Staff Report
Dubai, UAE
New businesses, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), based in Abu Dhabi will now be able to open corporate bank accounts within 48 hours through Wio Business, the business banking application from Wio Bank, a new digital bank established by four leading investors – Abu Dhabi Development Company (ADQ), Alpha Dhabi Holding, Etisalat, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), according to a statement.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), the business licensing arm of Abu Dhabi Government, and Wio Bank PJSC, the region’s first platform bank, recently announced a partnership that will help Abu Dhabi-based SMEs to manage their finances, payments, and their overall business operations.
Most UAE lenders had stopped the SME lending operations since 2016, resulting a major problem for this important sector that contributes to the UAE GDP significantly. The SMEs represent more than 94 percent of the total number of active businesses in the UAE and more than 86 percent of the private sector’s workforce, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy. The new partnership provides a lifeline to the SMEs based in Abu Dhabi.
“This partnership saves SMEs a significant amount of business operation time by fast-tracking the account opening process and delivering fast and seamless banking services via Wio Business, the business banking application from Wio Bank. In less than 48 hours, Wio will help set up corporate accounts for SMEs licensed by ADDED and provide an up-to-date view of their financials—empowering them to make more informed business and investment decisions quickly,” a joint statement by ADDED and Wio Bank said.
Additionally, as part of the agreement, Wio will work closely with the Abu Dhabi Residents Office, Abu Dhabi SME Hub, and TAMM, Abu Dhabi Government Services, to extend banking and business services, including fully digital onboarding and simplified banking solutions, to SMEs registered with them—thereby boosting and enhancing the SME ecosystem in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Mouza Al Nasri, Executive Director of SMEs Sector at ADDED, said: “Partnerships with leading firms and entities in different sectors is part of our efforts to empower SMEs to benefit from ample opportunities provided by Abu Dhabi’s robust, resilient, and business-friendly ecosystem to expand and contribute positively to sustainable development. SMEs is one of the vital sectors in Abu Dhabi’s economy, contributing 36 per cent of non-oil GDP and employing 46 per cent of the private sector’s workforce. We believe providing convenient and advanced financial and banking services to SMEs will support in enhancing entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
Wio Bank PJSC was created to reboot banking and catalyse growth of the UAE’s digital economy. It is built around three main capabilities, digital banking apps, embedded finance and banking-as-a-service solutions.
Wio Business, the first banking application from Wio Bank, provides start-ups, freelancers, and SMEs access to banking services seamlessly while giving them the opportunity to move forward with innovative beyond-banking services by providing simplified and fully digital business account opening, personalised options for banking services, and supplementary services and easy-to-use banking tools to support SMEs with better business management.
Jayesh Patel, CEO of Wio Bank PJSC, said: “We are pleased to partner with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and other related entities to help build a thriving SME ecosystem in Abu Dhabi. At Wio, we have made it our priority to reimagine banking for the SME sector and seamlessly integrate the services that they need the most. This collaboration is a great example of how we are leveraging Wio’s advanced technology to reach more SMEs and bring our easy, enabling, and efficient business banking solutions to them to support their growth and be part of their journey through innovative solutions.”
Wio Business’ services are built around each client’s needs, helping them automate their admin, be in control of their spending with unlimited virtual cards for their team, create various saving spaces for VAT, rent, and other business needs, and focus on growing their business. The offering was developed in collaboration with customers and built to get SMEs up and running quickly by providing easy and simple banking tools to manage their business better.
The announcement is limited to Abu Dhabi-based SMEs licensed by ADDED only and therefore excludes other SMEs registered with other emirates and economic zones – who might not yet benefit from Wio Business banking facilities. However, analysts predict that such partnerships might also be extended to other emirates and free zones – who registers a large number of businesses regularly.
“Once most ADDED-registered SMEs take this offer, we expect Wio Business bank to extend the same to other emirates, that will help the wider SMEs to grow and contribute to the UAE economy in a bigger way,” said a business analyst, requesting anonymity. “This will also help Wio bank to expand its footprint across the UAE and register a strong growth in its operations.
“As the UAE Corporate Tax Law comes into effect in June 2023, it is important to ensure all SMEs have formal company account for taxation purposes. This partnership will help SMEs to generate tax returns faster.”
