Deals of the Week: Mashreq centre to help entrepreneurs

Mashreq Bank now has a dedicated SME staff that will be able to advise clients on business issues.

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Running a small business in the UAE can be hard work for any budding entrepreneur which is why Mashreq bank has launched a dedicated contact centre for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to ease the burden.

Mashreq, one of the UAE's leading financial institutions, says the centre will act as a single point of contact for all SMEs with customer service queries handling issues such as account maintenance, updating trade licences, chequebook issuance and inward and outward remittances. The SME-dedicated staff will also be able to advise clients on trade-related services such as factoring and cash management products.

The new centre comes on the back of Mashreq's recent launch of its Majestic SME Finance product offering flexible business loans and trade finance, highlighting the bank's commitment to supporting SME owners.

For more information, contact Mashreq SME call centre on 04 4244763

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Fancy winning one of 10 brand new Mazda 3 models or a lump sum of cash? Then head along to your nearest Al Ansari Exchange.

The UAE's largest exchange house network has just launched its winter promotion, which will see 100 winners walk away with a share of Dh1 million in cash or a brand-new car. To be in with a chance, simply pop along to any of Al Ansari Exchange's 100 branches, carry out a transaction and you will automatically be entered into the electronic raffle. Any customers purchasing National Bonds or making Cash Express transactions will be entitled to two raffle entries.

The lucky winners will be picked from a draw on January 8 next year.

For more information log onto www.alansariuae.com

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Leading local and international banks across the UAE have welcomed the imminent introduction of the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) in the UAE.

Mashreq, Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates NBD, Citibank and Union National Bank UNB) have all lauded the new system which they say is a safer, easier and faster way to carry out electronic transactions.

"IBAN has proven to be an effective method to minimise the risk of transfer errors and reduce payment delays at both sending and receiving banks," says Atiq Ur Rehman, chief executive, Middle East & Pakistan, Citibank. "With IBAN, the UAE is maintaining its record of applying global standards in fund transfer security."

IBAN, which will come into effect in the UAE on November 19, will be the single standard for identifying all bank accounts in the UAE. It has already been adopted by more than 50 countries worldwide and the Central Bank's current system for domestic transactions and salary payments will be revamped to enable the full adoption of IBAN by the second quarter of 2012.