Literature Review - Credit Card Issues in the First Gulf Bank (FGB)
In my research paper, I focus on the retail banking industry. Namely, I research credit card issues in the First Gulf Bank (FGB). This is one of the largest banks by assets in the United Arab Emirates, with headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Established in 1979, it has now become the most profitable bank in the region. At present, FGB provides a wide range of financial services in the wholesale, consumer and treasury banking. In the course of my research I address the issues concerning the bank practices of luring the clients by pretending to offer them great deals. There are a lot of cases reported, when clients are assured by the bank they will not face any problems, but then they appear to be exposed to huge potential financial losses. The customer service employees in the bank try to reach their target by all means and do not take into consideration the clients’ interests.
Sometimes clients even claim that they have been lied to that they will not have to pay interest for the first several months, if they purchase a credit card right now, but then they have been charged interest without knowing instead. There are, as well, a number of other credit card issues in the field of my interest. In this research paper I investigate whether such bank practices are considered legal and search for any laws and regulations regarding this issue. I also try to find out if such bank policy create a potential threat to UAE economy and how this issue influences the bank. In the course of my research I will try to propose possible solutions to the credit card issue. I am going to dig deep on this problem in order to find its roots and investigate it from different perspectives. For this purpose, I will evaluate the Gulf First Bank performance and profitability of credit cards in the past 5 years. In the process of my secondary research I found a number of relevant articles, e-books, journals, and surveys to support my position on the credit card issue and answer the questions, mentioned above.
First of all, I analyze the overall economic situation and the background to the issue in the broader context of the six Arab-Gulf states in order to investigate the reasons of the current credit card issues and predict the possible consequences for the economy as a whole and banking system in particular. For this purpose I address to Badr El Din (2007) and Espinoza, Fayad & Prasad (2013) and their studies of economic cooperation in the Arab states of the Gulf. Badr El Din’s study is aimed at clarifying the challenges that AGCC face as they try to integrate the economies and create a regional economic power with a more significant market and resource base. The focus is on AGCC monetary union and its positive impact on investment for the purpose …
