Ajman Bank said its mission is to seek out the market’s best products, people and technology in order to deliver what customers want, how they want it, delivering real value and recreate that human touch which has been lost in modern banking. Headquartered in Ajman and strongly supported by its government, Ajman Bank hopes to be the keystone of the emirate’s economic development strategy, and to benefit from its growth and potential. Ajman Bank said its is committed to become a sustainable organisation in its truest sense, balancing care for the community and employees with the business of delivering value to its shareholders and customers.

Why did you decide to open the branch now?
The process started in 2007, this is simply the next step; the plan was in place before the credit crunch, and we had no reason not to go ahead now. If we decided to delay opening until the economy recovered, who knows how long we would have to wait. Also, we are a public company, and despite all the turmoil this year, we have a responsibility to our shareholders. We have a strong capital base and we are entering the market at a critical stage.

We believe that we are fortunate to have opened at a time when the potential impact of investment decisions is clearer, gaps in the market are apparent and we can work more effectively to protect our current and future clients and shareholders from any negative risk. The events that unfolded in the international financial environment before we started operations afforded us the opportunity to test our strategies to better fit the new economic landscape

Do you plan to venture out of Ajman in the near future?
As we are the only bank that is headquartered in Ajman, naturally our main branch has to be in Ajman – that was an obvious choice, especially as the government owns a 25 per cent stake in the bank.

We will be opening branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah in two to three months. Other branches will follow in the second half of the year, so we should have eight branches open by the end of the year; two in Abu Dhabi, two in Dubai, one in Sharjah and three in Ajman. This is, of course, only the plan for this year. We have an expansion plan beyond that, in which we will open branches throughout the UAE.

Why are you initially focussing on Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
There is a lot of money in those emirates, and a lot of business opportunities. The population is also much larger than some of the other emirates, so we will have more customers.

Would you expand into the other Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries?
For the first few years, we will concentrate on the local market. After a few years, after we have established strong relationships within the UAE, we will look at going overseas.

What advantages does the government’s stake give you?
The government owns a 25 per cent stake in the bank – the whole concept was initiated by the government in 2006. The fact that the government has a major stake means that we have the opportunity to lead banking services in Ajman. This will give us access to all financial services related to the government, including projects and employees. This will help the bank to expand its services in corporate and retail banking.

This year will be tough – how do you plan to operate in the current market conditions?
We will draw upon the knowledge and expertise in the community and use this insight to develop differentiated banking solutions, in compliance with Shari’ah principles. Relationship banking, a central feature of community banking, will also be a core focus for the bank, adding value by encouraging ongoing personal interaction with customers, interactions that improve the flow of information and allow for more customised services.

This year we will be looking to make strategic alliances and partnerships a core part of our development activities. This will cover our shareholders, customers, employees, and all surrounding communities in which we will operate. We want to work with likeminded organisations, to help each other grow, learn and better ourselves for the benefit of the bank, our customers and our shareholders.

Although this is mainly a commercial bank, it is also a full fledged operation, so we offer investment and corporate banking. However, at this time, investment banking will be very difficult, so we will be focussing on retail banking.

We hope to be offering mortgages for residential purposes very soon, to serve the community of Ajman, which we feel is a very safe investment. We are hoping to be able to extend this service to the other emirates as well. However, we have no plans to offer commercial or investment mortgages at the moment.

We have started offering auto and personal finance, and have even entered the credit card business. We are offering the same products offered by other banks, but at a very competitive rate, and we are careful that they are supported by good security.

We are not progressing as aggressively as we would have done a year ago, but we are not facing the same problems as other banks, because we started at a time when we knew what was happening in the market, and we are still very liquid. We have the advantage of a clean balance sheet, so customers can feel safe banking with us.

Ajman bank started its operations unofficially in January. However, we received an unexpected flow of deposits last month despite the fact that there was no official announcement. This reflects a new trend among investors as they are searching for security rather than returns at the current stage due to the financial crisis. We introduced a secure window for their investments because the bank has strong capital and liquidity.

Retail banking does not have the best reputation in the UAE – what will you do differently?
Today, we need retail and corporate customers that do well, save sufficiently and grow steadily, making a closer relationship banking approach favourable to more anonymous transactional banking. From the very beginning, we have wanted to create strong relationships, make our customers feel part of our business and our community banking approach fits perfectly with this.

When we developed the vision for this bank, we wanted to create not just another financial institution, but a place where all customers, from individuals and families to small businesses and large companies could feel secure in the knowledge that their future is being safe guarded by a team that cares.

In the spirit of community banking, we will be developing close ties with local business communities, industry and the chambers of commerce as well as supporting local charities and social needs as part of our CSR programme.

We have also made a unique gesture during the celebratory event by making offers of charitable donations on behalf of all guests in the place of conventional gifts in order to help those in need. The Ajman Bank team, who strongly believe in the power of corporate social responsibility, expect to see these kinds of activities become a regular feature in their strategy and outreach.

Do you have many non-Muslim clients?
This is a bank for everybody. Islamic finance has been very successful and has grown very fast and is now attractive to everyone, regardless of religion. We have been operating for three months and are very pleased with the bank’s progress – we have acquired a variety of customers.

What do you think your biggest challenges will be this year?
The focus this year will be preparation for the years to come; banks will have to focus on risk management rather than making a profit. Although we have not had any problems so far, we still have to be careful; we are looking for longevity rather than profit.

2009 will be a difficult year for all banks, financial institutions and mainly for those people who are involved in the real estate sector. But our focus is on strengthening the retail business, which we believe will contribute somewhere between 25 and 30 per cent to our revenues this year.

2009 is our first year of operation and we have the challenge of generating good returns. We will be satisfied if we can make a small profit, especially in the current climate.