Dubai World and Commercial Bank of Dubai enter into partnership

An agreement to this effect was signed on March 9, 2008, at the Dubai World offices between Mr. Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DP World's UAE region, on behalf of Dubai World and in his capacity as the member of board of Dubai Trade, and Mr. Faisal Galadari, General Manager, Business Group at CBD, in the presence of Mr. Mahmood Al Bastaki, Director, Dubai Trade, the innovative service-driven trade and logistics e-hub.

The agreement will facilitate the use of CBD's Direct Debit Services that offer an online payment system for real-time transfer of funds from the customer's account with the bank to the account of Dubai World's ventures including DP World and JAFZA against their respective service fees. This will be served through Dubai Trade's Central e-Payment Gateway to be launched at the Dubai Trade Portal (www.dubaitrade.ae) by the end of this month.

The Direct Debit Services cover all customers of Dubai World and its subsidiaries, who are account holders with CBD.

The various transactions with the group's different business units can be made through this online system using their internet banking credentials, which will save customers' time and efforts considerably.

Under the agreement, the bank will also provide an online payment gateway, allowing customers to use credit cards for payments of fees and services.

Mohammed Al Muallem said that the agreement with Commercial Bank of Dubai will be of great help to the customers. "Dubai World along with CBD is offering online payment services to enhance the satisfaction of our mutual customers. We are always eager to exploit the latest in technology that makes procedures easy and saves time. Our efforts will be continuous to upgrade the operational systems and keep pace with the new technological developments," he said.

Mr. Mahmood Al Bastaki said: "Dubai Trade is fully committed to providing the best possible services to the entire spectrum of trade. This agreement brings us another step closer to transforming the end-to-end trade supply chain and establishing Dubai as the leading trading & logistics hub of the world."

Mr. Faisal Galadari said: "Commercial Bank of Dubai is focused on serving customers with top-of-the-line technology. We realise how much they value time and energy. Online payment services have made transactions easy for all. We are glad to offer the services to Dubai World customers. The partnership will be of great benefit to everyone concerned."

Dubai World, in its efforts to expand its customer-centric services, has recently entered into similar partnerships. The group has signed an agreement with Emirates Bank for its Electronic Debit Services (E-debit) and with the UAE Ministry of Finance to provide E-Dirham services to Dubai World and its subsidiary companies for the collection of service fees. All three agreements collectively cater to Dubai Trade's Central ePayment Gateway, providing customers with a variety of ways for the online payment of fees.