Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, was honoured by Efma and Accenture with a ‘Bronze Digital Distribution’ award at the 2016 Global Distribution & Marketing Innovation Awards for its innovative mobile-based ‘Fitness Account’.

Launched in November 2015, the Fitness Account is a mobile only savings account that allows customers to earn higher interest on their balances linked to their level of physical activity. With over a third of the bank’s customer base actively using the bank’s online and mobile banking platforms on a regular basis, the unique initiative pushed for a healthy lifestyle among its customers and is aligned with the UAE government’s mission to fight obesity in the nation.

Suvo Sarkar, senior EVP & group head – Retail Banking & Wealth Management at Emirates NBD said: “The Emirates NBD Fitness Account is a truly distinct product that combines our customers’ banking needs with their health and lifestyle goals. We are honoured to be recognised for this successful proposition on an international platform and going forward, will continue to be an early adopter of global technology innovations to offer our customers more such engaging and rewarding products and services.”

Pedro Cardoso, head of Multichannel and CRM at Emirates NBD said: “With the Fitness Account we have taken a very different approach to wearables and combined the features of a lifestyle app with a banking product that turns health into wealth. Offering customers an opportunity to earn higher interest on their balances linked to number of steps they walk or run daily is a great example of the endless opportunities for innovation in modern-day banking to enhance the customer experience.”

More than 200 financial institutions from 61 countries submitted over 460 case studies of innovations to Efma and Accenture within 10 categories: Customer Experience; Digital Marketing; Physical Distribution; Digital Distribution; Payments and Wallets; Salesforce Change Management; Big Data, Analytics and AI; Best New Service or Product; Global Innovator; and Most Disruptive Innovation.

Winners were selected by a combination of votes from a panel of judges comprised of senior retail bankers from around the world and online votes from Efma members and non-members. Three criteria were taken into account when assessing entrants: the originality of the innovation, the impact it is creating on the industry and how adaptable it is for use in other markets and countries. The ceremony was held at the Hilton Hotel in Barcelona, Spain. – TradeArabia News Service