Emirates NBD partners with innovation platform Plug and Play

By Leandra Monteiro

Emirates NBD, a banking group in the MENAT region, has announced a partnership with Plug and Play Abu Dhabi, an innovation enabler, to boost the bank’s open innovation ecosystem globally.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley in the United States, with its Middle East office based in Abu Dhabi, Plug and Play is an innovation platform, connecting start-ups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies in more than 35 locations across five continents and with more than 20 industries, creating a unique ecosystem designed to develop and implement the technologies of tomorrow.

Through Plug and Play Abu Dhabi’s strong global network, Emirates NBD will extend its FinTech collaboration footprint to a wider reach of technology players from around the world. The partnership programme will be fully customized to Emirates NBD’s priority areas, in which Plug and Play Abu Dhabi will actively outreach and screen global start-ups that best fit Emirates NBD’s business needs to significantly improve its speed of innovation, accelerating the time to market of innovative propositions launched for the bank’s customers.

Commenting on the announcement, Miguel Rio Tinto, Group Chief Information Officer, Emirates NBD said, “We are thrilled to be teaming up with a leading global innovation platform like Plug and Play. The collaboration presents an excellent opportunity to explore FinTech capabilities and engage with the brightest start-ups from around the world, enabling us to implement solutions to our most critical business needs while improving the experience for our financial products and services.”

He added, “Emirates NBD is at the forefront of adopting new business models and emerging technologies by continuously partnering with government entities, FinTech accelerators, corporates, and regulators, to create compelling propositions for customers. Over the years we have successfully collaborated with several start-ups and accelerator platforms in the region and globally and will continue doing so.”

Babak Ahmadzadeh, Managing Director, Plug and Play Abu Dhabi, said, “We are proud to welcome Emirates NBD as our latest Plug and Play Abu Dhabi Fintech Partner and are incredibly excited to support their mission to further innovate the region’s Fintech ecosystem. Over the past 15 years, Fintech Investment and Acceleration has been one of our biggest areas of expertise. Of our 32 unicorns, 10 have been fintech/insuretech; and of 40+ offices worldwide, more than 10 have a Fintech operation over 70 of the most forward-thinking financial institutions to collaborate and innovate with start-ups. Through this partnership, Plug and Play Abu Dhabi is humbled and excited to work with Emirates NBD to create meaningful fintech collaboration that impacts the bank’s innovation journey and support digital transformation in the UAE, which is becoming more and more recognized as a global start-up and venture capital hub week-by-week.”