The total net fees and commissions collected by 16 banks during 2019 amounted to about 16.78 billion dirhams, in exchange for services and financing products that banks provide to their clients.

A monitoring conducted by "Emirates Today", based on the financial statements and the initial disclosures announced for 16 of the 18 banks listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, showed that these banks achieved an increase of 11.6% in the net fee and commission income, compared to 2018 About 15 billion dirhams.

Two banking experts said that the increase in fees and commissions is linked to the rise in banking transactions, and the granting of loans and various funds, stressing that banks adhere to the ceiling set by the central bank without interference from them.

They added that banks are trying to find a balance between fees and commissions on the one hand, and interest rates on the other hand, as they are the two main components of operating income.

Fees and commissions

In detail, monitoring for Emirates Today showed that the net fees and commissions collected by 16 banks during 2019 amounted to 16 billion and 789 million dirhams, compared to 15 billion and 46 million dirhams recorded by those banks in 2018, an increase of 11.6%.

According to the financial statements and disclosures, most banks mentioned an explicit item for net fees and commissions, while other banks merely merged them with the “income without interest” clause in their initial brief briefs, such as the United Arab Bank, Bank of Sharjah, and Dubai Commercial Bank.

It was not possible to obtain details of the fees and commissions of the "investment" banks and "Emirates Investment", due to the lack of detailed published data until the completion of the monitoring.

Value and growth

The monitoring showed that Emirates NBD topped the list of banks with the highest collection of fees and commissions in terms of value, at 3.9 billion dirhams, followed by "Abu Dhabi First" with a value of 3.2 billion dirhams, while "Abu Dhabi Commercial" came third after achieving 1.8 billion dirhams.

As for the more developed banks in fees and commissions, compared to 2018, Sharjah Bank came first, which almost doubled its proceeds by 97%, followed by Umm Al Quwain Bank by 62.5%, then Emirates NBD, an increase of 38%.

The monitoring revealed a decline in fees and commissions in five banks, respectively: Commercial International Bank (-25.4%), First Abu Dhabi Bank (-6.6%), Emirates Islamic Bank (-5.9%), and Al Mashreq (-3.4%), then The United Arab (-3%).

And 11 banks achieved positive growth that varied between one and two numbers, the least of which was Dubai Islamic Bank, which recorded a growth in the value of fees and commissions by 0.5%, while Bank of Sharjah recorded a growth of 97%.

Transactions and loans

The banking expert, Awatef Al Harmoodi, said that the increase in fees and commissions is linked to the rise in banking transactions, and the granting of various loans and financing to individuals.

She added that banks adhere to the ceiling set by the central bank, without interference from them, pointing out that the increase means the growth of banking transactions as a first reason.

She pointed out that the second factor is related to granting loans to companies, pointing out that banks have an area in which an increase or decrease in the fees they impose on financing companies and "businesses" moves, as they are not specified by the central bank.

Balance

For his part, the banking expert, Ahmed Youssef, said that, over the past year, banks made various offers that included reducing interest and financing rates, but they compensated him in the fee line as a guarantee of profit.

He added that the banks are trying to find a balance between fees and commissions on the one hand, and interest rates on the other hand, as they are the main components of operating revenues, so we find a reduction in one of these two items offset by an increase in the other, to maintain a steady growth in profits.

5

Banks in which fees and commissions have decreased, including: "Commercial International", "Abu Dhabi First", and "Emirates Islamic".

11

A bank that achieved positive growth varied between one and two numbers, the least of which was “Dubai Islamic” which recorded 0.5% growth.

Emirates NBD leads the list of banks with the highest collection of fees and commissions by value.

Bank of Sharjah doubled its toll fee by 97% in 2019.