Al Hilal Bank, an Islamic bank owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, has launched the first-ever bank-installed gold dispensing machine in the Middle East region.

Located at Al Hilal Bank’s Mall Branch in Abu Dhabi, the ‘Gold to Go’ machine sells gold bars and coins 24 hours a day at prices that are updated every 10 minutes to match current market rates, said a statement from the bank.

It is fully operated by Ex Oriente Lux, the German developer of ‘Gold to Go,’ the world’s first gold vending machine.

The new service is expected to do very well in light of gold’s well-established roles as both an alternative currency and a common hedge against inflation, said the statement.

The new service reaffirms Al Hilal’s commitment to introducing innovative and customer-friendly offerings, it added.

‘Gold to Go’ went live on September 1 after rigorous testing and the pioneering equipment is burglar- and tamper-proof and is very easy to use, remarked Mohamed Jamil Berro, CEO of Al Hilal Bank.

'Our ‘Gold to Go’ rollout is in line with our continuous efforts to lead the market by introducing first-of-its-kind services to the UAE. We want to be the best for our customers and so we seek out the best offerings for them,' said Berro.

'Buying high-quality gold 24/7 in our trusted banking environment is something new and exciting for our customers and I am sure they will highly appreciate our efforts to give them access to this kind of personal service,' he noted.

Currently one of the fastest-growing Islamic banks in the UAE, Al Hilal serves customers through 19 branches and over 100 ATMs spread across the UAE and three branches in Kazakhstan. It manages the Al Hilal GCC Equity Fund.-TradeArabia News Service