National Bonds:
It is an organization led by the Dubai bonds company, initiated by the Government of Dubai with 50% ownership. The company offers a Sharia Compliant scheme for investing money, with an aim to provide low-risk savings to the people in UAE. It allows people to buy bonds and turn that into profit, after some time by gaining annual interests which are usually more than what the banks in UAE offer.
The National Bonds scheme has been initiated with the motto of being “Everyone’s favorite place to Save and Invest”.
Eligibility:
National bonds scheme is available for all, including UAE Nationals (Emiratis) and resident expatriates.
- Anyone older than 21 years of age can purchase national bonds.
- In the case of minors, they’ll need their parents’ and/or legal guardian purchase the savings bond for them.
- There is no restriction on the minimum income for these bonds as they are meant to serve the purpose of saving money for the future.
Products offered at National Bonds
Welcome to Prestige: Prestige means you can enjoy a service that treats you the way a partner deserves to be treated. This program is launched by the National Bonds to reward the savers. This program offers you an inclusive wealth management package providing you with expert advice, personal service and special benefits.
Gold: Under this program you become a priority member and get unique benefits. When you start investing AED 350,000 or more you will enjoy cash redemption which is up to AED 25,000 each day.
Silver: Under Silver prestige when you make an initial investment of AED 150,000 you can ensure that you will have access to world class relationship managers. These managers will provide you financial advisory services like making the most exclusive investment opportunities.
Bronze: Under this prestige when you invest AED 50,000 and become a member you will enjoy wealth management experience which will feature a range of benefits with great investment opportunities.
Here’s the list of products offered by National bonds to the individuals
- Saving Bonds: Regular savings scheme that starts at AED 100.
- The Global Savings Club: National Bonds partnered with the Dubai Quality Group. A customisable savings plan is provided.
- Accelerated Savings Plan: Minimum balance fees have been waived, No hidden charges
- myPlan: Simple savings plan which requires AED 100 as investment per month
- Tejouri: Exclusive savings account for UAE Nationals.
- The USD Certificates: With USD Certificates earn expected profits with 3% per annum. Investment opportunities start at USD 5,000. It is Sharia compliant and capital protection is with fatwa and lock in a period of 30 days. USD certificates are 1 year investment instruments.
- Booster 12: Booster 12 a flexible plan which offers competitive market returns. It is the easy way to earn 12 percent expected returns in a matter of 3 years and this is with an investment of AED 10,000. The anticipated return will be from 0.5 percent in Q1 of the first year and it will end at 12% in the last quarter of the third year. You get 4 percent average return in 3 yrs.
- Gift Vouchers: National bonds offer exclusive gift vouchers which are now available on mobile application and this is just a click away. Get gift vouchers starting from AED 100 to AEd 5,000 for a gift on any occasion and spread the joy.
- Flexi term: Flexi term is an investment based solution which ranges from 3 months to 5 years. This is based on a specific investment need and it offers a high competitive profit rate.
- Second Salary: This is the most innovative solution which allows you to save monthly and the tenure can be based on your choice. Generally it ranges from 3 to 10 years and then you can enjoy a return on investment.
- Sukuk Al Noor: This is a safe investment plan for a minimum period of 5 years. The profits will be donated to people seeking treatment for eye diseases with 30 million beneficiaries around the world .
- Sukuk Al Waqf: Sukuk Al Waqf is an innovative endowment from Awqaf and Minors Affairs Authority and this is managed by National Bonds. Timed Waqf is either 1, 3 or 5 Years. The participants can select a waqf humanitarian project to support. The contributors can enter into AED 1 million and 12 Tesla cars draw. Contributions start from AED 100 for individuals and AED 1000 for institutions.
- My one billion: There is one sure way to make one million, but there are million ways to spend it. The easiest way to reach AED 1 million goal. Flexi Saving tenor, up to 30x chances in AED 35 million Reward program
- Eyaali – Junior Savings Plans: Both parents can open a savings account instantly through a mobile app for their children. Once the child becomes eligible at 21 years of age then funds can be transferred to get the access for their child.
- Earn Second Salary: Setting up your future additional income is easy with National bonds. The term based investments provide financial solutions to your needs ranging from 3 months to 5 years. They offer high competitive profit rates
- Term Sukuk: Get the investment opportunity starting from AED 10,000. Start investing from the period ranging from 3 months to one year. You can earn competitive expected profits and this is updated weekly, enjoy quarterly & at maturity with profit.
Where to get National Bonds?
The most common place to find a bond is at the post offices. Apart from post offices, there are 700+ places in UAE where you can purchase these bonds. For making it easier for the people, the Government of UAE also allows an online purchase of national bonds. These bonds can be purchased on www.nationalbonds.ae where you can purchase as many bonds you wish.
There is a minimum investment requirement of 100 AED, where you can get ten bonds valued at AED 10 each or even a single bond valued at 100 AED. There is no upper limit, however, and you can purchase a bond of any amount greater than 100 AED.
Now you can access the National bonds on your phone with the National bonds mobile app. The services are also available on whatsapp. Subscribe to whatsapp messages by sending a WhatsApp message to 600 522279. Add whats app number on contact list and send hi message to get updates and start chatting. Subscribe via WhatsApp subscription link : https://bit.ly/WhatsApp-NBC
Profit Rates:
The investment made in NBC will be utilized by the company for making profits and finally, the profit will be shared among the investors. The interest rates in UAE which will be offered to the investors would vary every year. The profit rates keep rising as you extend the tenure your bonds by the end of a year, which is like “The longer you save, The more you gain”. There is a minimum time requirement for which an investor has to hold a bond; this is set at 3 months where the investor gets 40% of the annual interest after withdrawing by the end of the third month.
According to 2020 returns, Bonds that are valued at greater than AED 1 Million earned 3.98% profit whereas between AED 350K – 1 Million earned 2.91% profit and regular savings bonds got 1.74% profit. Minors holding 5K+ got 2.29% profit, Ladies holding 5K+ got 2.28% profit and UAE Nationals holding 5K+ earned 2.73%.
National Bonds profit rates growth
The profit rates provided depends on the bond value. Here’s the approximate profit rates growth on National bonds
- In 2014, 1.2% profit rate was provided on the regular savings bondsIn 2015, 1.76% of profit is provided on bonds above AED 50,000
- In 2016, the profit rates were the same as 2015 i.e 1.76%
- In 2017, there was an extreme raise which was 2.82% on regular savings bond
- In 2019, the profit rate of regular savings bond was 2.09%
- In 2020, the profit rate of regular savings bonds was 1.74%
- In 2022, Savings bonds profit rate 4.11% with greater than equal to 1 million
Gift Vouchers and Rewards:
The reward program is exciting as it offers great prices ranging from 16 luxury cars to AED 35 million in rewards every year. Exclusive prizes for Emiratis and Expats and these include the grand prize of AED 1 million for two winners every 3 months. With more than 423,000 prizes per year different dedicated prizes are offered for ladies, minors & regular savers. Enjoy the great deal with you having high chances of winning.
Is National Bonds worth the investment?
Investment is very important for everyone in their life which proves to be beneficial for higher studies, any medical expenses, post-retirement funds etc. It is better to invest in schemes which are run by the government as they are trustworthy and mostly risk-free. National Bonds is a kind of investment where you invest some decent amount and earn good interest rates. As of 2017, which was 4%; this shows that National Bonds is definitely worth investing in when you want to invest in UAE. In addition to the decent profit rates, they provide rewards and gifts which are refreshing.
Financial Planning with National Bonds
At any stage of your life, you will have a dream for your future and all the dreams at one point or the other will be associated with finance.
With a vast range of savings and investing opportunities the National Bonds provides you with advisory services and steps to achieve your goals.
Here we understand your goals and provide you with the key for successful financial planning. Tell us what matters for you the most and we together will find out the ways and needs so that you can plan to achieve your dream and make it a reality.
About the author
Nikitha is a Senior Analyst at MyMoneySouq.com. She has been writing about personal finance, credit cards, mortgage, and other personal finance products in the UAE. Her work on Mortgage loans has been featured by the GulfNews and other popular Financial Blogs in the UAE.