IslamicFinance.de

Mirroring the conventional banking sector, Islamic finance institutions are turning to IT directors to lead the change towards business innovation. Zubair Ahmed, head of IT and business innovation at Emirates Islamic Bank, says the IT department is no longer viewed as simply an enabler, but as a business innovator in its own right. Ahmed says many of the bank’s innovations are born in the IT department. The bank’s integrated tech innovation approach is yielding results. Emirates Islamic was recognised among Global Finance’s 2016 'The Innovators' of Islamic Finance for EI trade, a Shariah-compliant online trade finance and supply chain platform. In May 2016, it also became the first Islamic bank in the UAE to enable its customers to access basic account services via Twitter.