UAE bank market may be crowded, but ‘there’s room to grow’ | The National

UAE bank market may be crowded, but ‘there’s room to grow’ | The National:

"Andy Ripley, the new Dubai-based head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC, answered the following questions posed to him by The National on consumer banking. HSBC entered the UAE market in 1959 when it bought the British Bank of the Middle East

Is the retail banking market in the UAE overcrowded?

I think it is widely recognised that there are a large number of banks in the country, and with over 50 operators in total, we have seen the market grow increasingly competitive over the last few years. This is clearly good news for banking customers but could also lead to consolidation in the industry.

Recently we have seen a few financial services firms selling their retail banking businesses in the country and this is reflective of the degree of competition in the market but also as international banks focus their capital deployment in their home markets. This is also beneficial for the wider industry, as banks are increasingly driven to innovate and improve their services to compete for an increasingly demanding customer base."

'via Blog this'