Emirates NBD first bank to leverage SAP Financial Services Data Platform

Abdulla Qassem, group chief operating officer, Emirates NBD.
Updated 10 September 2019
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Emirates NBD first bank to leverage SAP Financial Services Data Platform

Emirates NBD has partnered with SAP, a market leader in enterprise software, to become the first bank globally to implement the SAP Financial Services Data Platform. It is powered by SAP in-memory data platform, the SAP HANA and can now deliver customer intelligence across all Emirates NBD Group market segments, entities and countries.

The implementation of the SAP Financial Services Data Platform has initially focused on Emirates NBD’s retail banking and wealth management segment. It was completed in 10 months and marks the second phase of expansion for Emirates NBD’s Enterprise Data Platform (EDP). The EDP, which leverages Hadoop Big Data technology, was initially launched in November 2018. As the bank’s biggest flagship initiative in its ongoing 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) digital transformation, it aims to help continuously enhance Emirates NBD’s customer experience by increasingly leveraging data-driven intelligence. 

Abdulla Qassem, group chief operating officer, Emirates NBD, said: “Being increasingly effective and efficient in both harvesting and leveraging our growing critical data is core to Emirates NBD’s digital transformation. We are proud to be the first bank in the world to successfully go live with the SAP Financial Services Data Platform, after initially launching our Enterprise Data Platform in November 2018. Harnessing the power of Hadoop and SAP HANA has brought significantly increased capability to our Enterprise Data Platform, which is ultimately aligned with Emirates NBD’s vision to drive data-driven decision-making holistically across the bank.”

Zakaria Haltout, managing director, SAP UAE, said: “We are pleased to partner with Emirates NBD as it continues expanding its Enterprise Data Platform capabilities. As the first global bank to leverage the SAP Financial Services Data Platform, this is a milestone for both of our organizations. Emirates NBD’s Enterprise Data Platform handles massive volumes of diverse data, and can now derive real-time insights to improve the customer experience, drive growth, optimize risk controls and business outcomes, and automate business processes.” 

With the SAP Financial Services Data Platform now in place, the bank’s EDP provides a standardized, consistent representation of complex data from all Emirates NBD systems and applications. This data can be consumed by data-driven applications and other business intelligence tools.


Saudi Awwal Bank becomes first Middle East bank to earn 7-star CinOrg innovation accreditation

Saeed Assiri, chief innovation banking officer at SAB
Updated 05 March 2026
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Saudi Awwal Bank becomes first Middle East bank to earn 7-star CinOrg innovation accreditation

Saudi Awwal Bank has become the first bank in the Middle East to receive a 7‑star Certified Innovative Organization rating from the Global Innovation Institute, the highest recognition awarded by the institute.

The accreditation marks a significant step in SAB’s innovation strategy and follows an innovation maturity assessment conducted by the institute in December 2025. The review, which built on an earlier assessment in December 2023, raised the bank’s maturity level from “Champion” to “Leader.” The new rating reflects SAB’s institutionalized approach to innovation, its enterprise-wide impact and its ability to consistently deliver measurable results.

With the 7‑star rating, SAB becomes the first bank in the region to reach the highest innovation maturity level, strengthening its position as a regional reference point for innovation-led and future-ready banking.

In 2025, the bank opened its flagship Innovation Centre and secured six internationally recognized innovation awards, along with a lab accreditation. The centre has supported SAB’s efforts to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies, encourage cross-functional collaboration and reinforce its standing as a regional leader in financial innovation.

Saeed Assiri, chief innovation banking officer at SAB, said the recognition reflects years of focused work to build a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

“By investing in SAB’s culture, governance and talent, innovation enables the bank to remain future-ready,” he said. “This milestone reinforces our role in accelerating financial innovation in Saudi Arabia and delivering long-term value for our customers.”

The certification adds to SAB’s broader efforts to strengthen its innovation capabilities as the Kingdom’s banking sector continues to evolve.