UAE billionaire BR Shetty sets up financial holding company

Dubai - The UAE Exchange, Travelex and Xpress Money have been brought under the new holding company.

The UAE-based billionaire Dr. BR Shetty has created a new holding company, Finablr, bringing all of his global portfolio of financial services brands under this company.
The company has been incorporated in the UK but will be headquartered in the UAE, said Shetty, Founder and Chairman, Finablr.
He said the UAE Exchange, Travelex and Xpress Money have been brought under this holding company. He, however, refused to disclose the size of the company. In 2017, the holding company's subsidiaries recorded $100 billion in transactions - $30 billion in remittances and $70 billion in forex transactions. It handled more than 150 million customer transactions annually.

Employing, more than 18,000 employees, Finablr network brands have in 45 countries and a network reach across 165 countries.

According to Forbes, Dr Shetty's is among the richest non-resident Indians in the UAE with assets of $3 billion. However, his healthcare firm NMC Health will remain a separate entity.

He said Finablr also seeks to drive financial enablement and empowerment by accelerating customer-focused technology innovation through R&D efforts, industry ecosystem engagements, investments and potential acquisitions.

"Finablr is driven by our desire to lead the evolution of the financial services industry to meet the customer demands of tomorrow. Our strength comes from over four decades of trust that we have built with our customers through a track record of innovation and excellence in service. Through investment in research and technology, we will bring forth game-changing products and services across our portfolio of brands, to ensure we maintain our competitive edge. We are inspired by our customers and Finablr will focus on creating an engaged customer community," said Dr. BR Shetty.

Binay Shetty, Executive Director at Finablr, said the company will bring together the strengths across its network brands and investments in digital technologies to build scalable, cost-efficient customer propositions to enable and empower them.

Finablr will also rebrand the non-UAE operations of UAE Exchange as "Unimoni - which stands for "Universal Money."

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com