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Doha, Qatar: Commercial Bank, Qatar’s first private bank, recently hosted the first workshop of a series planned for the year at Commercial Bank Plaza to demonstrate the features and benefits of the Bank’s cash and trade services.
The well-attended event was organised and hosted by Commercial Bank’s Transaction Banking Department with 50 invited participants from local companies.
The workshop focused on Commercial Bank’s online portals providing end-to-end cash and trade transactions, and participants received a demonstration of the Bank’s Corporate Trade Portal and Corporate Internet Banking. Innovative trade and cash solutions that enhance liquidity and maximize yield were discussed and the participants were highly appreciative of a knowledge session on the trade guidelines covering Letters of Credit and UCP 600.
Commercial Bank Executive General Manager Wholesale Banking, Raju Buddhiraju said: “Commercial Bank enjoys strong relationships with our corporate customers and we are always looking to provide them with value added products and services to help them meet their business objectives. This knowledge sharing workshop was held by the Transaction Banking Department in line with the Bank’s Strategic Reshape Plan. The new series of workshops aims to build capacity in various aspects of implementing the Bank’s strategy, including providing our clients with industry-leading solutions and services to interact with Commercial Bank that are cost effective, simple and secure.”
Using innovative technologies, Commercial Bank’s specialist team provides corporate customers with a full range of cash management products and services to add value to their business. These include Corporate Internet Banking; Payroll and Wage Protection System (WPS) implementation; Liquidity Enhancing Account Combinations; Direct Debit; Sweep and Cash Concentration; and door-to-door Cash Collection and Delivery. As a testament to this focus, the Bank was awarded with “Best Cash Management Bank in Qatar” award received at The Asian Banker Middle East & Africa Transaction Banking Awards in 2016 based on the Bank’s state-of-the-art Corporate Internet Banking platform.
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About Commercial Bank
Commercial Bank has total assets of QAR 130.4 billion as at 31 Dec 2016. As a full service commercial bank, the Bank offers a full range of corporate, retail and investment banking services as well as owning and operating exclusive Diners Club franchises in Qatar and Oman. The Bank’s countrywide network includes 29 full service branches and 181 ATMs.
Profitable every year since incorporation in 1974, continual investment in technology and human capital, together with a strong capital base, provides a solid foundation for continued growth. A successful diversification strategy has expanded Commercial Bank’s GCC footprint through strategic partnerships with associated banks, the National Bank of Oman (NBO) in Oman and United Arab Bank (UAB) in the UAE. NBO, the second largest bank in Oman with total assets of OMR 3.5 billion as at 31 Dec 2016, has 60 conventional branches and 6 Islamic branches in Oman and 1 branch each in Egypt, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. UAB is headquartered in Sharjah, with total assets of AED 21.3 billion as at 31 Dec 2016, and operates 22 branches across the emirates in the UAE. Building on the successful execution of the Bank’s expansion strategy to date, Commercial Bank acquired a majority stake in Alternatifbank in Turkey in 2013 and became a 100% owner through put option exercised on 19 December 2016.
Commercial Bank enjoys strong credit ratings of (A2) from Moody’s, (A+) from Fitch, and (BBB+) from Standard & Poor’s. The Bank is listed on the Qatar Exchange and was the first Qatari bank to list its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange. Commercial Bank’s Swiss Franc bond issuance in December 2010, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, was the first public bond issuance by a Qatari bank in Switzerland. Commercial Bank’s latest bond issuance in June 2014 and June 2016 are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
Commercial Bank was awarded “SME Bank of the Year” for 2016 by The Asian Banker based on its wide-ranging achievements over the past three years, specialised team and customer focused products and services for SMEs. Commercial Bank also won the “Best Contact Centre” award at The Gulf Customer Experience Awards 2015 for outstanding customer service. In recognition of its CSR activities benefitting the Qatari community, Commercial Bank was awarded the “Best CSR Report”, at the Corporate Social Responsibility awards ceremony for organisations in Qatar. The Bank won “Best Cash Management Bank in Qatar” award at The Asian Banker Middle East & Africa Transaction Banking Awards in 2016 and the “Best Investor Relations award for mid-cap companies” at the Qatar Stock Exchange’s annual IR awards ceremony in 2017 recognising best practice in Investor Relations.
The Bank is dedicated to supporting Qatar’s community and social infrastructure through Corporate Social Responsibility programmes and sponsorship of various events. Title sponsorship of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters reflects the Bank’s promotion of excellence in sports and its keen interest in enhancing Qatar’s international sporting reputation.
About Alternatifbank (ABank)
ABank was established in 1991. Commercial Bank became the majority shareholder in ABank in 2013 holding a 74.24% stake, following the acquisition of ABank shares of 70.84% from the Anadolu Group and 3.40% through a public tender offer. In December 2016 the bank completed the put option exercise of purchasing 25% of share in Abank from Anadolu group. Currently the Bank owns 100% of ABank shares.
ABank is a mid-size Turkish bank that predominately serves medium-sized companies through a country-wide network of 53 branches. ABank provides commercial/corporate banking services and products, with a special focus on the growing segment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. ABank’s main product ranges cover trade finance instruments, working capital finance, cash management, and portfolio management.
31 Dec 2016, ABank had total assets of TL 17.5 billion, total loans stood at TL 11.3 billion, customer deposits of TL 8.1 billion and shareholders’ equity of TL 1.3 billion.
http://wwweng.abank.com.tr
For more information please contact:
Mona Abdallah
EGM, Chief Marketing Officer
Commercial Bank
Tel: +974 440 0169
Email: m.abdallah@cbq.qa
© Press Release 2017
