Emirates Islamic launches campaign to provide relief to SMEs amid surges in freight costs

Preferential pricing campaign to support SME trade community

Emirates Islamic has introduced a preferential pricing campaign, aimed to assist existing small and medium enterprise (SME) clients, by offering relief in terms of preferential charges on trade processing fees.

The bank will extend up to 10% discount on its trade processing fees to all SME clients impacted by higher charges.

Amid the challenges of Covid-19, SME traders are grappling with increased freight rates on certain routes where there is high demand, primarily due to factors like port disruptions. The price relief aims to help reduce the burden of these costs on SME traders, and improve the overall health of their business.

As a part of its ongoing commitment towards SMEs, Emirates Islamic also recently introduced preferential pricing on issuance of trade guarantees for its SME clients who are bidding or working on projects related to UAE government institutions and entities. In addition, as part of its effort to support the growing SME ecosystem, Emirates Islamic has a dedicated suite of online trade finance products. smartTRADE offers clients a comprehensive range of new functionalities, allowing them to submit all trade requests online – such as letters of credit, guarantees, trade loan requests etc., thus enjoying reduced paperwork requirements and a shorter turnaround time. It also introduced its integrated digital platform businessONLINE in 2020, to deliver an enhanced banking experience to businesses of all scales and sizes.

Wasim Saifi, Deputy CEO – Consumer Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates Islamic, said, “We, at Emirates Islamic, have always been committed to supporting SMEs and the overall growth of the SME sector in the UAE, the backbone of the nation’s economy. Through our preferential pricing campaign, we are happy to extend support to our SME clients and help with their business needs in an effective manner.”