Commercial Bank of Dubai Says 95% of Customers Now Bank Through Digital Channels

Dhiraj Kunwar, the bank's general manager for retail and business banking, gave the figures to the state news agency WAM on the sidelines of the Dubai FinTech Summit, part of Dubai Future Finance Week. He said the bank was continuing to invest in AI and digital transformation through 2026 as central parts of its long-term strategy, and had trained about 1,300 employees in AI.

Kunwar said the bank was moving beyond AI tools used to raise staff productivity towards more advanced systems, including a technology it calls Merlin and agentic AI, software that can carry out tasks with some autonomy. He said human oversight and governance would remain in place as those systems are introduced into banking operations.

The focus this year, he said, is on turning spending on innovation into measurable results such as higher productivity, better service quality and an improved customer experience. He declined to give the size of the investment, saying such details are subject to the bank's official financial disclosures.

For 2027, Kunwar said the bank aims to offer more personalised and proactive services built on AI and open finance, and plans to widen its use of agentic AI to speed up transactions and decisions while freeing staff for advisory work and more complex customer needs. He said new services and launch dates would be announced through the bank's official channels once approved.

On small and medium-sized businesses, Kunwar pointed to UP by CBD, the bank's digital platform for business banking, which simplifies account opening and links to the UAE Pass digital identity, the Dubai Unified Licence and the Dubai Founders HQ entrepreneur hub.

The bank did not say when its first agentic AI services would reach customers.