The merger between Emirates Bank and the National Bank of Dubai was one of the largest ever in the Middle East. In a exclusive interview, Emirates NBD speaks for the first time about the challenges and successes merging the IT systems of the banks.

When the official news agency of the UAE announced that Emirates Bank and the National Bank of Dubai were to merge, the news took not just consumers, but the Central Bank, Dubai Stock Market, the media, and even the public relations departments of each bank by surprise.

Sources within the establishment, as well as the two banks confirmed to Arabian Computer News’ sister title Arabian Business that the deal had been agreed with the blessing of the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum “at the wish of the banks to create a strong banking body”. The merger created the largest financial institution in the region, leapfrogging the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in terms of assets.

However, while the media and analysts debated the impact of the merger – not just at a local level, but also an international level – the IT departments of the two banks were meeting to work out how to manage the mammoth task of integrating the systems. “No matter what you do with the business units, unless you can merge the IT systems, you cannot have two banks operate as one.” As an anecdote, it vividly explains the headache that faced Naushad Kermalli, who at the time had recently been chosen to lead the integration of the two banks’ IT systems as senior vice president, business technology relations and IT post merger management. Kermalli, who these days is the deputy general manager of ITO strategy (planning and implementation) and group operations processing, doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to the scale of the issue, especially as it was him and his team that drove forward the idea of not just merging the two banks’ IT systems at the same time as the general merger, but overhauling the core banking systems – essentially the heart of the new bank’s IT operations. “Some people thought: are you crazy!?” he reveals. “The merger itself was complex enough – why should we, in addition to that, undertake a core banking replacement?, they would ask.”