The award reflects Ahli United Bank’s distinct position as the top employer in Kuwait’s banking sector.

Ahli United Bank won this award for the outstanding accomplishments it made in the field of human resources, particularly its HR strategy, which focuses on luring in the most qualified professionals, developing their skills, and engaging with them constantly.

HR Department took various initiatives to ensure smooth operation even while working remotely and took on tasks related to hiring, planning, training, development, and performance management.

Additionally, the HR Department was successful in converting the traditional yearly performance review process into ongoing performance management year-round, which improved communication between Senior Management and staff.

Ahli United Bank was also able to take the lead in change management by engaging in the bank’s transformation project, which put an emphasis on improving workers’ productivity in terms of their ability to use technology and perform data analysis.

By enforcing the internal communication plan and promoting active participation on the in-house IConnect platform, Ahli United Bank also ensures to keep its staff informed about transformational developments.

It was decided to bestow AUB this prestigious award after the International Finance Magazine carried out an initial assessment of the nominees. Following this, it referred the particulars to an external assessment agency to determine the nominees’ final level and to select the award winner.

After that, the winner is announced through a point system that includes the results of the initial assessment, and external agents with input from various experts in the banking industry.

Speaking about global recognition, HR General Manager at Ahli United Bank, Mr. Naqeeb Amin said, “This award emphasizes the success of the Bank’s efforts in developing and maintaining an attractive work environment for the best banking talents, given that the Bank’s employees are the cornerstone of its development and success in achieving its goals, through its direct reliance on the application of a forward-looking policy in managing and developing employees and enhancing their skills in line with the highest international standards.”

“We are introducing a unique and successful experience in Human Resources Department. Hence, our ability to retain a large number of the bank’s employees for more than 30 years, and who have managed to accomplish their career ambitions through an interactive environment between employees and management, that enables them to exchange experiences with each other is apparent evidence of our success in dealing with employees being the bank’s most valuable wealth,” Mr. Naqeeb Amin added.

Mr. Naqeeb Amin concluded by praising all of Ahli United Bank’s HR staff members for their earnest efforts and outstanding performance, which resulted in bagging this prestigious award.

The post AUB wins ‘Best Bank for Human Resources Initiatives Award in Kuwait’ 2022 appeared first on International Finance.

(AUB) reiterated its successes in the information technology field by winning the “Best Business IT Innovation Award – Kuwait 2021” at the International Finance Awards once again, after receiving the same award in 2019.
The Bank’s achievement is credited to its highly competent information technology team, its project management personnel, and support staff who possess vast experience in managing complex technology projects. Ahli United Bank has sought technology for the creation of a new digital banking model alongside enhancing the existing services.

AUB has embarked on a myriad of futuristic digital innovations that are simple yet relatively new and original in the industry. These digital innovations include enhanced and additional services on the ATMs operational excellence through robotics, enhanced mobile banking, and highly resilient banking applications among others.

The services provided by the bank are promising for customers who seek sustainable financial inclusion. This way, the bank is also able to discover new, more efficient ways to deliver services that go beyond contemporary banking systems and business models. These factors have contributed greatly for Ahli United Bank Kuwait to win the ‘Best Business IT Innovation-Kuwait 2021’

Commenting on this award, the CEO of Ahli United Bank, Mrs. Jehad Saud Al-Humaidhi, said, “This new award is a distinct addition to the record of awards and achievements attained by the bank, which reaffirms its notable success in developing its infrastructure and technical systems, reflecting in the bank’s increased ability to provide the best banking services for its customers, especially under the repercussions of Covid-19 pandemic, which posed several challenges and opportunities at the same time, whereby we have been able to demonstrate our ability to provide banking services that meet the needs of our customers, especially digital banking services.”

Al-Humaidhi expressed her thanks and appreciation to AUB team work that enabled the bank to win this award, stressing that the bank is always keen to make every effort to develop pioneering banking solutions that meet the aspirations of our valued customers by building an integrated digital environment that provides them with an incomparable banking experience.

On his part, Mr. Abdullah Jaragh General Manager Information Technology at AUB said, “Winning this award boosts our endeavors aimed at relying on the cutting-edge banking technologies to enable us to continue our development and growth. During the past period, we were keen to continue our efforts to enhance information technology being a strategic enabling tool in achieving the ability of banks to compete under the successive technical changes.”

Jaragh added, “Ahli United Bank has the pride to be at the forefront in providing everything new in the IT field. It is also proud of the numerous initiatives it implemented to provide the best products and services to its customers. Nevertheless, the bank is still looking forward to reaching the highest standards of quality and innovation to provide customers with exceptional services and innovative easy-to-use products.”

For the judgment panel, the first level of evaluation is done by the internal evaluation team of the International Finance Magazine, after which, the details are forwarded to an external evaluation agency to conclude with the final level of evaluation. Announcement is done through a points system that includes the findings of the initial evaluation report, rating from external research partners along with inputs from industry experts.

The post Ahli United Bank’s highly competent IT team earns recognition appeared first on International Finance.

The second measure came into place in October 2020, where the intervention rates on all interest rate structures were reduced to 0.125 percent for 10 years, including the term deposit acceptance system, direct intervention instruments, and public debt instruments. Additionally, in March 2020, banks did not submit financial statements for the first quarter of that year. But in April 2020, the banks were allowed to use 2.5 percent hedging capital buffers.

Other measures taken by the bank included reducing the risk weight of exposures on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to 25 percent instead of 75 percent, increasing the amount of maximum available funding to 100 percent, lowering the minimum liquidity coverage standard and stable net financial standard, and lowering the minimum regulatory liquidity ratio.

The post Kuwait banking sector releases financial reports for Q1 appeared first on International Finance.

In a short time, the Bank has managed to position itself as a leader in Islamic digital retail banking solutions in the Kuwait banking sector. Warba Bank is steadily advancing on its vision to become an Islamic corporate and investment banking champion in Kuwait with a lean digitally-enabled retail business. The bank reached a critical milestone in its digital journey when it launched ‘Al Wateen’,  the bank’s ‘digital factory’ or digital centre of innovation.

Through Al Wateen, the bank’s team develops exclusive digital products and services for customers placing them at the forefront of the bank’s interest. In an exclusive interview with International Finance, Shaheen Al Ghanem, Warba Bank CEO, speaks about the bank’s digital transformation journey, the key digital milestones achieved by the nank, and how the bank overcame challenges in its digital journey.

International Finance: Why did Warba Bank embark on this digital journey?

Shaheen Hamad Al Ghanim: Warba Bank is steadily moving into a new era of development and innovation by enhancing its digital infrastructure. This is the result of a number of achievements that the bank has accomplished over the past few years.

We have infused investments into our digital infrastructure to keep abreast of the technological innovations in the banking industry. Our goal is to cater to growing customer demands for digital banking services at a time when smartphones have become virtual banks enabling customers to undertake several banking transactions smoothly, safely, and easily.

Today, Warba Bank has topped its digital innovation efforts by launching our digital factory ‘Al Wateen’, through which the bank’s in-house team develops and innovates exclusive digital products and services that will pave the way for a revolutionary new era in the Islamic banking sector in Kuwait. Al Wateen is the output of the bank’s digital strategy that aims, among other things, to position the bank as a champion in digital banking services and increase its market share using a digital innovation framework.

What are the key milestones achieved by Warba Bank in its digital journey?

In 2017, we set a five-year digital strategy for the bank and we have been able to achieve a series of objectives, such as achieving profitability growth and offering pioneering services to customers while continuing to build corporate franchises, setting up the bank’s digital banking capabilities, and ensuring careful expansion.

Based on our strategy, we are glad to declare that Warba Bank is steadily moving into a new era of development and innovation in enhancing its digital infrastructure. We have been able to complete the first phase of the strategic transformation which resulted in the development of a digital infrastructure to deliver sales growth and profitability.

In 2018, the bank started the second phase of its digital strategy that focuses on strengthening its digital capabilities and making all possible efforts to innovatively compete to catch up with the global digital trends in the banking industry. This deliberate approach enables the bank to overcome competition in the retail banking sector in Kuwait by providing distinct digital services and helps us effectively attain our targets.

How do you envision the digital future of Warba Bank? Can you describe your digital plans across the various sections of the bank?

Today, Warba Bank is firmly determined in its approach for enhancing and driving digital transformation in the Kuwait Islamic banking sector in accordance with the highest international standards, paving the way to achieve a leading position in this sector.

With the launch of the first digital factory in the Kuwait banking industry, ‘Al Wateen’, that functions as a digital innovation centre based on teamwork and cooperation across the bank’s departments and groups, the bank has reached a key digital transformation milestone.

At the digital factory, we apply the customer- centric approach placing customer interest as our top priority, investing our focus and attention on providing customers with top-notch, fast, reliable, and secure services while proactively meeting their financial needs.

What kind of challenges have you encountered in your digital transformation journey? How did you overcome them?

We have faced challenges since the inception of Warba Bank. Since its early days, Warba Bank’s main focus has been to introduce a new era in the Kuwait Islamic banking industry. It has emerged as a leading Kuwait bank that serves all sections of the Kuwaiti society.

When Warba Bank embarked on its journey, we faced all the challenges and economic difficulties that plagued the region at that time. Warba Bank went on its journey with determination and perseverance driven by its responsibility towards shareholders and customers whose confidence and trust provided us with solid support and motivated the bank to launch innovative services, products, and solutions that have been exemplary in the Islamic banking industry in Kuwait.

So, our ten-year journey of hard work enabled Warba Bank to become one of the leading and the fastest growing banks in the Kuwaiti banking sector, making its way through severe competition and enhancing its footprint in the development of the sector by leveraging digital innovation.

That said, despite all challenges, today Warba Bank is firmly determined in its approach to enhancing and driving digital transformation in the banking sector in Kuwait in accordance with the highest international standards, which will pave the way for its continued leading position in the Kuwait banking sector.

What has been behind the Bank’s decision to develop Al Wateen? How do you see this as an enabler for digital sustainability within the Bank?

Under the slogan ‘ONE OF YOU’, Warba Bank’s priority is to ensure that Al Wateen should be a source of inspiration to the entire Kuwaiti community from which it has emerged. We see each Kuwaiti as a shareholder in Warba Bank, which increases the bank’s responsibility to care for each one in the society and establish strong communication channels with the Kuwaiti people while meeting all the global standards of digital banking services that we seek to establish.

At the digital factory, we apply the customer – centric approach placing customer interest as top priority of our focus and attention to provide customers with top-notch, fast, reliable, and secure services while proactively meeting customer needs.

We can say that Al Wateen will drive our digital journey into the future through which the bank’s team will challenge the traditional banking industry and introduce digital evolution into the Kuwait banking sector to benefit customers and create communication channels connecting Kuwaiti Islamic banking customers and the Islamic banking ecosystem.

It is set to be an important source of inspiration for everyone interacting with Warba Bank whether they are customers, employees, or shareholders. Al Wateen’s early achievement is the development of the first application of its kind in Kuwait to offer solutions that solidify relationships with customers. The new digital banking application is designed to give customers an enjoyable user journey through its intuitive features.  The application provides easy and versatile access to many services that enable customers to perform transactions quickly and easily.

The post Al Wateen: A unique digital factory in the Kuwait Islamic banking sector appeared first on International Finance.

The deal is expected to positively impact Burgan Bank’s asset quality. Also, it would reduce non-performing loans by nearly KWD 34 million. But it is also reported to have a one-time negative impact of KWD 9 million on Burgan Bank’s net income this year. However, KWD 4 million of that impact is anticipated to be reversed after the transaction’s completion, local media reports said. 

In fact, its stake sale was planned to reduce its non-performing loans, exit risky assets and strengthen its position in the domestic markets, the reports said. Overall, the transaction will allow the Kuwaiti bank to focus on Kuwait and other countries including Tunisia, Algeria, and Turkey. 

United Gulf is a financial services company based in Bahrain. It is a sister company of Burgan Bank. United Gulf carries out merchant banking through its subsidiaries and associates. In 2018, eight percent of United Gulf’s shares were transferred from Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO) to Burgan Bank. 

Burgan Bank is the largest bank in Kuwait by assets. 

According to Burgan Bank, “The sale will enable Burgan to focus on its core market in Kuwait and develop stronger synergies with its subsidiaries in Turkey, Algeria, and Tunisia.” 

In December 2019, Burgan Bank announced that it sold its headquarters building to the United Investment Group (UIG). The deal was valued at KWD 19.45 million. 

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