Why UAE expatriates should not keep all their cash in the bank

Dubai: Bianca Selma has more than Dh100,000 sitting in a bank account in Dubai that doesn’t offer any interest at all. The expatriate feels foolish just letting the money sit idly by.

She had worked so hard to build that money for five years and it frustrates her every time she remembers that the bank, after all this time, couldn’t be bothered to give her a dirham in exchange for her loyalty. And it feels like the longer she lets the money sit there, the more she loses.

“Besides, that’s all the money I have. When I started saving five years ago, I could buy a decent, tiny flat at a bustling city centre back home with Dh100,000. Now that I have exactly that amount, the value of the same property costs twice than it was five years ago,” she says.

“I need to wait another five years until I can raise Dh100,000  more and by then, the value of the flat would have multiplied. This is a useless exercise,” says the 31-year-old secretary from the Philippines. “I should move this idle cash and put it somewhere else where it can earn interest,” she says.

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