25/08/2022                                                                                    Press Release

The Bank has been recognised at the MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2022, for its innovative approach to Shari’a compliant banking and consistent performance with a clear client-centric focus.

Manama, Bahrain: Bank ABC Islamic, the Shari’a compliant arm of MENA’s leading international bank, was named the ‘MENA Islamic Finance Bank of the Year’ at the MENA Banking Excellence Awards organised by MEED. The Awards programme celebrates the best-in-class banking and financial services institutions for their innovative offering and commitment to customer excellence. This recognition attests to the Bank’s solid performance and commitment to meeting client needs through its strategic expansion, innovative approach to Islamic finance and digital transformation endeavours. 

Commenting on this prestigious recognition, Bank ABC Islamic Managing Director, Hammad Hassan said: “We at Bank ABC Islamic are deeply honoured to have received MEED’s MENA Islamic Finance Bank of the year award. Winning this title further reinforces our confidence in our strategy, especially the emphasis on digital transformation and expanding our offering in MENA with the launch of alburaq in Algeria.”

“I’d like to thank MEED for recognizing our performance and innovative initiatives, and my colleagues at Bank ABC Islamic, whose relentless hard work and commitment, not only helped us weather some of the most challenging times, but also kept us on the growth trajectory with the aim to enhance our offering and to future-proof the Bank.” 

Bank ABC Islamic achieved major milestones in the past 12-18 months, in terms of digitisation, leveraging the Bank ABC Group’s new digital client onboarding solution and dramatically transforming client experience. In addition, its Islamic finance window, alburaq’s successful foray into consumer and corporate banking in Algeria, delivered exceptional customer acquisition results and is paving the way for the rollout of Islamic finance products across other network markets. In parallel, Bank ABC Islamic is working closely with the digital mobile-only ila Bank to introduce Shari’a compliant versions of ila’s customer-centric products and solutions for the Bahraini market, under the brand name ‘alburaq’.  

The Bank’s performance in 2021 was also highly encouraging, closing the year with a net profit of US$ 29.9 million, representing a 4.4% improvement year-on-year from US$ 28.6 Million in 2020. The solid results of 2021 are a reflection on Bank’s continued focus on generating growth while maintaining prudent risk management practices.