Wio Bank, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development partner to supports SMEs

Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and Wio Bank will work together to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) manage their finances, payments, and overall business operations.

This partnership will help fast-track the account opening process and deliver fast and seamless banking services via Wio Business, the business banking application from Wio Bank.

Wio Bank will help set up corporate accounts for SMEs licensed by ADDED in less than 48 hours, and provide an up-to-date view of their financials – enabling them to make more informed business and investment decisions quickly, the state news agency WAM reported.

As part of the agreement, Wio Bank will also work closely with the Abu Dhabi Residents Office, Abu Dhabi SME Hub, and TAMM, Abu Dhabi Government Services, to extend banking and business services, including fully digital onboarding and simplified banking solutions, to SMEs registered with them – thereby boosting and enhancing the SME ecosystem in Abu Dhabi.

Mouza Al Nasri, executive director of SMEs Sector at ADDED, said, “Partnerships with leading firms and entities in different sectors is part of our efforts to empower SMEs to benefit from ample opportunities provided by Abu Dhabi’s robust, resilient, and business-friendly ecosystem to expand and contribute positively to sustainable development.

“SMEs are one of the vital sectors in Abu Dhabi’s economy, contributing 36 per cent of non-oil GDP and employing 46 per cent of the private sector’s workforce. We believe providing convenient and advanced financial and banking services to SMEs will support in enhancing the entrepreneurship ecosystem.”

Wio Bank is building strong partnerships in the region

Jayesh Patel, CEO of Wio Bank, added, “We are pleased to partner with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and other related entities to help build a thriving SME ecosystem in Abu Dhabi. At Wio, we have made it our priority to reimagine banking for the SME sector and seamlessly integrate the services that they need the most.

“This collaboration is a great example of how we are leveraging Wio’s advanced technology to reach more SMEs and bring our easy, enabling, and efficient business banking solutions to them to support their growth and be part of their journey through innovative solutions.”

Wio Business, the first banking application from Wio Bank, provides startups, freelancers, and SMEs access to banking services by providing simplified and fully digital business account opening, personalised options for banking services, supplementary services, and easy-to-use banking tools to support SMEs with better business management.

In March, ADQ-backed Wio Bank also joined hands with Paymentology, an issuer-processor, to enhance the neobank’s innovative banking model with customer-centric card payment services.

Read: ADQ-backed Wio Bank, Paymentology partner to enhance SME banking

The neobank is leveraging Paymentology’s in-cloud payment card issuing platform and data analytics capabilities to launch financial products fast and at scale as it empowers businesses and consumers with the latest digital banking solutions.

Paymentology delivers a real-time data feed that provides granular customer spending insights to help Wio Bank continually improve its proposition. The company facilitates a wide range of card services for Wio Business including Visa debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and card personalisation services.

The neobank partnered with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in November 2022 to bolster collective efforts to support SMEs in the UAE to gain access to key banking services quickly and efficiently.

The partnership between Wio and ADGM offers SMEs in the UAE an opportunity to open a zero-balance account instantly with a free debit card and cheque book, virtual debit cards and invoicing features.

Wio Bank partnered with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, to allow SMEs to access the power of e-commerce faster and more conveniently. Through this partnership, Wio Business will empower SMEs and freelancers who previously struggled to access payment products to enter e-commerce faster with an easy-to-create Stripe account.

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— Wio (@WioBank) April 14, 2023