Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank launches industry first ground-breaking initiative in partnership with Emirates Foundation

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, ADCB, and Emirates Foundation, the UAE national foundation established to facilitate public-private partnerships for empowering youth, announced today a ground-breaking collaboration aimed at increasing levels of financial literacy in the UAE.

The ADCB/EF Financial Literacy partnership is the first-of-its-kind in the region, and is set to offer branch-based financial literacy and financial counselling to encourage the widespread adoption of sound financial management practices.

The ADCB/EF Financial Literacy Initiative was announced at ADCB’s headquarters by Ala’a Eraiqat, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of ADCB Group, and Clare Woodcraft-Scott, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Foundation, in the presence of Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council, Managing Director of Emirates Foundation, and Eissa Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Chairman of ADCB.

In line with ADCB’s long-term strategy to deliver new service offerings that add value to individual customers’ needs and the wider UAE society, this innovative new partnership comes on the back of ADCB’s existing youth financial literacy programme.

ADCB experts and Emirates Foundation ‘Esref Sah’ specialists will cooperate to develop a free branch-based counseling and advice programme for customers to take advantage of. It will focus on providing help and advice around topics of relevance and significance to the UAE’s young adults, who just started their career, including household budgeting, sensible borrowing, setting and reaching savings goals, and general money management.

Sheikh Sultan, said, "For young Emiratis to become confident and constructive citizens, determined to shape out their future in a spirit of entrepreneurship and responsibility, they must pro-actively learn how to navigate their personal and professional finances. Financial awareness and literacy forms the basic fabric for establishing a sound and productive society and will without a doubt empower and enrich the lives of our youth and enhancing the well-being of all."

Eissa Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Chairman of ADCB, said, "We have a deep responsibility to our UAE youth. We must help them establish the strong foundations of their future success and wellbeing by helping them acquire the knowledge they require to look forward with confidence. As a leading financial institution, ADCB seeks to contribute to important social initiatives for the benefit of UAE society."

Commenting on the initiative, Ala’a Eraiqat, Group Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of ADCB, said, "We firmly believe in the importance of ensuring that customers understand how their finances work. The banking industry has an obligation to aide that understanding through financial literacy programmes and encouraging responsible money management. Through our partnership with Emirates Foundation, ADCB is setting yet another example of innovation in this field."

He added, "ADCB has had a decade of partnership with Emirates Foundation and is a pioneer in adopting responsible lending practices."

Source:WAM