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MANAMA: Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB)’s integration with NBB, the second largest Bahraini bank by market capitalisation, is proceeding smoothly, the chairman of the Sharia-compliant lender has said.
In January this year, it was announced that NBB had acquired around 80 per cent stake in BisB.
Dr Esam Fakhro, chairman of BisB, told the #BisB annual tech-driven event on Sunday that together the two banks will provide a unified force, further leading to stronger economic growth.
Analysing the deal last December, credit ratings agency Moody’s had said the acquisition by NBB would be credit positive for BisB because it would give the Sharia-compliant lender access to NBB’s strong capitalisation, ample liquidity and a large customer base.
NBB is one of the largest retail banks in Bahrain, with around a 12pc market share by total system assets.
Islamic finance penetration of systemwide loans are as high as 70pc for Bahrain.
Speaking during the virtual event themed ‘Celebrating the Spirit of Innovation and Collaboration’, BisB chief executive Hassan Jarrar shed light on key achievements, success stories, and innovations launched during the year.
This included being the first bank in the country to launch e-KYC technology, which results in a more efficient, entirely paperless procedure producing an effortless customer experience.
The bank’s IT team installed state-of-the-art, 24/7 self-service kiosks across all branches and financial malls, which enable customers to complete a number of daily transactions without the need for human intervention.
Mr Jarrar said the achievements included the launch of solutions such as Tejoori Instant Finance in five minutes; Tap & Go, contactless cards, as well as open banking services in collaboration with Tarabut Gateway, which allows customers to easily view and manage multiple bank accounts through the BisB Digital mobile application.
The event also included two panel discussions.
The first panel featured Mumtalakat chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi, Tamkeen chief of planning and monitoring Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, and Mr Jarrar, where they discussed the new face of innovation in a post Covid-19 landscape.
The second panel featured Tarabut Gateway chief executive Abdulla AlMoayed, and Mr Jarrar to discuss the use of open banking leading to newfound ways of collaboration through working seamlessly with multiple industry leaders.
‘Dana’, head of simplification and the first virtual employee at Bahrain Islamic Bank, moderated the discussion sessions during the event.
Highlighting BisB’s latest collaboration with MasterCard ‘Future Leaders’, Mr Jarrar said the cashless ecosystem for students comprises a set of cards and wearable devices to encourage youth and future generations to save and spend smartly with rewards, under their guardian’s reassurance and control.
He also announced the launch of the bank’s revamped branch in Riffa, which followed a competition to select a local coffee shop to operate inside the Riffa Innovation Hub, wherein the finalist benefited from a ‘once in a life-time’ opportunity of a rental amount of BD1 and free access to facilities.
Banking and finance professionals, the media, and customers logged in to the bank’s YouTube channel, where the event was broadcast live.
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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