emkan finance

Growing with an expanding market

With the Kingdom’s fast-growing microfinance market expected to cross USD 1 Bn. in the next few years, Emkan Finance, Al Rajhi Bank’s recently established wholly digital microcredit arm, recorded a promising 27% growth year-on-year in 2022, powered by investments in tech infrastructure and recruiting top talent.

The reporting period saw Emkan Finance diversify its solutions portfolio by venturing into retail and merchant financing in line with its microfinancing offering, while also providing digitised auto leasing and credit card solutions to its growing customer base. To better service and assist merchant partners, Emkan established servicing booths at select Merchant branches, with 20 booths set-up across the Kingdom by the end of the reporting period.

In a crowning achievement in 2022, Emkan’s award-winning mobile app retained its number one position across all fintech and digital financing mobile applications, and remained one of the top five apps launched by a banking or financial service provider in the Kingdom during the reporting period.

The subsidiary was rewarded for its accomplishments in the reporting period when it was recognised by International Business Magazine as the Best Digital Finance Company in Saudi Arabia in 2022. Global Business Outlook recognised Emkan Finance as the Best Digital Financial Service Provider of the year, further strengthening its position as a market leader.

Emkan’s customer centricity was also recognised as it was awarded Best Customer Experience Transformation at the BFSI Awards 2022 by Customer Experience Live, the digital customer experience insights and research agency that primarily covers the UK and MEA regions.

Attracting the right talent

To overcome challenges in hiring niche technical talent, the subsidiary embarked on a recruitment drive in 2022 targeting fresh graduates. Emkan’s HR department together with its talent management team invested in hiring graduates, equipping them with best-in-class training and certifications that would enable them to expand their technical capacities and explore job rotation opportunities within the IT, digital and information security departments.

Upgrading technology infrastructure to offer unrivalled financing solutions

A number of technology infrastructure and system upgrades were carried out at Emkan during the reporting period to support business growth. These included the introduction of a new, more functionally rich core banking software solution, enhanced integration between multiple financing products and platforms, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for optimal performance, as well as more streamlined and automated customer servicing for an enhanced customer experience. A payment gateway was introduced to further strengthen the offering, allowing customers to pay their monthly instalments via the Saudi payment network Mada or by Visa card. Yet another highlight on the technology and infrastructure front was the successful implementation of a comprehensive Disaster Recovery (DR) system at Emkan during the year under review.