National Bonds announces high uptake of regular savings programmes with 40,000 account

National Bonds Corporation, the leading sharia-compliant savings and investments company in the UAE, has announced the success of its strategy to encourage regular savings in the country as evidenced by the rise in the number of regular savers with National Bonds as well as a greater demand to top up existing accounts. 

Latest findings from National Bonds indicated that between March 15 and May 19, some 40,000 account holders with National Bonds increased their savings balance to AED 3,000 and above. Indian expatriates represent the majority of National Bonds' regular saving customers - with more than 10,200 customers increasing their savings in this period, followed by 6,300 UAE national customers. 

Speaking on the numbers Mohammed Qasim Al-Ali, CEO of National Bonds, said, "These results reinforce that our strategic approach in inculcating a regular savings habit among the UAE community is proving effective. As a customer-centric company, our goal is to benefit our bondholders through encouraging them to keep their savings accounts active and enrol for our ‘myPlan' program. Besides inspiring customers to save on a regular basis, myPlan gives them more opportunities to grow their savings by winning specially allocated prizes in monthly and quarterly draws. Our proactive efforts help customers develop a regular savings habit to achieve financial independence." 

Al Ali added: "UAE nationals as well as expats from different nationalities across the spectrum are today increasingly aware of the importance of saving and consequently, are more responsible with regard to achieving their financial well-being. The potential to save ranked high in 2015 on the National Bonds Savings Index - with savings gaining greater significance in people's life across nationalities.

"Among savers in the UAE, the National Bonds Savings Index showed that 52 Western expatriates are keen to increase their savings in 2016 compared to 68 per cent Arab expats and 60% Emiratis. I believe the gap between the will to save and the actual saving behaviour has definitely narrowed. We observed many customers in H1 2016 topping up their savings." 

Al-Ali concluded, " The majority of people surveyed in the UAE believe that their savings are not adequate for their future, while 34 per cent of savers claim to have saved less than planned. I believe this dissatisfaction is a driving force to increase savings on a regular basis. In the last three months, close to 3,000 National Bonds customers have joined the myPlan regular savings programme - the majority of these customers are Asian with men dominating women as regular savers." -