From Data to Dollars: Elevating Credit Scores with FAB's Innovative Data Governance

As the Senior Vice President and Head of Data Governance & Data Protection at First Abu Dhabi Bank, (FAB) the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), I have had the privilege of leading a transformative journey to redefine our approach to data management.

Our comprehensive data governance framework, designed to support a large set of customer records, ensures robust scalability and top-tier compliance and security standards. The Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) collects critical customer and credit data from banks across the UAE, and it’s critical that our data is timely, accurate, complete, and consistent.

Here's an inside look at how we're harnessing the power of Informatica's solutions to elevate our data governance to world-class standards, fortifying our data quality, streamlining compliance, and elevating data management to drive informed decisions and innovation across our business.

The financial services industry is experiencing a profound transformation due to technological advancements, regulatory changes, and rising demands for personalized services, leading us to enhance our data management strategies for robustness, agility, and compliance. Our compliance standards include adhering to financial data regulators like the Central Bank of the UAE (UAECB), Data Management Association (DAMA), and the National Data Management Office (NDMO KSA). We must also account for general data regulations like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and UAE CB Federal Law 45.

To stay competitive and compliant, we need to enhance our data strategy to ensure it is agile, resilient, and capable of leveraging the latest technologies. AI and machine learning will be pivotal in our revamped data strategy, enhancing data governance, analytics, and decision-making to drive innovation, improve customer experiences, and maintain market competitiveness.

To achieve this, we’ve crafted a sophisticated ecosystem consisting of core banking systems, data warehouses, data lakes, and cloud services, all seamlessly integrated with Informatica's data integration tools. This technological synergy ensures our data is consistent, accessible, clean, and secure, facilitating real-time processing and deep analytics for informed decisions in risk mitigation, compliance, and credit management.

Our journey, while challenging, has opened avenues for innovation. Choosing Informatica as our partner was pivotal, given their alignment with our strategic and operational goals. Its scalable architecture helps us manage growing data volumes effortlessly, aligning with our IT strategy through both on-premises and cloud solutions, and continuously innovating to address new data challenges.

We extensively use Informatica's data quality tools for accurate, reliable decision-making data through ongoing data cleansing, validation, and profiling, thereby ensuring data integrity. Additionally, advanced features in data lineage and metadata management enhance our governance, allowing us to track data origins, monitor its lifecycle, and meet standards.

Lastly, Informatica's integration with tools like Power BI enhances our capabilities, enabling the creation of dynamic data quality dashboards that provide real-time insights, aid in compliance monitoring, and enable proactive data management. 

We've been hard at work behind the scenes, implementing a robust data governance framework that seamlessly scales across multiple regions and systems. Our AECB Data Quality Score among all the leading banks in the UAE escalated from 84% to a remarkable 99% within 12 months across all the parameters of evaluation including the key data quality dimensions. This achievement is a direct result of our rigorous governance enhancements and steadfast commitment to data integrity. We also elevated our international location data quality score to above 95% on customer data involving Know Your Customer (KYC) and compliance.

Further, we’re using Informatica’s data governance tools, to manage:

• Data assets from 10+ regions and over 50 systems
• Over 100 distinct data sets
• More than 3,000 attributes
• Applied 5,000+ data quality rules.

The introduction of innovative data quality dashboards has revolutionized our approach to data monitoring and management, offering real-time insights that are dynamic and interactive, allowing for key points of focus and targeted response for remediation activities. These advancements in data governance have sharpened our decision-making processes, enhanced compliance, and mitigated risks associated with data mismanagement.

The results speak for themselves:

• 20% reduction in data-related errors thanks to improved data quality
• 30% acceleration in data processing
• 25% decrease in manual effort due to automated workflows

Our customers have reaped the benefits as well, experiencing more personalized services based on reliable and timely data. This shift has not only elevated customer satisfaction but also strengthened their trust in us—a crucial element in the banking industry.

Moreover, enhanced regulatory compliance has led to cost avoidance, while streamlined processes have reduced operational costs and boosted efficiency. Improved data visibility aids in regulatory compliance and more efficient data handling. Finally, business agility and workload management have seen significant enhancements.

FAB is dedicated to continually refining our data strategy by optimizing existing processes and expanding AI capabilities to automate complex workflows, enhance analytics, and swiftly adapt to market dynamics, ensuring our competitive and proactive stance in the industry.

As AI evolves, FAB aims to explore deeper data layers to enhance personalization and risk management and use AI in data governance to uphold high standards across all datasets. Our proactive use of AI extends beyond routine tasks to integrating and synthesizing new data sources, reinforcing our foundation for essential big data solutions in modern banking.

At FAB, our collaboration with Informatica is emblematic of our dedication to excellence in data governance. We're not just responding to changes; we’re anticipating them, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of the banking industry. This proactive approach enables us to provide superior services to our clients and stay ahead in a competitive market. By continuously improving our data governance, we aim to enhance decision-making, drive innovation, and maintain our leadership in the industry.

To learn more about the advantages Informatica brings to banking and financial services, visit informatica.com/financial-services.