Boubyan 2023... Achieving strong performance and sustained growth

While we are in the final stretch of 2023, Boubyan Bank has succeeded yet again in recording unprecedented successes and achievements despite the challenges we faced amid many regional and global economic developments, which affected the local economy in general, and the banking sector in particular; however, Boubyan Bank continued its journey of sustainable growth and maintained well-earned leadership in the Islamic banking industry.

We can safely say that 2023 marked the year of digital leadership of Boubyan, and that digital transformation was the fulcrum of regional expansion to upgrade the digital infrastructure of the bank’s services and to reinforce its digital solutions’ portfolio with state-of-the-art technologies and by adopting top security and quality standards, the thing which reflects the bank’s unwavering commitment to introducing significant and unique improvements aiming at accelerating the operational efficiency of digital solutions and offering a leading and exceptional digital experience.

This was confirmed by the awards and international recognitions for the bank’s prominent role and contributions across various walks in the Islamic banking industry at the global, regional, and local levels. Boubyan received the following prestigious awards from Global Finance in 2023: The World's Best Islamic Digital Bank Award for the 9th consecutive year, the Best Islamic Digital Bank in Kuwait Award, the Best Islamic Digital Bank in the Middle East Award, and the Best SME Banking in Kuwait - Digital.

Additionally, Euromoney has recognized Boubyan Bank with two awards, namely, the “Most Transformed Islamic Bank in Kuwait” and the “Best Bank for Digital Solutions” in Kuwait, owing to the exponential growth of its digital customers’ base since more than 95% of its customers use the bank’s digital channels, Moreover, the number of transactions through smart phones almost exceeded that performed through ATMs.

In confirmation of the above, Mastercard stated that the World Elite portfolio, comprising of Boubyan Bank's Premium customers, was the fastest growing portfolio in the Middle East owing to the benefits of World Elite card which enjoys the highest security and safety standards in processing digital payments, in addition to its uniqueness in lifestyle as it offers special and outstanding banking services that meet customers’ needs and enable them to perform their banking transactions smoothly and conveniently.

A World of Integrated & Innovative Solutions

This year, we launched various innovative retail solutions which are available through the bank’s App for smartphones, such as the “Easy Payment” service for holders of fully-charged credit cards. The service allows customers to pay the value of their purchases on easy installments over 3 or six months, and they can further see their qualified purchase transactions through the card statement and select the desired transaction to pay for on installments.

Additionally, the new “Saving Vault” service was launched and was well-received by customers as it encourages them to save and allows them to create a digital vault for each saving target and helps them achieve it, whether for travelling or for the purchase of a certain product, while setting the necessary timeframe to achieve the final target.

Moreover, the new “Card Auto Top Up” service was added, which makes it easy for customers to top-up their credit, prepaid, and digital cards automatically when they reach a certain balance, while setting the top-up amount without the need to do that manually in order to ensure that the customer’s card has a sufficient balance all the time.

As we believe in Boubyan that Customer Experience is the differentiator among competing companies, as well as being an important metric to measure customer satisfaction at each organization in terms of offering excellent service levels exceeding their expectations, and as we marked the World Customer Service Day, the bank organized various activities and surprises for our customers, thus reiterating that we deserved the well-earned award for the Best Islamic Bank in Customer Service for the 13th year in a row since 2010, in addition to receiving the First Place Award in Customer Service as a Country Winner across all economic sectors in Kuwait.

Social Initiatives Supporting Sustainable Growth

Speaking of social responsibility, Boubyan continued its track record of very influential social initiatives. These initiatives represent a key pillar in our strategy through which the bank focuses on adopting initiatives that aim at spreading social and environmental awareness.

Last November witnessed the launch of Noor Boubyan 6 Campaign, which is organized on an annual basis, in collaboration with the International Islamic Charitable Organization, the Dinarain Initiative, and the Upper Hand Society in Mauritania, to perform cataracts and eyesight-restoration surgeries in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. This came as a continuation of the prior successful campaigns which restored the eyesight of more than 13 thousand persons of various ages across several African countries.

Moreover, out of our keenness on preserving our local environment, the bank’s efforts in collecting more than 3.4 tons of e-waste were successful, which means that we saved more than 5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions through our campaign for collecting e-waste and recycling it in a safe and sustainable manner as a part of our ongoing efforts to keep up with the most important international and regional developments in sustainability, and the impact thereof on ESG aspects.

Boubyan also inked an exclusive partnership with Mr. Yousif Al Omran, the leader of community initiatives who goes in the media by the name Bu Jarrah, to launch a group of social and environmental initiatives aiming at spreading environmental awareness, encouraging positive change, and fostering sustainability as per relevant international standards.

During Q4 of this year, we collaborated with Blue Circle team of volunteers to launch a health awareness campaign on the occasion of the World Diabetes Day, which included some medical tips and check-ups by doctors and specialists. The activities included sharing an e-book with visitors of Boubyan Bank’s booth, which included true positive stories and experiences of some diabetics and how they lived with diabetes across various ages, thus sending a clear message that diabetes is a medical condition which has never been an obstacle in leading a normal life; however, the most important thing is how to live with it.

Boubyan has always considered sports as a main pillar of its CSR program, while believing that it is a culture that should be spread in our society by all ages and segments. Accordingly, the bank organized Boubyan Open Padel tournament for pros and amateurs with the participation of 160 teams of males and females of the bank’s customers and non-customers.

To support the projects of young Kuwaitis, we organized Kuwait Coffee Festival's activities in collaboration with more than 40 restaurants, cafés, and coffee specialists, which was well-attended by more than 85 thousand visitors over the 2-day festival amid unique family and entertaining atmosphere, with a group of various activities, events, and prizes.

Moreover, Boubyan launched its Boubyan Podcast for interviews in order to introduce a new communication channel with customers and other followers. The Podcast highlights a series of discussions and engagements aiming at presentation of ideas and transfer of practical experience through interactive interviews with social and leading figures across various domains.

Empowering Entrepreneurs to Stand up to Challenges

Boubyan Bank is known as the best bank that gives the youths special attention and takes it upon itself to empower them with the necessary experience to apply on the ground. The bank further incentivizes their growth opportunities, considering them a key pillar to diversify the revenues of the national economy; accordingly, the bank has recently announced its sponsorship of a conference for youths’ empowerment.

In one of the discussion sessions in the conference, Mr. Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, CEO - Consumer, Private, and Digital Banking, spoke about the role played by Boubyan Bank and its relationships with young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs among its customers, who had startups that were no less important and effective for the economy than big renowned corporates, since they offered creative and innovative services and solutions.

Moreover, in a step that confirms our continuous support to empower entrepreneurs to manage and grow their businesses successfully, we have launched the SoftPOS service through the SoftPOS App, which was developed by The Shared Electronic Banking Services Company “K-Net”, a leader of digital payment services. The App serves as a POS terminal by transforming Android-powered devices, which are NFC-enabled, to assist owners of companies with high volume of transactions with small value invoices, and which do not have POS terminals. The service helps customers collect their dues easily and in the fastest possible manner 24/7.

National Cadres.. the Pillar of Success in the Banking Business

Boubyan adopts the best international training practices that guarantee continuing our journey of systematic investment in human resources, especially amid the current competitive marketing scene.

In this context, Boubyan inked a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Banking Studies “IBS’ to provide a group of approved academies, training programs, and professional certifications to support the professional development of its human resources, sharpen their leadership skills, and achieve sustainable growth across all levels.

Additionally, fresh graduates of all majors had a great opportunity for communication and support through our participation in many career fairs, thus placing Boubyan atop the pyramid of private sector companies in terms of development and recruitment of national cadres, with a national manpower percentage exceeding 80%.

To conclude, we can safely say that 2023 was an eventful year for Boubyan across all levels. Similarly, we are confident that 2024 will be a solid year, if not better, so long as we adopt a systematic strategy and clear and well-studies proactive steps.