The United Bank of Egypt, which is 99.9 % owned by the Central Bank of Egypt, has decided to expand in GCC countries to meet the needs of its client base.
"The bank is seeking to expand in GCC countries through joining alliances with GCC lenders and exchanging customer services to offset the lack of independent branches in those territories," said Mohammad Ashmawi, the banks chairman.
The chairman said that Saudi AlBilad Bank, Al Rajhi Bank and Qatar's AlFaradan Bank were picked to form an alliance, noting that United Bank 's clients would have access to services of the three banks through this alliance and would equally be reciprocated to the clientele of the three banks with full access to United Bank's services.
" United Bank is planning a capital increase of $83 billion (approx. EGP 540 million) to recoup losses incurred recently," said Ashmawi.
"The banks move towards regional expansion via opening new branches, representation offices or through alliances with other banks aims at expanding the bank's client base, in addition to other new services for clients outside Egypt, through services such as money transfer," said Ezzat Abdullah professor of economics and Islamic banks and an ex-regional director at the National Bank for Development (NBD), adding that this step would attract savings and foreign currency.
