The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and leading mobile payment provider Luup International have announced plans to provide a mobile money transfer service across the bank’s international network

NBAD  enjoys the largest overseas network of all UAE banks, with 42 overseas units located in nine countries on four continents.

The new service will be a valuable addition to the already popular Arrow mobile payment service provided by NBAD, via Luup’s mobile payment platform. Arrow, the SMS based payment service, allows customers to access their bank accounts via mobile phones to pay, send, and receive money around the clock.

Utilising Luup's mobile payments solutions and NBAD’s powerful  local, regional and international reach, the planned service will offer customers a fast, secure and reliable means of sending money internationally regardless of their mobile phone or network. Initially, the service will be available to NBAD customers but it is planned that it will be offered to a wider audience. 

Luup enables banks, corporate customers, exchange houses and institutions to offer mobile payment processing, mobile payment interfaces and virtual mobile phone accounts.  Luup will use its existing technology and expertise to develop this service for NBAD.

Luup and NBAD expect to announce further details on the initiative later in the year.

“Our market leading Arrow service has already proved to be a great success with customers, who have embraced the speed and convenience of mobile payments.  Adding this service to Arrow will allow our customers to send money to each other, wherever they are, simply by using their mobile phone,” said Ahmed Al-Naqbi, senior manager, channels and electronic banking services at NBAD.

“Working with Luup to deliver mobile payments to our customers has added an exciting new dimension to our business; one that that we believe has huge further potential and we are already working on more products and services for our Arrow customers that we’ll announce as soon as they come online,” Al-Naqbi added.

Morten Hofstad, head of business for Luup in the Mena region, said: “With over 7 billion mobile phones on the globe by 2015 mobile payments will undoubtedly playing a key role in the future of financial services.  NBAD was quick to see the potential of mobile technology and by working with Luup is now is in a great position to capitalise on the benefits that mobile payments offer.  This is an exciting development and we are delighted to continue to work with NBAD to provide innovative solutions for the bank and its customers." - TradeArabia News Service