Al-Shayji receiving the award

KUWAIT: Boubyan Bank added a new achievement to its global awards by receiving the Best Islamic Digital Bank Award, globally, for the fourth year in a row by Global Finance.

Abdulla Al-Tuwaijri, Boubyan's Deputy CEO, stated: "This award crowns our efforts over a remarkable year in digital banking, and is an addition as well to the awards previously received by the bank in this domain such as the Best Islamic Digital Bank in Kuwait and the Best Islamic Digital Bank in the Middle East, all of which were awarded by Global Finance."

"The most significant aspect about this achievement is that it places Boubyan Bank, being an Arab Islamic bank, among major banks and this is a new achievement added to Kuwaiti banks as well as the banking and financial sector in Kuwait," he added.

He went on to add: "Four years ago, we received the same award and ever since, the challenge was to maintain it year after year because it is more difficult to stay on the stop than to get there."Al-Tuwaijri continued: "The most significant aspect of this award is that it comes from an international institution which is renowned for its fairness and credibility, and this crowns our efforts over the past years where the bank invested in IT and digital banking services."

He went on to add that Boubyan Bank was one of the few banks in the region which satisfied the conditions for the award, and that Boubyan Bank's experience over the past years met all the criteria set by Global Finance.

Why is Boubyan Bank among the best globally?

In its report about the selection criteria set by a panel of international judges, Global Finance referred to such criteria as:

* Strength of strategy set by the bank for attracting and servicing digital customers.

* Success in getting clients to use digital offerings

* Growth of digital customers who use digital banking services through their various channels, especially smart phones.

* Innovation and creativity in providing outstanding banking and non-banking services via electronic channels.

Digital Customer Base

Furthermore, Sameer Al-Shayji, Deputy General Manager at Boubyan Bank, who received the award in a ceremony held for this occasion in London stated: "The past four years witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of Boubyan Bank customers who use our digital banking solutions whether online or through the services provided by Boubyan Bank App."

"This has been linked with the huge growth in the number of our customers and, accordingly, the number of banking transactions completed through all our channels has multiplied over the past years compared with the moderate growth rates for other banks. This is considered another challenge coupled with the other challenges faced by the bank," he added.

He went on to add that the executive management was well aware of such challenges and that was the reason why they decided to invest heavily in the various banking channels in order to keep up with the developments witnessed by both the services and products.

Al-Shayji also stated that Boubyan's leadership in the banking industry over the past years was achieved through offering many banking services and products for the first time in Kuwait where the phrase "for the first time in Kuwait" became a synonym of the digital achievements made by Boubyan Bank.

He further added that this year witnessed the introduction of many services and products which were first introduced to the Kuwaiti market by Boubyan Bank, and that kept Boubyan in its leadership position in an attempt to distinguish its clients and provide them with a unique banking experience.

"One of these services is "Msa3ed" which allows clients to perform transactions around the clock on their accounts in addition to the Digital Murabaha Service which helps complete finance application procedures through smart phones and online banking,"Al-Shayji added.

He also stated: "For the first time in Kuwait, Boubyan Bank clients can now apply for a credit card at any time through online banking by using their PACI-verified digital signature."

Al-Shayji also spoke of the cooperation with the government sector where the bank signed a Mutual Cooperation Protocol with Kuwait Credit Bank to activate and offer a group of digital services which would facilitate banking transactions for the clients of Kuwait Credit Bank.