Payroll solutions provider Edenred has today announced its win for the prestigious MEA Finance Award for ‘Best Payment Solution’ in the region.

The MEA Finance Awards honors banking and financial institutions and smartest technology solution providers from across the Middle East and Africa region for their excellence in creating robust financial systems through innovation and digital transformation and its  impact on the industry. The annual awards cover various distinct categories including Retail Banking, Islamic Banking, Commercial Banking, Investment Banking and technology service providers for Mobile Banking Solution, Online Banking Service, Digital Banking Innovation, Cybersecurity Provider for their exceptional products and services, digital readiness, responsiveness to the changing times and to celebrate the innovative business leaders at the helm.

Commenting on the accomplishment, Anouar Bourakkadi Idrissi, CEO, Edenred UAE, said “It is a great honor to be recognized as a leading player in the payment solutions industry with this prestrigious industry award. The fintech market has evolved at a rapid pace and continues to transform and innovate the financial services sector in areas such as payments and digital banking, and this award is a testament of the successfor our endeavours for financial inclusion over many years and for putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.”

The Best Payment Solutions award is bestowed to an institution that offers full-service payment solutions. This includes management of risk for card and bank-based payments, protection from fraud, fund remittance, transaction reconciliation, reporting, and multi-currency services and functionality.

At the onset of the pandemic, Edenred UAE was prompt in launching innovative solutions to support the UAE’s companies with efficient business performance as well as to support the drive towards digital transformation for their blue collar employees and their financial inclusion amid the unprecedented health and economic crises arising from COVID-19. 

Edenred’s online portal allowed companies to efficiently manage the salaries of all their employees in one place and in compliance with the Wage Protection System established by the UAE Central Bank. And the C3Pay, a mobile app linked to a MasterCard, enabled employees, mostly unbanked or underbanked, not only to access essential financial services but to leverage personal wealth with elevated features relevant to their needs. The mobile app featuring real-time balance, record of transactions, immediate money transfers, instant salary advances, SMS subscriptions, mobile recharges, made it easy for the lower income population to manage their finances.

Rise in digital banking transaction also led to a hike in fraudulent attempts to capture cardholder data, Edenred UAE had taken the necessary measures to educate their users and clients on the best practices, and rolled out a 3 fold strategy to enhance this experience –

1.         Enabled multi-language whatsapp support to receive help anytime and in the most convenient way along with an IVR system on the call center which helps them resolve their requests faster

2.         Launched a new user-interface making it easier for cardholders to navigate through the mobile app

3.         Migrated all data to cloud to increase the performance, and to guarantee 99.99% uptime on the mobile app

Operating out of Dubai since 2008, Edenred remains committed to empowering the company by simplifying payroll for businesses and improving the quality of life for employees with smart products. The company has been instrumental in streamlining the payroll services for various industries including Retail, Hospitality, Construction, facilities Management, Manufacturing, etc.