Dubai Islamic Bank, the third-largest Gulf Arab Islamic
lender by market value, has unveiled a new brand identity for its
Johara Ladies Banking service and announced the launch of two new
products targeted at women. It is also expanding its women-only
bank branch network, writes Douglas Blakey.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), established in 1975 as the world’s
first Islamic bank, has rolled out a new brand identity for Johara,
its exclusive banking service tailored to women. The bank has also
introduced a fresh advertising campaign using multiple media
platforms to promote this expanded Sharia-compliant product range,
as it aims to tap into one of the fastest-growing segments of its
local banking market.
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DIB has also announced plans to expand its women-only Johara branch
network during 2008 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well the
launch of two new products for its female customers – an Islamic
credit card and an auto finance product incorporating roadside
assistance and insurance.
“The [new] brand colour integrates extremely well with DIB’s
overall corporate identity. It also reflects various aspects of the
Johara concept, as it is feminine, dynamic, vibrant, Islamic,
modern and contemporary,” said Rana Hindawi, product development
manager for Johara.
According to DIB, the Johara rebranding has been designed to
project a newly energised concept of Ladies Banking, reaching out
to women from across the UAE, including professionals and
housewives.
The feeling of belonging to a club
DIB’s first dedicated Johara branch, staffed wholly by women and
for female customers only, was established in Dubai in 2003. DIB
has sought to position Johara as a brand combining the benefits of
a traditional Islamic banking and financial consultancy with the
feeling of belonging to an exclusive social club. The bank offers
its Johara clients exclusive privileges at a number of hospitals
and health clubs throughout the UAE as well as shopping discounts
at a number of UAE stores. It argues that the women-only branch
concept has been welcomed in the country, as women feel more
comfortable talking to another woman about their financial
affairs.
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By GlobalData“DIB was the first bank to provide unique and distinguished Ladies
Banking services across the UAE. Roughly 65 percent of Johara’s
customer base is composed of UAE national ladies, while 30 percent
are nationals of other Arab countries, and the remaining 5 percent
are of other nationalities,” said the bank’s executive
vice-president, Wassim Saifi, in a statement. “Johara has ambitious
expansion plans for the next year, including the launch of three
new branches to reach eight branches across the country.”
Though Islamic banking still represents only 1 percent of global
banking assets, further substantial growth in the segment is
predicted by the majority of analysts in the short to medium term.
DIB plans to extend its overall branch network to 50 branches
across the UAE by the end of this year.
The bank faces competition from a number of international raiders,
such as Standard Chartered which earlier this year launched Saadiq,
its Islamic banking brand.
According to Hindawi, the rebranding campaign can help
keep DIB in front of its rivals. “Johara’s relaunch signals a new
era for DIB’s ladies banking services that have contributed to
revolutionising the industry by providing a wide range of
innovative Sharia-compliant products,” he said.
Of particular interest to DIB and a number of its rivals is the
scale of the potential market: it has been estimated that $40
billion of personal wealth in the Gulf is owned by women and up to
60 percent of that is currently held in cash.
DIB’s new Johara credit card will launch in a credit card market
more mature than those in most other Middle Eastern countries in
terms of card penetration, acceptance and state-of-the-art
infrastructure. Despite a population of only 4.4 million, the UAE
has 2.4 million credit cards in circulation, giving it one of the
highest card adoption levels in the world. To comply with Sharia
law, the card will operate on a fee-based structure not related to
the outstanding balance or duration of the balance of the
account.
Card marketing across the Middle East has become increasingly
segmented and there have been a number of recent card launches
aimed at specific customer segments. In April this year, Emirates
Islamic Bank, for example, launched the first Visa Infinite card in
the UAE. Standard Chartered introduced its Manhattan credit card
for the young and upwardly mobile and the MasterCard Golf Gold,
MasterCard Cricket, the MasterCard Soccer and the Visa Marathon for
sports enthusiasts. American Express targets its Blue Card at young
professionals in the UAE and offers a co-branded BMW card to elite
customers.
DIB reported a net profit of AED1.9 billion ($517.3 million) for
the first nine months of the year, up 86 percent year-on-year,
though it does not disclose the contribution from its Johara
service.
