Guest bio
- Chief Marketing Officer of Wio Bank, one of the UAE's most prominent digital-first banks.
- Spent nearly a decade at Etihad Aviation Group, most recently as vice president of brand marketing and sponsorships.
- Holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from London Business School, and is a Fellow of The Marketing Society.
Amina Taher is Chief Marketing Officer of Wio Bank, one of the UAE's most prominent digital-first banks, which passed 370,000 customers and AED 50 billion in deposits in under three years and has been named the Middle East's best digital bank for SMEs. Before Wio she spent nearly a decade at Etihad Aviation Group, most recently as vice president of brand marketing and sponsorships, leading global brand strategy and cross-industry partnerships, and earlier as vice president of communications and corporate affairs. She has held senior roles and board positions across the UAE's media and entertainment sector, including DXB Entertainments and twofour54. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, with an MPA, and of London Business School, with an MBA, she was named a Fellow of The Marketing Society in 2025 and is a leading Emirati voice on branding, communications and women's empowerment in business.
Show notes
In this episode of Money Majlis with Suvo Sarkar, we look at the rise of digital banking in the UAE through the lens of one person’s journey: Amina Taher, Chief Marketing Officer of Wio Bank.
Amina has spent two decades moving across investment firms, media, aviation and now fintech, helping to shape some of the region’s most visible brands while continuously reinventing herself as a leader. Wio’s rapid scale-up to nearly 400,000 customers and over AED 50B in deposits provides the backdrop, but the real story here is how Amina thinks about brand, culture and people in a world where everything is becoming digital.
She describes why her word for 2025 was “elevate” - and how that applied not just to Wio’s growth, but to her own learning curve as she moved into banking, and to the teams she now leads. Elevating a brand, in her view, means elevating the customer: designing propositions like Wio Personal, Wio Business, Wio Invest, Wio Family and Wio Creator around real lives rather than internal product silos. Yet she is careful to stress that features and numbers only matter if they are built on trust, clear communication and a human tone of voice.
The conversation ranges from industry shifts to deeply personal reflections. Amina talks about growing up in a household shaped by the UAE’s founding values, her grandmother’s insistence that she study abroad, and what it felt like to build a career in male-dominated sectors without losing her sense of identity. She explains how those experiences inform the way she leads at Wio today - from obsessing about customer feedback and referrals to making sure the people behind the app are visible and relatable.
We explore the tension between long-term brand-building and short-term performance, a dilemma that every marketer at a high-growth company knows well. Amina shares how she balances big, emotionally resonant campaigns with the weekly reality of dashboards, acquisition targets and ROI pressure. For her, storytelling and data are not opposites but complements: the story sets the direction, the numbers tell you when to adjust. Amina also reflects on the UAE’s remarkable progress on women in senior roles, the dynamics of being the only woman in some boardrooms, and how she tries to use her position to open doors for others. She offers practical advice to young women drawn to marketing, technology or banking but unsure where to start: seek environments that truly back you, do not be afraid to change sectors, and treat curiosity as a lifelong habit.
Whether you care about fintech, branding or leadership, this episode is really about building a career that can hold both ambition and authenticity.
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