Mashreq wins two accolades at Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025

The bank emerged as the recipient of the SME Bank of the Year - UAE and SME Digital Innovation of the Year - UAE categories.

Mashreq was honoured at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025 for its initiatives in enhancing and redefining small and medium enterprises (SME) banking with tailored solutions and digital-first innovation.

Tailored solutions

Mashreq, one of the UAE’s leading financial institutions, delivers high-touch Relationship Manager (RM)-led services and digital-first solutions designed for the modern business landscape.

Considering that SMEs form the backbone of the UAE economy, it is unfortunate that nearly two-thirds of them cite access to banking as a major barrier. Mashreq changed that by going away with the traditional account opening that can take over 90 days, and offering two distinct pathways that support businesses of every size.

For more complex businesses, Mashreq provides a dedicated team of expert Relationship Managers, supported by specialists in trade finance, foreign exchange, and credit risk. These experts offer customised solutions and deep sector insights to help businesses grow with confidence.

For new and digitally savvy entrepreneurs, meanwhile, NEO BIZ delivers a fully digital onboarding experience. Business owners can open a business account in just 20 minutes, with turnaround time cut from 60 days to just 3 days. 

Mashreq has also introduced a diverse range of SME lending products to suit every business need, including working capital loans, property-backed loans, trade finance, merchant loans backed by card receivables, lease rental discounting, and conventional and Islamic financing options.

Backed by Mashreq’s presence in 26 countries and strong trade corridors in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, businesses also gain access to market-leading trade finance and competitively priced digital FX solutions. In 2024, Mashreq enhanced its SME offerings with an expanded RM Network. A larger, more accessible Relationship Manager network now provides businesses with expert, one-on-one guidance tailored to their sector and scale.

The company also marked a digital transformation with the revamped Mashreq Biz platform. After this innovation, SMEs have been able to manage their finances anytime and anywhere.

NEO BIZ

Mashreq’s NEO BIZ, which won the SME Digital Innovation of the Year - UAE, is designed to eliminate long-standing barriers to banking by enabling entrepreneurs to open and manage their business accounts without ever stepping into a branch.

Launched in 2019, NEO BIZ was the first solution in the UAE to offer end-to-end digital onboarding for SMEs. It leverages advanced technologies like facial recognition, robotic process automation, and AI-powered workflows to provide secure and remote identity verification and seamless onboarding.

Business owners now need to submit just four key documents and complete 27 simple fields to open an account.

NEO BIZ caters to the fast-paced lifestyle of today’s entrepreneurs, with fully digital onboarding for sole proprietors, partnerships, and SMEs; transparent, tiered pricing packages that meet diverse business needs; 24/7 mobile access to banking services; instant approvals and real-time status tracking; and e-KYC processes that are simple, secure, and fully compliant. 

Powered by the award-winning Mashreq Biz platform, customers gain access to a customisable dashboard that consolidates payments, FX, trade finance, and account services. It also features real-time approvals and straight-through processing for faster operations. A built-in chatbot assistant, Emma, and an expert SME support team are included as well in the platform. 

To further empower business growth, Mashreq launched an expanded Value-Added Services (VAS) platform in 2024, in partnership with Nuclei. This marketplace offers over 40 essential business tools across HR, finance, cloud computing, CRM, and more at exclusive discounted rates.

Clients can now manage software subscriptions centrally through the Mashreq Biz app, helping SMEs boost productivity, reduce costs, and focus on growth.

Since its launch, nearly 50,000 businesses have onboarded digitally via NEO BIZ. These numbers have given Mashreq a 10% market share for this product segment and a 20% overall share of the UAE SME market.

Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards recognises the outstanding entities in the retail banking landscape, and serves as a platform to highlight their innovative solutions, retail products, digital banking breakthroughs, and exceptional customer experiences.

The ABF Retail Banking Awards is presented by Asian Banking & Finance Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be recognised for your company's cutting-edge products, services, and solutions that made a positive impact on your customers, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at [email protected].