National Bank of Abu Dhabi launches mobile payment service

11 November 2008 - Banking Business Review

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi has rolled out the new NBAD Arrow service, an SMS-based payment service that is expected to allow customers to access their bank accounts via mobile phones to pay, send, and receive money 24 hours a day.

Luup, a provider of mobile payment technologies, supports the NBAD Arrow Mobile Payment service. The NBAD Arrow services are the first in an 18-month roll-out plan agreed between the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and Luup, which will extend to remittances, salary payouts, merchant payments and bill payments, according to the company.

The bank has said that in the first stage of the service roll-out, the Luup system will allow NBAD Arrow service users to make transfers from their NBAD bank account to anyone in the UAE using their mobile phones. If the receiver is also an NBAD Arrow service user, the money goes straight into their bank account, otherwise the amount can be withdrawn from any NBAD ATM within 24 hours by using a code received via SMS.

In addition, Arrow users can instantly pay utility bills to Etisalat, DEWA, ADWEA and other suppliers, as well as donate to charities like the UAE Red Crescent.

Ahmed Al-Naqbi, senior manager of channels and electronic banking services at NBAD, said: "As the UAE's number one bank, NBAD keeps up to speed with the latest banking technology to provide customers with a fast, secure, reliable and convenient banking experience."