The Prepaid Summit: Middle East & Africa conference, hosted in Dubai, concluded with 15 of the best and brightest in the region receiving awards for their efforts over the past 12 months
The summit attracted over 150 senior payment executives to discuss the opportunities that the latest prepaid market innovations offer. This included keynote sessions by industry leaders and practical case studies from successful banks and card issuers across MEA.
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The top award for Prepaid Innovation of the Year was picked up by BLOM Bank, the Lebanon-headquartered bank, for the UberBLOM Visa prepaid reloadable card, the first of its kind.
Local organisations collected four awards across the night with GHQ of the UAE Armed Forces NBAD recognised for Digital Corporate/Government Prepaid Initiative of the year. Majid Al Futtaim Finance collected the award for Leading prepaid Retailer of the Year and Al Fardan Exchange was awarded for Prepaid Mobile App of the Year. Emirates NBD completed the set with its award for Prepaid Security/Anti-Fraud Programme of the Year.
Commenting on this year’s awards and its winners, Douglas Blakey, Group Editor Consumer Finance at Timetric said: "The calibre of the entries this year is testament to Visa’s innovation in the prepaid sector in the Middle East and Africa. The award winners have recognised that the key to prepaid success is understanding their customers and making it easy to use the service.
"The prepaid sector in the region remains in rude health and with even greater innovation and product development, prepaid will continue to play a key role in promoting the move towards cash displacement and encourage greater financial inclusion. I commend all of the Awards winners."
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By GlobalDataFull list of awards and winners:
Prepaid Innovation of the Year
Blom Bank Lebanon
Prepaid Marketing Campaign of the Year
National Bank of Kuwait for its Shabab Card
Best Customer Proposition of the Year
Riyad Bank for its Virtual Card
Best Open-Loop Prepaid Card Programme of the Year
Joint winners: Saudi Investment Bank Multi-currency Travel Card and Banque de l’Industrie et du Travail (BIT Bank) for its QuiQ Prepaid card
Best Gift/Loyalty Card
Banque de l’Industrie et du Travail (BIT Bank) for its QuiQ Prepaid card
Financial Inclusion Programme of the Year
Bankmed for its UN Relief and Works Agency Programme
Digital Corporate/Government Prepaid Initiative of the Year
GHQ of the UAE Armed Forces NBAD
Best Customer Facing Prepaid Technology Programme of the Year
Boubyan Bank for its Virtual Prepaid Card
Leading Prepaid Retailer of the Year
Majid al Futtaim Finance
Prepaid Mobile App of the Year
Al Fardan Exchange
Mobile Wallet of the Year
Chams Mobile Kegow & Skye Bank
Prepaid Security/Anti-Fraud Programme of the Year
Emirates NBD
Prepaid Service Provider of the Year
Global Technology Partners
Winner of Visa Special Award
AlRajhi Bank for its AlFursan Prepaid Card
