The CBQ Mobile App is now offering over 120 services. The app has also addressed the concerns around data privacy and security, by integrating a fraud management system with it. The app has been consistently ranked as Qatar’s number one financial app in both Apple and Android App stores, apart from being recognized as Qatar’s ‘Best Mobile App’ by various awarding bodies.

International Finance caught up with Shahnawaz Rashid, EGM and Head of Retail Banking of the CBQ, who spoke in detail about the CBQ Mobile App’s features, apart from giving out details about the other initiatives undertaken by his company on the digital space.

Q) The Commercial Bank won the International Finance Award for the ‘Best Mobile Banking Application-Qatar’. How do you feel about receiving this recognition?

A) Winning the International Finance Award for ‘Best Mobile Banking Application-Qatar’ is an incredible honour for Commercial Bank. We are thrilled to be recognized for our commitment to delivering a superior mobile banking experience for our customers. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, who continuously strive to provide innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. We are proud to have developed a mobile banking application that enables our customers to access a wide range of services. We will continue to invest in technology and innovation to maintain our position as a leader in the digital banking space and to deliver the best possible experience for our customers.

Q) Recently your esteemed organization revamped the CBQ Mobile App. Tell us about the app and its new features.

A) We redeveloped our digital platform using the Google Flutter platform providing a fresh interface, which provides intuitive flows, making it easier for customers to navigate and access various services. Our digital platform also has personalized features for our customers, which will cater to individual user preferences such as customizable dashboards, font management, etc. Many new services have been added and our current CBQ Mobile App offers more than 120 services allowing customers to meet their banking needs from the comfort of their own spaces. With growing concerns about data privacy and security, aside from the standard security enhancements, we have integrated a fraud management system that protects our customers from fraudulent activities.

Q) CBQ Mobile App has been consistently ranked as Qatar’s number one financial app in both Apple and Android App stores and has been recognized as Qatar’s ‘Best Mobile App’ by various awarding bodies. What’s your take on it?

A) The popularity of our CBQ Mobile App among our valued customers is a testament to their satisfaction, and we are grateful for their ongoing feedback, which has enabled us to create an app they truly adore.

The seamless and user-friendly experience offered by the modern and visually appealing CBQ Mobile App is a direct outcome of our constant efforts in re-engineering our backend processes and enhancing our behind-the-scenes banking systems.

Q) CBQ Mobile App provides over 120 services for your organisation’s customers. Enlighten us about some of these financial products and solutions.

A) In Qatar and throughout the Gulf Region, we have introduced numerous pioneering products and garnered multiple awards. Our flagship offering, the 60-second remittance proposition, has been honoured as the ‘Best Remittance Product in the Middle East,’ delivering rapid beneficiary account credits within 60 seconds. Furthermore, we have expanded our faster remittance services to over 40 countries, with beneficiary credits ranging from 60 seconds to one day. In addition to these achievements, we offer a wide array of card-related services, including instant card creation, activation, PIN changes, limit increases, and In-App digitization for Apple Pay, Android, Google Pay, and many other features.

Q) Commercial Bank is the first bank in the region to implement the award-winning CBsafe ID. Tell us more details about this.

A) This is a unique feature not offered by any bank in the world. In order to safeguard our customers’ personal and financial data from potential scammers seeking to deceive and exploit them, we have devised a ground-breaking concept that empowers our customers to verify the legitimacy of individuals claiming to represent our bank when they contact them.

Upon receiving a phone call from Commercial Bank, customers will be presented with a dynamic 6-digit CBsafe ID number on their CBQ Mobile App. By requesting the caller to verify the number displayed on their CBQ Mobile App, customers can ensure the caller’s authenticity when the number provided by the caller matches the one shown on the CBQ Mobile App. Customers can proceed with the conversation confidently, assured of the caller’s legitimacy.

Q) Your esteemed Bank has also become the banking leader in the State of Qatar when it comes to sending remittances to other countries. What are the benefits provided by the Commercial Bank to its customers, when it comes to sending remittances?

A) Through our distinctive and leading-edge 60-second remittance service, customers can effortlessly send funds, ensuring that their beneficiaries receive the money within 60 seconds. Our service caters to a wide range of transfer options, including bank account credits, cash pickups, and wallet transfers. It’s worth mentioning that only a handful of banks in this region offer such a seamless experience, and we take great pride in being the pioneers in this field. Currently, we facilitate faster remittances to over 40 countries, thanks to our fruitful collaborations with partner banks and fintech companies across the globe.

Q) Among the many firsts achieved by Commercial Bank is a dedicated Merchant App that accepts Mobile and QR code payments. Can you please tell our readers about some of the features of this Merchant App?

A) In this region, we stand alone as the sole bank providing a specialized mobile app exclusively designed for our merchants, known as “CB PAY for Merchants.” This app simplifies the process of collecting payments by allowing merchants to accept payments through customers’ mobile numbers and QR codes. Merchants have the convenience of initiating payment requests to any customer’s mobile number, and our valued Commercial Bank customers can effortlessly complete the payment using our trusted ‘CBQ Mobile App’. Meanwhile, customers who do not bank with us can conveniently make payments by utilizing the ‘CB Pay link’ sent to them.

Q) Commercial Bank is coming up with the Digital Wallet. What are the key features?

A) Indeed, we have exciting plans to unveil new features for our Digital Wallet in the near future. Stay tuned for updates and announcements.

Q) Your reputed bank has also come up with a ‘CB Household Worker PayCard’. Tell us about this digital resolution.

A) ‘The ‘CB Household Worker PayCard’ presents an exclusive digital solution designed specifically to streamline the management of salaries and remittances for household workers. With the convenience of the CBQ Mobile App, employers can digitally apply for this card and create a PayCard account for all their household workers. This service enables the seamless crediting of monthly salaries, and if necessary, facilitates the setup of remittances on behalf of domestic workers to their beneficiaries residing in overseas countries.

Q) Commercial Bank has continued to dominate Qatar’s innovative digital banking spaces. Enlighten us about the achievements earned by your esteemed organisation, when it comes to online banking.

A) Majority of our customers, more than 95%, have registered for our digital channels, and they actively use our app with over 4 million logins per month. This highlights the importance of our digital channels in meeting their everyday banking needs, showing how much they rely on them.

The post CBQ will continue to invest in technology & innovation: Shahnawaz Rashid appeared first on International Finance.

Adalo, whose easy-to-use interface lets app creators drag and drop simple blocks to create their dream application without a single line of code, recently got USD 8 million worth of funding, an initiative which was led by renowned Venture Capital company Tiger Global.

What does Adalo do?

‘Build custom responsive apps & publish anywhere — no coding required’, states Adalo on its website. The venture allows freelancers and business founders to build and publish custom responsive apps for the web and mobile devices.

Custom fonts, colour palettes, icons, logos, name any feature which enhances the website quality and helps the venture’s brand value to stand head and shoulder above its competitors, Adalo has all the answers.

For start-ups, freelancing and personal apps, Adalo has tailor-made solutions for everyone. The clients can get their digital presence further strengthened by adding features like marketplace payments, multi-sided apps, and profiles, all through Adalo.

Adalo clients can even build their online communities with features like chat, picture-sharing, and the ability to follow and like community posts. While developing their official websites through Adalo, businesses can enhance the customer experiences by adding facilities like appointment settings, reminders and easy payment options. These ventures can even develop internal operational tools.

In short, Adalo is the one-stop solution, when it comes to developing a website which will give a business the desired brand value and edge over its competitors.

And yes, you can get your app featured on Adalo, by filling out an online form. Adalo even rewards apps with the ‘App of the Month’ crown, thus helping the clients to get the much-needed business reach and networking on the online domain.

For customizing the apps with branding and designing suitable for business/personal purposes, Adalo has a scalable and powerful no-code backend in the form of Xano.

Xano can store and signup users, perform actions on a schedule, make API calls, and perform code functions, apart from allowing databases to be scaled based on need, location, and compliance.

Xano allows the Adalo users to periodically update records in a collection, sign-up and log-in users to the apps, save on action usage by stacking API calls into a single response, send scheduled or recurring notifications, perform complex math or transform text directly in the database, and last but not the least, create, update, or delete records in bulk.

Adalo also provides flexible monthly and annual billing models for publishing and running apps. It ranges from free to Starter (USD 45 per month for founders and first-time entrepreneurs), Professional (Monthly USD 65 for small and medium businesses), Team (Monthly USD 200 for freelancers and agencies) and Business (Monthly USD 250 for big businesses).

Adalo also has a team of designers & builders, who can pitch in, in terms of app building. All the client needs to do is to fill out Adalo’s ‘Experts Form’, with his/her project details, deadline, budget, and requested features. Adalo will review the project details and match the client with an expert who will fit the customer’s needs, in terms of building the app from scratch.

Customised Products, Components & Solutions

Creating apps on Adalo is very easy. First, you need to drag and drop reusable building blocks to create your app’s interface. Then you need to link the pages of your app together to bring the product to life. Then the project can be moved from the prototype phase to the live online one with simple database spreadsheets.

Adalo also has its own ‘Component Marketplace’ and ‘App Templates’, using which one can browse the community-created templates to begin his/her app-making journey. Also, the client’s demo templates can be reviewed by Adalo’s experts, before the projects go online.

For large businesses, Adalo provides an environment, where these ventures can create their websites as per the operational requirements. All they need to do is connect their apps to their existing workflows and expand functionality with thousands of integrations with a few clicks. Adalo will also provide its expertise to help the concerned client throughout the process.

Adalo’s ‘No-Code’ tools help big businesses to design, build, and publish apps on quick notice. Be it reaching out to new customers, improving customer engagement, building a website with payment gateways and initiating customer loyalty programmes, name any crucial function for making a company’s business lucrative, Adalo has answers for it.

Also, through Adalo’s help, these businesses can build and manage their own backend data source to house the information, a function that’s important for these businesses.

Adalo Experts Program For Freelancers, Agencies & Start-ups

To avail of the above service, the client needs to submit an Adalo Experts program application form highlighting his/her no-code experience. After the review of the application, the individual will receive an email with next steps. Adalo will then pair the client with individuals/entities, as the latter will collaborate on the website development process.

The start-ups can enjoy Adalo’s drag-and-drop editor or work with an Adalo Expert to build their customised website. From self-guided tutorials in the Adalo App Academy to end-to-end design, development, and maintenance with an Adalo Expert, the start-up is there to help its peers to register quick business growth.

Connecting the start-up’s app with third-party tools and services, getting it launched on a custom web domain, and helping the app to grow its engagement through targeted push notifications, and in-app messaging, Adalo guides its client to overcome all these business barriers.

Apart from providing guidance throughout the design and development stage and periodic coaching on product maintenance, Adalo also provides over 70 courses on various aspects of app building.

Conclusion

Developing a website or mobile app is no child’s play. Companies take months and years, when it comes to firming up their ‘dream’ presence on the digital space. The process is both time and cost-consuming (add the developer fees as well), something which the big businesses can afford, but not the small ventures, start-ups and freelance professionals.

Adalo has emerged as a viable and cost-effective option on this front. The prospective clients will get their tailor-made mobile app and business websites on very short notice of time, without compromising on the quality front. Expect Adalo to gain more from the uncertain business environment of 2023, where companies are in the mood of acquiring cost-effective solutions for their business challenges.

Image Credits: Adalo

The post Start-up of the Week: Looking for cost-effective app developing options? Adalo is what you need appeared first on International Finance.