Dukhan Bank, a leading Shariah-compliant bank in Qatar, won awards in a number of categories at the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Banking Excellence Awards 2022 (see boxout) for its extensive digitalization and the D-Pay option on its new mobile application, receiving the MENA Digital Bank of the Year & Most Innovative Bank of the Year awards classifications.
The Bank’s Rashid artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot and platform also went home with trophies for the Best Use of AI in FS, Excellence in Omnichannel Integration, and the Best Multichannel & Best Next Generation Offering categories.
The new Dukhan Mobile application aims to meet customer demands wherever they are across the retail, corporate or wealth management (WM) areas of the bank. The Bank’s range of Shariah-compliant investment, won the bank a further award for Outstanding WM Service for the Affluent (see boxout) at the event on June 23.
The application allows the Bank’s customers to open accounts and manage their cards and finances more easily, as well as make electronic e-payments via the D-Pay option on the smartphone app. Other prominent helpful features of the application include:
Direct-to-Account transfers with Western Union.
Card control – Enable cards or manage limits for online/in-store/international use, cash advance or block/unblock your cards.
Cardless cash withdrawal services.
Instant opening of foreign currency accounts.
Accruing points with DAwards: this is the bank’s loyalty program that connects with 900 airlines and 400 hotels around the world, and offers good rates and promotions at car renters, electronic e-vouchers at shops and so on.
New mobile app
The mobile app is a key part of Dukhan’s multichannel digitalization drive offering a wide range of services, such as setting up a standing order or applying for finance, across the various units of the bank. The app is linked to the bank’s refreshed Corporate Banking Digital Platform, which can also be accessed online via a laptop.
The Dukhan Mobile platform is expected to be the most popular end point as it allows corporate administrators to manage users; handle multiple levels of approvals as required by corporate mandates; download transactions and view account statements; as well as conduct intra-bank third party, batch, domestic and international transfers.
Moreover, the app offers retail bank users seamless opportunities to pay utility bills for Vodafone, Ooredoo and Kahramaa (electricity & water).
To ensure that customers’ accounts and transactions are adequately protected, the security process on the app is catered for by two-factor authentication that requires static and dynamic password options, as well as biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or face ID. Transaction workflows are protected with up to nine levels of authorization to accommodate the most complex corporate mandate requirements. The application also features an enhanced electronic e-payment service powered by MasterCard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS), which allows businesses to access an end-to-end e-commerce solution.
In addition, customers can open Shariah-compliant fixed- deposit ‘Wadiati’ (profit-in-advance) accounts through the Term Deposit/Time Deposit feature directly on the mobile application, further reducing the need to visit a branch.
Through Dukhan Mobile’s new card control system, customers can control transactions and assign limits on card usage. Customers can also activate/deactivate a card when it’s lost, misplaced, or stolen; set an in-store limit to stay on budget; enable ATM withdrawals and permit online card usage via the app; and activate ‘international payment’ blocks to prevent fraud outside of a normal location.
Dukhan Bank has also rolled out contactless credit and debit cards compatible with Point of Sale (PoS) terminals to accept payments. Another advanced available option to customers is the Dukhan Pay (D-Pay) platform on smartphones that allows contactless payments to be made via a mobile device.
D-Pay Platform
Dukhan Pay was developed to meet customers’ increasing demand for digital banking products and services by enabling individual and corporate customers to conduct all their transactions online easily and securely by integrating it with payment services like Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay. To ease and protect the transaction process, tokenization has made it simple, easing on-boarding and enhancing digitalization. Dukhan Bank was the first bank in Qatar to unveil Apple Pay as an option for its smartphone users.
The Bank’s customers can also easily link their devices with their cards without the need for activation or visit to any branch. Under the same platform, the Bank has also released wristbands fitted with smart chips that can facilitate contactless payment across a variety of merchants, convenience stores, pharmacies and petrol stations. D-Pay connects with Dukhan Bank’s credit and debit cards and allows such ‘wearable’ payments.
The Qatar Mobile Payment (QMP) option is also housed on the D-Pay platform within Dukhan Bank’s ever-evolving mobile application to allow customers to use their mobile number to make electronic e-payments to others’ digital wallets in line with Qatar Central Bank’s Qatar Mobile payments initiative.
Rashid AI-powered chatbot and multichannel automated service platform
The interactive, multichannel virtual assistant, Rashid, is accessible on Dukhan Mobile, the bank’s website and on WhatsApp. Powered by artificial Intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, and hosted in the cloud to cross channels, Rashid offers swift answers and fast solutions to customers’ inquiries. Along with the above innovations, it facilitated the bank to win the innovation, omni- and multi-channel awards, as well as the AI and next generation trophies at the MENA Banking Excellence Awards.
Rashid can locate nearby branches, give details on products and services, provide exchange rates, and process multiple tasks and complex questions to assist customers 24×7 in a friendly, automated but still personalized way. The chatbot can converse in Arabic and English and its ever-expanding functionality will soon be able to:
Activate or block cards
Do fund transfers
Provide spend analysis
Credit card and utility bill payments Offer tailored recommendations for clients, using data analytics
The platform can detect and eliminate mistakes made in text or voice messages, using the most advanced technological achievements in AI, and the NLP capabilities ensure a natural conversational flow. A mechanism calculates the next action that should be addressed or suggested to the user by taking into consideration the previous flow of conversation.
The chatbot platform is an enterprise solution that can be used by staff on the intranet, externally by customers on the corporate website or internet, mobile banking, or on WhatsApp. Defined user stories are supported the same way on each channel because the ‘intellect’ of the bot is centralized.
Best Private Bank & Banker
Dukhan Bank won the MENA Private Banker of the Year and Best Private Bank: Qatar at the MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2022 on June 23 for its results and individuals. Chaouki Daher, general manager and head of private banking (PB) unit was rewarded for his over 20 years of experience in the sector and accumulated expertise. Daher joined the International Bank of Qatar (ibq) in 1998 as an Assistant Relationship Manager (RM). ibq was later merged with Barwa Bank and the whole business rebranded as Dukhan Bank in 2020. Daher has held numerous senior managerial positions in the private banking business and served as secretary of the board of directors since the founding of ibq’s board.
He is a graduate of Business Administration with Honors from the University of North Carolina, the US, and previously held a diplomatic position with the Ministry of Emigrants and Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, in addition to directorship positions in local and listed companies in Qatar, representing the bank.
The Private Bank offers Sukuk (financial certificates / bonds) and Takaful (insurance) in line with its Shariahcompliant status. The state-owned Group has Capital Markets, Wealth and Asset Management units, alongside its retail and wholesale banks. The Private Bank offers an end-to-end portfolio of finance, banking and investment products and wealth management (WM) services for high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) from legacy planning to investments in properties, finance and so on, which managers customize to suit each client’s risk appetite. It’s Sukuk covers Qatar and other nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and global funds, with mutual and capital protected options also available.
The Private Bank plans to invest further in its digital transformation over the next five years to capture a larger and younger generation of WM HNWIs and bring in new small business owners, more Islamic finance investors and private-public partnerships.