our monthly credit card balances during “normal times, COVID-19 this increased time of uncertainty may make those payments much more difficult.

If you are feeling this type of financial pressure, you may want to seriously consider something called a balance transfer. Balance transfers, put simply, let you move high-interest debt onto another credit card that has a lower interest rate. By doing this, you can keep some of your hard-earned money in your pocket.

To better understand the power of balance transfers, we want to highlight five reasons why you should consider them. Whether one or all of the reasons resonate with you, we believe balance transfers can be compelling options in this era of COVID-19.

Five Reasons to Consider Balance Transfers

The first reason to go forward with a balance transfer centers on your current credit card interest payments. Simply put, balance transfers can temporarily eliminate a high annual percentage rate on your current credit card, allowing more of your payment to go toward your principal. If you are in deep credit card debt, this is a huge deal. A significantly lower (or even zero) interest rate means that you are getting significantly closer towards a zero balance. Therefore, even if there is a small fee to complete a balance transfer, a lower APR may be worth it.

Directly tied with lower interest payments is the ability to save cash in the long run. It’s pretty simple. Allocating more of your monthly payment to your debt outstanding rather than interest is going to keep more cash in your pocket. It is a substantial step on your way toward financial freedom. A balance transfer can offer that unique opportunity, letting you have a few key months where you can make your outstanding principal more manageable.

Balance transfers can also be a great idea because they may be able to raise your credit score. The effect isn’t direct, but there are some ways that your credit score can be improved with a balance transfer. Most notably, it can reduce your credit utilization ratio. This is assuming that you don’t close your old credit card account. Along with paying off your principal, you may see a bump in your overall credit score.

Fourth, a balance transfer can help you build good habits and instill discipline. One primary reason why borrowers seek balance transfers is to obtain some breathing room from overbearing interest payments and debt. Balance transfers can provide this, but they also provide great opportunities to get into great financial habits. For instance, paying down your balance every month and spending less than you make are terrific habits to build.

Finally, credit card balance transfers can make you happier. They can provide both short-term and long-term financial relief. By capitalizing on this relief and getting a better hold over your finances, you’ll feel happier and less stressed. This is a real benefit—especially as we are living through COVID-19.

A Compelling Option

These are just some of the benefits of credit card balance transfers. Granted, you will want to read the fine print and find a balance transfer that makes the most sense for you. Some balance transfer arrangements have a low (or zero) APR, but ramp up significantly after several months or if you miss one payment.

Even so, balance transfers can be a valuable tool in personal finance. Whether or not you choose to use this tool, we encourage you to do your research. You may find that a balance transfer is just the thing you need to get your financial freedom.

All You Need to Know About Islamic Finance

Posted on April 15, 2020September 13, 2020 by admin

Whether you are searching for a personal loan or financing for a home or vehicle, you can take advantage of many financing opportunities in the UAE. Having said that, we want to use this post to discuss one type of financing category. That category is Islamic loans.

While Islamic finance only constitutes 1% of global financial assets, it is a rapidly growing area of finance—particularly in the UAE. Specifically, Islamic loans in the UAE are a fantastic way to accomplish some of your financial goals. Also called Sharia loans, these loans, as you can guess, comply with Sharia law. While they work slightly differently than “traditional” loans, Islamic loans can be a great option to finance major purchases in your life.

Sharia Loans: Some Basics

Islamic loans are unlike other types of loans for several reasons. However, the main differentiating factor is that they must comply with practices and prohibitions under Sharia law. One of the most notable restrictions for Sharia loans centers on paying or charging interest. Sharia law says that interest is usurious, meaning that it is strictly prohibited. To put it another way, with Sharia loans, there are no fixed or floating interest rates or fees.

There are many other restrictions on traditional financial instruments under Sharia law. For example, an investor or borrower under Sharia law cannot invest in businesses involved in prohibited activities, speculate or gamble, or purchase derivative contracts or engage in short selling. In the personal finance context, however, this prohibition on interest is the most striking difference with Western finance.

That said, lenders underwriting Islamic loans in the UAE still need to make money. So how do they do it? Ultimately, it comes down to Islamic banks buying a desired product or commodity on the borrower’s behalf. After doing this, Islamic banks can lease the underlying product to the borrower. They can also re-sell that product on installment at a fixed price. This price, however, is often higher than the traditional market value.

Islamic loans in the UAE offer these types of arrangements. Even though Islamic banks aren’t necessarily charging interest, they are being compensated for the initial risk of purchasing the underlying product or commodity.

The Best Islamic Loans in the UAE

With this basic understanding in hand, you may be curious about how you can obtain Islamic loans in the UAE. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities to capitalize on the best Islamic loans in our country.

For instance, there are some great FAB Islamic loans. First Abu Dhabi Bank is one of the most renowned financial institutions in our country. It not only provides capital and services to large corporations, but to individual borrowers like you. These FAB Islamic loans are specifically tailored Sharia-compliant solutions that can help you purchase everything from a home to a car. If you intend to purchase a new home, you can obtain up to AED 20 million in financing and can leverage flexible payment periods (up to 25 years). If you’re in the market for a new car, you can get financing of up to AED 1.5 million and up to 80% of the car’s value. There are eligibility requirements for all of these FAB Islamic loans, so you’ll want to read the fine print before proceeding.

FAB Islamic loans are just one example of some of the best Islamic loans available in the UAE. That said, you will probably want to start looking for opportunities with your current bank. See if they offer Sharia loans for your intended purchase and feel free to reach out to your bank as necessary. In all likelihood, you will find an Islamic loan in the UAE that best suits your financial circumstances and your intended purchase.

Finding the Best Sharia Loans in the UAE

Sharia loans can be a great way to finance a large purchase in your life. Even if you can pay for your purchase in hand, Islamic loans can relieve financial pressures in your life. Therefore, we encourage you to complete your due diligence. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact your banker. Doing this, we’re confident that you will be satisfied with your next Sharia loan.

How to Cope With Your Personal Finances and Debt Amidst COVID-19

Posted on April 2, 2020November 10, 2020 by admin

COVID-19 has been one of the most disruptive public health and economic stories in recent memory. The UAE has 42294 total confirmed cases (source https://doh.gov.ae/covid-19 as of 15th June 2020) and there will undoubtedly be more. Moreover, shelter-in-place orders and nightly curfews throughout major cities across the world (including in the UAE) have caused massive ripple effects throughout the global economy.

Even though the UAE has a relatively low case count compared to other nations throughout the world, it isn’t immune to the economic stress. In fact, you may be experiencing some of these financial pressures right now. It can be scary—especially because it’s unclear when normal life will return.

Having said this, there are reasons to be optimistic. While the situation is constantly changing, we wanted to share several personal finance suggestions and resources that you can leverage in these uncertain times. These resources will help you obtain some financial relief (and even unlock exciting financial opportunities) as we continue to battle COVID-19.

Take Stock of Your Current Finances

Generally speaking, one of the first things that you should do amidst this economic uncertainty is to take stock of your current finances. Take a look at your cash in hand (if any) and note any upcoming bills or payments, whether it is your rent or mortgage, credit card bills, or something else. If there is a significant chance that you cannot meet any (or all) of these upcoming liabilities, you’ll want to take action now.

We will shortly describe some of these opportunities provided by the UAE government and financial institutions. Putting that aside, you may want to contact your credit card companies and lenders if you feel like you cannot pay your bills on time. While there are no hard and fast rules here, your lenders may be able to defer some of your payments if you explain your current financial situation.

Whether or not you are facing imminent financial pressures, you will want to adopt more stringent spending habits. Think long and hard about your discretionary purchases. While you may have been eyeing that new car or purse for some time, it’s probably better to be conservative here. It’s unclear when the economic pain from COVID-19 will end, so cash is king. Cash gives you optionality and will eliminate some stress if this crisis lasts longer than expected.

On a more optimistic note, COVID-19 can be a great investment opportunity if you have savings or significant discretionary income. Asset prices have fallen in the UAE and throughout the world. Because of this, you may want to think about purchasing index funds or other equities. As we’ll describe below, the government is also offering incentives for first-time homeowners. You will clearly want to do your own due diligence, but the bottom line is that this may be a great time to enter the markets. However, if you foresee any near-term financial pressures, you will likely want to stay liquid and keep cash on hand rather than make any long-term investments.

The bottom line? As with all personal finance advice, you need to closely monitor your income and spending habits. Stay conservative and make sure that you’re not spending more than you are making. And if you foresee any potential issues paying your current or upcoming bills? We encourage you to speak with your lenders and take advantage of the financial relief described below.

Financial Relief and New Incentives

Because of the sudden disruption that COVID-19 has caused, the UAE government has ordered banks and other financial institutions to provide relief to individuals and families. These are some compelling opportunities, so we encourage you to pay close attention.

For instance, if you have a mortgage, car loan, or personal loan, you can apply for a one month repayment holiday with no extra fees. Borrowers who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak may also be able to obtain loan repayment deferrals for up to three months and interest-free installment plans of up to six months on things like grocery purchases, utility bill payments, and school fee payments.

To take advantage of these payment plans and deferrals, you’ll want to follow up with your bank. UAE banks (like First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank) have moved quickly to support their retail and SME customers. If you bank with a non-UAE financial institution, you will also want to read the fine print to understand all of the incentives that may be at your disposal. As just one example, if you bank with Standard Chartered, you will receive refunds for foreign currency translation fees on canceled travel bookings. Along with this, cash advance fees on credit cards are cut in half. Again, make sure you complete your due diligence so that you can take advantage of your bank’s available incentives.

Getting some more time to pay your upcoming bills can go a long way in providing financial relief. But along with this, you may be thinking that this is a good time to make some investments. First-time home buyers, for example, can obtain a reduced down payment of up to 5% on their home purchases. You can also obtain interest-free installment plans for school tuition. This includes the waiver of service of charges or a 0% interest loan until 30 June 2020. Ultimately, the UAE government has moved swiftly to relieve financial pressure on residents and to spur continued investment in the country. Therefore, don’t hesitate to take advantage of these opportunities (the sooner, the better).

Finally, if you are a small business owner in the UAE, there are additional financial opportunities available to you. For example, you can reduce their interest charges on new borrowings based on new prevailing interest rates for eligible customers. Along with this, you can reduce bank charges by half on the early settlement of existing borrowing for eligible customers until 30 June 2020. For some more financial relief opportunities available for small businesses, feel free to click here.

Riding Out the Storm

Unfortunately, we are likely nowhere close to the end of COVID-19. A potential vaccine is still far away and there is likely more economic pain ahead. We are truly living in uncertain times, so you must be proactive to minimize financial damage from this global pandemic.

The good news, however, is that there are plenty of resources to help you ride out this economic storm. The government has been proactive in helping you defer some of your upcoming payments. Also, there are new incentives to make a long-term investment in the UAE. Ultimately, we encourage you to take advantage of as many of these opportunities as necessary.

Why You Should Use Comparison Websites Before Signing Up for a Credit Card?

Posted on March 27, 2020October 23, 2020 by admin

Whether you have great credit or are working hard to improve your credit score, you undoubtedly receive plenty of credit card information or application forms in the UAE. The potential offers and rewards are often extremely compelling, whether it is extra points for eating at your favorite restaurant or travel deals that are only available to certain cardholders. Credit cards also have many different terms, and these terms can become all too real if you are behind on a payment.

Therefore, when analyzing which credit cards in UAE to pursue, it is helpful to compare all of the offers that are available to you. This is much easier said than done. However, You may find yourself placing pieces of paper side-to-side or simply choosing a credit card that your friend or sibling likes.

Luckily, there is a better way. We believe that comparison websites are a true game-changer when signing up for a credit card. These websites make it extremely easy to compare different types of credit cards, thereby making it more obvious to you when making your final decision. Everyone from the first-time credit card holder to more experienced borrowers can find immense value from credit card comparison websites.

Below, you will find several key reasons why these websites are so important in today’s financial environment.

A Clean User Interface

As referenced above, credit card comparison websites make it easier and enjoyable to compare different credit card offers. Many websites, in fact, let you place credit cards side-to-side. They make it seamless for you to compare cards’ interest rates, annual fees, join fees, and more. This side-by-side layout is more effective than you may think, as it quickly gets to the crux of why certain cards are better for you than others. Instead of spending hours sifting through the paperwork and comparing the fine print, you can get a great first glance through credit card comparison websites.

Opening Your Eyes to New Opportunities

Credit card comparison websites aren’t just for comparing credit cards that you are considering. Arguably just as valuable (or even more valuable) is the fact that you can use them to discover new credit cards. For instance, if your most important factor is a low interest rate, you may use a credit card comparison tool to find a low-interest card that you haven’t even considered yet. This is just one simple example, but the discovery nature of credit card comparison websites makes them attractive to credit card applicants.

Helping You Maximize Your Points

In the example above, we explained how credit card comparison websites can help you find low interest card cards, thereby saving you cash if you end up making a late payment. But the flip side to this, however, is that credit card comparison websites can help you maximize potential incentives. If you enjoy traveling, for instance, you can find a new credit card that caters to travelers. Moreover, the website will help you understand how you can maximize your points so that you can rack up free flights or vacations. To put it another way, these websites are your trusted guide to get the most value out of a potential credit card.

A Godsend if You Have Bad Credit

Finally, credit card comparison websites can be especially helpful if you have bad credit and are looking for a new credit card. Repairing or strengthening a credit score is always time-intensive. That said, this shouldn’t mean that you can’t find a great credit card now. Credit card comparison websites can help you with this task. They can highlight some of the most attractive options for you—considering your financial situation.

Your Secret Weapon

These are just several key reasons why credit card comparison websites are so powerful. They are simple and easy-to-use, yet extremely powerful. They can help you stumble upon key insights about your spending goals and budget. They can even be a massive assistance in helping you more quickly save up for your dream vacation.

Whatever the case may be, we encourage you to check out these websites. Spend some time reviewing both the websites themselves and the credit cards that they let you compare. In sum, we believe that credit card comparison websites can be your secret weapon as you work toward achieving all of your financial goals.