Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced that Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the Middle East, is collaborating with AWS to create a culture of innovation within the bank and is using AWS machine learning (ML) services to build a personalised retail customer banking experience. Emirates NBD will also utilise AWS data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and other advanced technologies as part of its ongoing efforts to better engage with customers and simplify banking.

A front-runner in retail banking innovation, Emirates NBD is working with AWS because of its broad and deep portfolio of cloud services and the increased security and control Emirates NBD can achieve in the cloud,and is continuing to invest in AWS as its preferred provider for machine learning workloads. With AWS, Emirates NBD will take further advantage of AWS artificial intelligence and machine learning services including Amazon SageMaker, a fully managed machine learning service for building, training, and deploying machine learning models to provide relevant real-time banking experiences.

To create a more rewarding and customer-centric banking experience, Emirates NBD is also leveraging Amazon Personalise, an AWS machine learning service that enables the development of individualised recommendations to launch new personalised retail banking applications. One of the first of these applications is a personal finance manager that uses an automated, self-learning system to deliver a highly personalised banking experience to customers in order to predict what each individual customer needs and match this with the most appropriate solution. The system also utilises Natural Language Processing technology so customers can interact with call center automation in a more natural way. To support this work, Emirates NBD is using Amazon Polly, a cloud service that uses advanced deep learning technologies to convert written content into human-like speech, in its automated call center to further enhance customer interactions by delivering lifelike voice banking experiences. As part of Emirates NBD’s journey with AWS, it is also exploring how to better serve customers at bank branches with convenient and secure authentication, leveraging AWS’s image recognition and IoT solutions.

“Our vision is to be the Middle East’s most innovative financial services organisation and to achieve this we have chosen to work with the world’s most innovative technology company, Amazon Web Services,” said Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head - Retail Banking & Wealth Management at Emirates NBD. “Emirates NBD and Amazon share common values of innovation and customer centricity and we look forward to leveraging AWS’s technologies and innovation practices to make banking more easy and intuitive for our customers.”

“Across every industry, companies are starting to meaningfully use machine learning in their businesses, and AWS offers the broadest and deepest portfolio of machine learning services to help them solve some of their biggest challenges. We are excited to see how these technologies are helping transform the financial services industry in the Middle East and around the world,” said Andy Isherwood, Managing Director, Amazon Web Services EMEA. “Emirates NBD is one of the most valued and innovative financial institutions in the Middle East, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they embark on a journey to transform how they serve their retail banking customers and build their organisation into a bank of the future.”