3 December 2020 - Doha, Qatar: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest private bank in Qatar, has been recognized for the second time as the “Bank of The Year – Qatar” by Financial Times’ - The Banker magazine – the World’s longest running international banking title, as part of their Bank of the Year Awards 2020.

This exceptional accolade is in recognition of QIB’s outstanding performance through 2020, and its success in outperforming the competition on the levels of financial performance, strategic initiatives, and its response to the challenges related to COVID-19 pandemic.

QIB’s recognition took place on Wednesday 2 December 2020 in a virtual awards ceremony. QIB was represented by its Group CEO Mr. Bassel Gamal at an event that was attended by senior global bankers and executive editors of The Banker Magazine in Europe, Asia, The Middle East and Africa.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Bassel Gamal, QIB’s Group CEO said: “Receiving the prestigious Bank of The Year award by The Banker Magazine is a recognition the entire QIB family is proud of. It is a testament to QIB’s stability and sustainable business model. Such recognition can only be achieved through the collective efforts of all the Bank’s staff, the continuous support from the Board of Directors, our clients’ trust, and our genuine commitment to continuous improvement.”

He added: “2020 was a year of challenges for the global banking industry, but for QIB it was also a year that we introduced new banking approaches to the Qatari market and implemented a successful business continuity while having the safety of our employees and customers as our absolute number one priority.” 

“In an unprecedented operating environment, we have been able to financially support our customers and introduce new innovative products and services to serve the needs of all customer segments in the Qatari market. Thanks to our digital transformation programs, we are able to offer the fastest and most trusted banking solutions to individuals and corporate customers in Qatar remotely through our mobile and online channels. This has also resulted in attracting new clients to Islamic Banking, reconfirming that Islamic Banks are now competing with conventional banks across all banking services,” Mr. Bassel concluded.

Rated ‘A1’, ‘A-/A-2’ and ‘A’ by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch with stable outlooks, QIB has succeeded to maintain positive financial performance levels in 2020 regardless of the impact on the global economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank has recently announced the results for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2020, with net profit attributable to the shareholders amounted to QAR 2,216.5 Million in line with the performance during the same period in 2019. Total assets of the bank now stand at QAR 170 Billion, higher by 4% compared to December 2019, with a growth of 9.8% compared to September 2019. QIB’s financing activities have now reached QAR 113.2 Billion, having grown by 5.7% compared to September 2019. Customer deposits of the bank now stand at QAR 112 Billion, higher by 5% compared to September 2019.

Since March 2020, QIB was able to implement a comprehensive “Bank Safely from Home” campaign, which resulted in an unmatched increase in reliance on digital channels by QIB’s customers. The bank also took a proactive response to the economic implications of the pandemic especially on SMEs, immediately postponing financial instalments for SMEs and then taking part in the COVID-19 National Response Guarantee Program.

QIB has also accelerated the digitization of its digital banking products and services, and has managed to offer all its customers the convenience of banking remotely. This included continuous upgrades of the QIB Mobile App, the launch of a new Corporate Mobile App, in addition to the structural revamp of the bank’s Internet Banking channels.

Being the first bank in Qatar to introduce end-to-end digital products via its Mobile App, new customers can now start a relationship and open their first account with QIB remotely within five minutes. Existing customers can also get a personal finance and/or a credit card instantly via the Mobile app.