Al-Shaibei: Our progress in the field of digitalisation is a reflection of the conducive environment provided by Qatar economy

QIIB was awarded “The Best Digital Bank in Qatar” by the Union of Arab Banks at a ceremony held to honour the “Best Arab Digital Financial Institutions 2020-2021", which was held recently in the Lebanese Capital, Beirut, and attended by a large number of Arab and international banking sector representatives.

The award comes in recognition of QIIB’s distinguished achievements in the field of digital transformation which include providing the customers with a wide range of services, some of which are qualitative services that are provided for the first time in the local banking sector.

The UAB’s Organising Committee of the Excellence Awards for the Best Digital Financial Institutions awarded QIIB in recognition of its success in achieving tangible progress in the field of digitalisation and its outstanding response to the urgent circumstances caused by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic by providing digital solutions to its customers, which enabled them to obtain banking services with ease and adequate security without the need to visit the bank's branches.

The award also came in recognition of the Bank’s ongoing efforts in the field of innovation and the use of banking technology to enrich the Islamic banking experience and search for new tools that meet the requirements of customers and leverage the banking business to new levels of quality and proficiency.

Commenting on the UAB award, QIIB Chief Executive Officer, Dr Abdulbasit Ahmed al-Shaibei said, “We are pleased to receive this award in recognition of our progress in the field of digitalization, which is a reflection of the suitable environment provided by Qatar’s economy that is making achievements in various fields. Such achievements have been praised and endorsed by various independent institutions, global credit rating agencies, and other experts.

He said, “QIIB’s winning of ‘The Best Digital Bank in Qatar’ award comes on the heels of our Bank being awarded the “Best Islamic Digital Bank in Qatar” by the American World Economic Magazine. As much as this international, regional and Arab recognition of our progress in the field of digital transformation highlights the importance of our achievement, it places upon us ethical and operational obligation towards our customers, shareholders, and the Qatari economy at large, in order to live up to the expectations and achieve the required plans and objectives.”

The QIIB CEO stressed: “The unprecedented circumstances encountered by the banking sector and other local and global sectors, forced everyone to think differently. Fortunately, we had the opportunity in the banking sector to respond and overcome the challenges. And in QIIB, we did not waste a minute responding to the challenges posed by Covid-19. QIIB’s Board of Directors decided to focus on accelerating digital transformation and transforming plans into reality as quickly as possible while allocating the appropriate material and human resources to carry out this transformation according to the best conditions.

Dr. Al-Shaibei noted, “In fact, the provision of software was not the only challenge, but spreading the culture of using alternative channels and convincing customers that it is the best and easiest way and that it is secure and can be trusted similar to the Bank’s traditional channels, were equal challenges. We believe that the circumstances have prompted customers to a new way of thinking. We have launched an intensive campaign that included various means of direct communication and media and we can say today that the results were more than satisfactory.

The QIIB CEO expressed his confidence that “QIIB will continue to achieve its strategic and interim objectives, be it in terms of digital transformation or growth figures, and will maintain its solid financial position in line with the advancement of the Qatari economy in all the fields”.

QIIB was established in 1990 as the second Islamic bank in the State of Qatar and it is currently the third-largest Islamic bank listed on Qatar Stock Exchange in terms of assets and market value.

QIIB began its operations in 1991. It provides comprehensive banking services to its customers through a wide network of branches located across the country. In addition, the Bank has succeeded in establishing an advanced technological environment and alternative channels that have leveraged the banking services provided to a new level. The Bank has diverse regional and international partnerships.