Lulu International Exchange, a division of EMKE Group, and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) have launched the first co-branded payroll card in the UAE.

Launching My Card is part of Lulu’s expansion plans and NBAD’s strategy to strengthen and expand its Ratibi payroll card services, a statement said.

Issued on NBAD’s Ratibi system, My Card is 100 per cent compliant with the UAE Government’s Wages Protection System (WPS) guidelines, which seeks to protect employees by providing the Government a mechanism to track salary payments.

My Card offer employers an efficient means to pay their workers, who in turn would access the funds with the co-branded NBAD Ratibi card.

The programme incorporates into the banking system a segment of the population who otherwise would not have access to any banking services at all. Since the programme operates on the MasterCard network, Ratibi cardholders can use the card at all MasterCard-enabled ATMs and merchants throughout the world.

NBAD Ratibi was designed to replace salary payments of cheques and cash. It is a multifunctional card that has no minimum balance or annual fees, but serves as a virtual bank account.

NBAD has over 400,000 Ratibi cardholders employed with over 2,400 companies in UAE.  Ratibi gives the cardholder the flexibility of making cash withdrawals and access to a variety of electronic banking solutions including cash withdrawals through ATMs worldwide, and point-of-sale transactions for purchases at millions of merchants across the globe, according to the statement.

The cards can also be used for the NBAD Arrow service to remit money back to their loved ones in their home countries.

“We see great potential in the WPS market and are delighted to partner with NBAD in launching this unique facility. I am sure the huge ‘brand equity’ and expertise of Lulu and NBAD will definitely help us in achieving our goals,” said Yusuff Ali M A, the chairman of EMKE Group.

Suvo Sarkar, general manager of consumer & elite banking at NBAD, said: “Partnering with a strong retailer like Lulu to launch a co-branded variant of our superior payroll card will take the NBAD Ratibi programme into the next stage and will allow us to enroll more employers to use this convenient paperless system.”

“We expect tens of thousands of corporate employees to be issued My Card in the very first year,” he added.

Adeeb Ahamed, CEO of Lulu International Exchange, said: “The unique features of My Card will not only be a big hit with employers and management but also bring in more easiness for the end users. It will be our continuous endeavor to keep adding more innovative features to My Card.'

“We have invested significant capital into building our Ratibi system because NBAD believes that electronic and card payments have great opportunities in the future,” said Ahmed Al Naqbi, senior manager of channels & electronic banking services at NBAD.

“Added to this, the WPS system and the NBAD Ratibi platform are great vehicles to matriculate a large unbanked population into the banking system,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service