Dubai to become global metaverse leader

Dubai will aim to achieve a five-fold growth of the number of metaverse and blockchain companies within its borders, as well as add 40,000 jobs and $4bn to its economy over the next five years.

Emirates NBD, Dubai's biggest lender by assets, has joined forces with Dubai International Financial Centre’s FinTech Hive and the US technology company Microsoft to launch a 10-week global accelerator program for metaverse start-ups.

The program aims to transform the future of banking and improve customer experience in the digital economy. 

It positions the bank as a “leader in the next phase of banking innovation in alignment with the Dubai Metaverse Strategy”, which aims to make the emirate one of the world's top 10 metaverse economies, supporting more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030 and adding $4 billion to Dubai’s economy in five years.

About 88 per cent of consumers in the UAE have used at least one emerging payment method in the past year as the move towards a digital economy accelerates, a report released earlier this month said.

Nearly 40 per cent of UAE residents use a smartphone mobile wallet, 29 per cent use buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, 20 per cent use cryptocurrency and 18 per cent use a payment-enabled wearable tech device, MasterCard’s New Payments Index 2022 found.

With about 94 per cent of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside the branches, Emirates NBD said it is exploring new technologies to expand its digital footprint and create immersive experiences.

It is working to build its expertise across three key areas, building the technology stack to enable the shift to 3D, creating virtual worlds to augment the customer experience and enabling a decentralized payment infrastructure for customers to create, monetize, buy and sell digital assets and services.

Under the new accelerator program, the DIFC FinTech Hive will evaluate and match Emirates NBD with start-ups offering products on the value creation, experience and technology stack required for the metaverse.

The accelerator program will culminate in a demo day at Gulf Information Technology Exhibition in Dubai, where shortlisted participants will pitch their ideas to create engaging experiences for the bank’s customers.