🐫 Citi (NYSE: C) ➕ Emirates NBD 🟰 first in the Middle East with 24/7 USD clearing service

🐫 Citi (NYSE: C) ➕ Emirates NBD 🟰 first in the Middle East with 24/7 USD clearing service

Emirates NBD is the leading banking group in the MENAT region (Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey 🇹🇷); While Citigroup Inc. is a diversified global financial holding company. Their collaboration will enable banking customers in the UAE 🇦🇪 and Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 to make 24/7 cross-border USD transfers.

➡️ Paradoxically, the main feature of this service is precisely its 24/7 availability, 365 days a year. For instance, banks in Emirates only started operating on Fridays only 2 years ago, and not all of them open. They operate from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (in Saudi Arabia — from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)... probably because it gets too hot later in the day.

➡️ The service is available for both corporate and retail customers.

☝️ Important Note: Islamic banking, in general, has several unique characteristics, as by definition, its activities must comply with Sharia principles. For example, Sharia prohibits receiving interest or predetermined rewards for loans, known as "riba" or "usury" — whether the loan payments were fixed or variable. Investments in companies that provide goods or services contrary to Islamic principles (such as pork production, alcohol manufacturing, gambling, or even a regular lottery) are also considered "sinful and prohibited" (haram). However, setting ideology aside, Islamic banking is attractive because it allows all transaction participants to share both income and risks.

In Russia 🇷🇺, Islamic banking transactions exceeded 1 billion rubles in 2024.

Globally, the total value of all Islamic assets is expected to reach 3.47 trillion USD this year.

#news #Asia #finance