RAKBANK debuts AI, mentorship programme for businesswomen

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

DUBAI: Ahead of the June 27 “International SME Day” and as the world zealously engages in digitalisation, a 50-year-old homegrown commercial bank has launched a programme that goes beyond the basics of banking services for all greenhorn and veteran businesswomen across the UAE.

Labeled as the “She Means Business,” this originates from a 2025 RAKBANK research it consequently conducted among its over 20,000 small-to-medium enterprising Emirati and expatriate current and prospective clients, including in-house “relationship managers.”

The research revealed that intrinsic to the survival and longevity of freshly-built or up-scaled businesses, is community networking and backing, through which lessons and updates on technological know-how such as in Artificial Intelligence, leadership, pricing, cash flow management, marketing and business growth, would be programed and provided for by way of in-house and out-sourced experts.

RAKBANK associate vice president/Value Propositions Business Banking manager Ayesha Mohammad Obaid Mohammad Al Habbai, said the initiative began from a customer “message” concerned about “connection.”

From the consequent focused group discussions was the call for a “reliable community to meet up and communicate” for all the requirements towards entrepreneurship.

From the press release, those going to activate their accounts by December 10, 2026, would enjoy the “She Means Business” package “free for 12 months, subject to terms and conditions.”

On the sidelines, RAKBANK-Business Banking chief commercial officer Daniele Ashton Coda, said: “There is no minimum loan required because we want to empower all women entrepreneurs from the start-ups to the more experienced or scaled businesses.

They just have to open an account digitally which would be activated within 48 hours. They must be credit worthy from the beginning. Relationship managers would take them through the right journey.”

There was the “fireside chat” on “The Business Behind Passion” with Motion Cycling founder Amelie Hua, Zahra’s Kitchen founder Zahra Abdulla, Babuyu founder Sahar Karaoubi, and Coda. They discussed with Crunchmoms founder Julie Nguyen the foundation and evolution of their respective businesses brought about by their interests, respectively, in health and fitness, food and vlogging, and environmental conservation.

In addition was their respective steering to improve, in spite of challenges such as in funding and financing, product development, branding, marketing and sustainability.

“It is really about creating an ecosystem of belonging, connection, of a community supporting SMEs. The war happened. We have two choices, either to swim or to drown. I decided to swim. Silver lining, you lean to the community. You give back because we will come back. Today, we are in difficult times. I am a UAE homegrown company. The residents are my family. We are in these times where everybody is doing their part to survive. If I can do my part to support families who are getting pay cuts or losing their jobs; we need to make sure that our community is supported. In turn I am getting supported by just getting my sales,” contributed Abdulla.

Crunchmoms, a multi-ethnic network of career women-housewives-mothers-turned-entrepreneurs set up in 2021, already had a round of seminar on “cash flow and working capital management a few weeks ago," according to RAKBANK managing director/Business Banking Group head Vishal Shah.

To the Gulf Today enquiry on the possibility of other expatriate women’s engagement, Al Habbai replied: “We are open to collaborate with more partners and build this ecosystem and provide the needs of our customers.”

Al Habbai has met up with “many” Southeast Asian entrepreneurs in the course of her career: “They are in designing and sport. They have been doing a lot and a lot of stories to tell.”

On the required community support, RAKBANK Group chief executive officer Raheel Ahmed said: “Today, we have to look at the bank’s role beyond banking into a partnership and being trusted advisor. If you look at research, while women open a number of businesses in most places in the world, as men do, women are at 47 per cent more likely to close down businesses for personal reasons. It is about work-life balance and competing priorities. It is a global problem. It does not mean that women are not ambitious. They are opening as many businesses as men.”