News & Announcements

Kuwait: NBK Reports KD 509.1 Million in Net Profits for the Year 2022

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) released its results for the twelve months period ended December 31, 2022. The Bank recorded a net profit of KD 509.1 million (USD 1.7 billion), up 40.5% year-on-year from KD 362.2 million (USD 1.2 billion) in the corresponding period of 2021.

As of the end of December 2022, total assets grew by 9.3% year-on-year to reach KD 36.3 billion (USD 118.6 billion), whereas customer deposits surged by 10.4% to reach KD 20.2 billion (USD 65.9 billion). Meanwhile, total loans and advances stood at KD 21.0 billion (USD 68.6 billion), up by 6.5% year-on-year, while shareholders’ equity reached KD 3.4 billion (USD 11.2 billion), growing by 3.3% year-on-year.

In terms of distributions, the Board of Directors proposed a cash dividend of 25 fils per share for the second half of 2022, bringing the total cash dividends for the year to 35 fils, representing 52% of profits attributable. The Board of Directors also proposed the distribution of 5% bonus shares (5 shares for every 100 shares owned). The proposed cash dividend distribution and bonus shares are subject to approval by the Annual General Assembly, which will be scheduled during March 2023.

Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 65 fils per share at the end of the year, compared to 45 fils at the end of 2021.

Mr. Hamad Al-Bahar, Group Chairman commented on the financial results: “In a milestone year marking our seventieth anniversary, NBK reported historical results in 2022. As Kuwait’s first national bank, we established a solid foundation since inception and pioneered in promoting national economic development. NBK played a key role in empowering businesses across all sectors while also serving as an industry leader in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”.

“We are proud to have achieved the highest annual profits in the Bank's history; driven by solid operational performance across all business segments, reflecting the soundness of our prudent strategy and solid financial position”, Al-Bahar continued.

NBK record earnings enable the bank’s efforts to support the economy, employ local talents, and boost community investments.

“Over the course of the year, new challenges emerged, including geopolitical tensions in Europe in the wake of the war in Ukraine, as well as tightened monetary policies pursued by most central banks around the world in a bid to curb high inflation, which threatens a global economic slowdown in 2023. Nonetheless, NBK rose above those challenges, thanks to its prudent risk management approach and diversification strategy” Al-Bahar highlighted.

The Board of Directors' recommendation to distribute more than half of the Bank’s profits reflects the bank’s internal capital generation capacity allowing it to maintain a lucrative dividend policy creating shareholders’ value, while preserving healthy capital buffers. Total cash dividends distributed over the past ten years reached KD 1.8 billion  in addition to KD 3.2 billion worth of bonus shares (based on NBK closing share price as of 31 December 2022)" Al-Bahar explained.

"Our commitment extends beyond creating value to our shareholders. We offer cutting edge services to our customers, invest in the development of local talents, and expand our reliance on local suppliers."

Al-Bahar confirmed that 2022 was a year of responsible growth, as the Bank executed remarkable strategies that marked a turning point in its efforts to enhance ESG practices. Moreover, in the early days of 2023, NBK announced its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2060 to support Kuwait's strategic initiative to drive environmental and socio-economic prosperity and the state’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2060. As part of this commitment, the Bank has set interim goals to reduce its gross operational emissions by 25% by 2025. NBK is well-positioned to take the lead in addressing environmental concerns and climate change issues, as well as increasing its contributions to building an equitable and more diversified society.

“As we enter a new decade in NBK's journey, we remain committed to driving sustainable growth, supporting economic development, and creating the greatest possible added-value for all stakeholders; in the course of establishing the highest and best standard of banking services in Kuwait and the region." Al-Bahar concluded.

Meanwhile, Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice Chairman and Group CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to report record results for 2022, given a challenging global operating environment. This stellar performance is a testament to the resilience of our business model and our ability to capture opportunities while it also reflects positively on our solid foundation that we continue to nurture to overcome challenges and drive sustainable growth.”

Al-Sager highlighted that the growth in profits is driven by stronger operational performance; with net operating income exceeding KD 1 billion, up 12.2% year on year. Furthermore, a gradual improvement in the operating environment following a return to business as usual continued to weigh positively on improving cost of risk; affirming NBK's success with its proactive risk management approach over the years.

Al-Sager also stated that the Group's international operations, as well as its Islamic subsidiary, Boubyan Bank, continue to contribute significantly to earnings growth. This asserts the diversification strategy's continued success, particularly with the Group's concentration on growth markets. In 2022, international operations accounted for approximately 26% of overall Group profits, with Islamic banking operations accounting for more than 10%.

"The Group continues to enjoy a healthy financial position, which was further strengthened in 2022 by the growth of our loan portfolio, customer deposits, and total assets, while maintaining high asset quality ratios”, Al-Sager confirmed.

"NBK was very successful in achieving a solid performance in its core banking activities, as the Bank continues to deliver tailored banking products and services to its customers, particularly digital offerings. Furthermore, the Bank was able to maintain its dominant market share in corporate banking and trade finance, as well as enhance the competitiveness of its wealth management platform, through the development of its human capital, operational model, and increasing synergies among the platform's services".

"These services and products empower the business sector and its ability to continue adding economic value, creating jobs, and advancing community development efforts, in addition to our pioneering role as the largest financier of development projects supporting the national economy”, Al-Sager added.

“Our activities and services serve all parts of society due to our dedication to meeting our social responsibilities and our emphasis on strengthening the human element, particularly young local talent, which accounted for 80% of the bank's 325 new recruits this year. The Bank will continue to focus on mentoring and developing the skills of these cadres through different training programs, specifically tailored to accelerate their learning curve. In addition to our efforts to promote school students' financial awareness through the launch of "Bankee" program, NBK Academy recently welcomed the twenty-seventh cohort of university graduates”.

“Meanwhile, we continued to enrich our customers' digital banking experience with a suite of the most innovative services and payment solutions. As the first digital bank in Kuwait, “Weyay” exceeded its customer acquisition targets within the first few months of its launch, as it caters to the financial needs and lifestyle of younger digitally savvy customers”, Al-Sager indicated.

“The year 2022 marks a turning point in our sustainability journey. To reinforce our commitment, we transformed our sustainability strategy in 2022 and launched our new ESG strategy to re-envision our focus on embedding ESG across all our operations and business. During the year, we introduced our Sustainable Financing Framework and increased our transparency by disclosing the environmental impact of our activities through CDP as part of a series of measures aimed at integrating ESG principles in all the Group’s operations. Recognizing our role at the forefront of enabling sustainable economic development, we are also committed to the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy and support the New Kuwait Vision 2035."

“In 2023, we will continue to build on the solid foundations we've established over the past 70 years, providing sustained growth in our revenues and investments to expand our digital capabilities, driving equitable economic development and maintaining our position as a market leader with a notable impact in promoting economic growth.” Al-Sager concluded.

Kuwait: NBK Launches “Credit Administration and Credit Operations Certification”

Reflecting its unwavering commitment to investing in the human capital, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) greatly focuses on training, developing and upskilling its employees. In this context, the bank has launched the first staff training on “Credit Administration and Credit Operations Certification”, in partnership with one of the globally reputable training agencies in this field.

The launch ceremony was attended by Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait, Mr. Mohammad Al-Kharafi, Chief Operating Officer - Head of Group Operations & Information Technology, and Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources.

The program stretches across 3 months stating from the second week of September and includes a blended approach (physical training, online training and E-Learning courses).

The training involves 18 employees from different departments and overseas branches, and aims to enhance both the analytical and critical thinking skills of the delegates as well as providing them with comprehensive and in-depth company and industry research, to ensure the competency level of NBK Credit and Finance professional is constantly being upgraded.

Commenting on this, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said, “NBK provides training and development opportunities aimed at building employees’ technical competencies and skills, including digital and leadership capabilities, and interpersonal and professional skills. Moreover, we offer mandatory annual or bi-annual trainings to ensure all employees’ acknowledgment and understanding of NBK commitments and expectations.”

“Developing future leaders has always been a key focus for NBK, as its training model enhances leadership capabilities, stemming from a concrete vision of our perception of authentic leadership,” he added.

“NBK is increasingly investing in talent through offering specialized programs at every level, from NBK Academy through which we select high potential fresh graduate local talent and prepare them for their career, to Middle Management Programs, and to Executive Education. Developing our talent is an ongoing and crucial aspect of our workforce management practices,” he noted.

“Human capital development is at the core of NBK’s performance and sustainable success. Our people are our success, and to that extent, our ESG strategy sets the pathway towards building an agile, diverse and inclusive workforce that fosters trust, creativity and transparency,” he explained.

The training partnership with leading institutions reflects NBK’s strategy to upgrade its human assets, being the cornerstone of all leading institutions, by providing the best training programs. It also translates the bank’s endeavors in establishing a growing path in the career of its employees to enable them to face the challenges in the banking sector.

It is worth mentioning that all the programs and courses delivered to employees are designed within an integrated training plan developed according to methodological and scientific standards to meet the needs of all relevant departments, in cooperation with the best banking experts and globally reputable training agencies.

Kuwait: NBK Organizes a Lecture on “Challenges for the Banking Industry Post-Digital”

Continuing to invest in the human capital and increase employees’ efficiency, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organizes a series of lectures and workshops focusing on developing personal and practical skills in areas related to digital transformation, innovation, leadership and effective communication.

In this context, the bank held the third of a 6-lecture series in September, which hosted 80 participants. Delivered by Ricardo Perez, Professor of Information Systems, Innovation and Corporate Strategy at IE, the lecture covered the challenges for the banking industry post-digital and implications of the next generation of technologies.

Understanding the developments in digital transformation and its implications for the banking industry is crucial as it directly affects setting policies, business strategies and plans in financial institutions so that they are able to keep pace with developments as they seek to achieve sustainable growth.

Speaking on this, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said: “Investing in the human capital is instrumental in NBK’s strategies and culture, and a key focus for the bank’s endeavors to achieve sustainable growth and create a banking generation capable of occupying leadership positions in the future.”

“At NBK, we firmly believe that efficient workforce is crucial to delivering high-quality banking services from different types, and that employees’ awareness of the changes and developments in the banking industry boosts this efficiency. Therefore, today's lecture comes within our endeavors to enhance the capabilities and skills of NBK human capital and provide them with top-tier training programs,” she noted.

Al-Sager emphasized that NBK harnesses all its capabilities to help develop the career of its employees by providing the best-in-class training and development programs, in collaboration with the world’s most renowned educational institutions.

Founded in 1973, IE Business School is one of the largest business schools in the world, consistently ranked among the top international educational institutions by international magazines and newspapers, Forbes, The Economist, Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Kuwait: NBK Opens Its New Branch at Al Khiran Hybrid Outlet Mall

Seeking to be always closer to customers to serve their needs wherever they are, (NBK) has announced opening its new branch at Al Khiran Hybrid Outlet Mall, providing customers with quick and easy banking all week round.

The new branch is receiving customers every Saturday to Thursday from 10 AM to 10 PM, and Friday from 4 PM 10 PM.

The branch also incorporates an ITM enabling customers to talk directly to an NBK Agent for assistance with their banking transactions anytime in a quick and easy way, using audio and video conferencing, while maintaining high security and privacy.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait, Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of NBK and Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK-Kuwait, who received Mr. Mohammed J. Al Marzouq, Chairman of Tamdeen Group and Mr. Abdulwahab M. Al Marzouq, Vice-Chairman of Tamdeen Group.

The event was also attended by Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, CEO of Consumer and Digital Banking Group at NBK, Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy GM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK, Mr. Ali Al-Mulla, AGM - Head of Domestic Branches, Consumer Banking Group at NBK, Ms. Ghadeer Al-Awadhi, AGM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK, in addition to a group of Consumer Banking Group executives. 

NBK welcomed the new branch visitors on the first day of operation by presenting coffee and snacks from Press Café, as well as gift vouchers redeemable at partner outlets of NBK Rewards Program.

Speaking on this, Mr. Ali Al-Mulla, Head of Domestic Branches, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We always seek to be closer to customers anywhere, and therefore, we are pursuing further expansion to reach them in all areas of Kuwait. This comes in line with our strategy to deliver premier banking products and services relevant to customers’ needs and various lifestyles in order to enhance their banking experience.”

“Our ongoing geographical expansion is well thought out and aligned with customers’ needs and expectations which we carefully identify based on close communication and analysis of their ideas and opinions, using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics technologies,” he added.

“The expansion of NBK’s branch and ATM network across Kuwait bolsters its market leading position, and comes in line with our endeavors to integrate branches’ services with digital channels services available around the clock, to ultimately offer customers a comprehensive banking experience,” he emphasized.

NBK continues to cement its leading position in the banking sector through the largest domestic banking network in Kuwait, with 72 branches. In addition, it boasts the biggest owned ATM network with 450 onsite and offsite ATMs/CDMs.

It is worth mentioning that NBK’s new branches are on par with international standards, reflecting the radical changes the bank is making to the traditional branches concept, starting from the design, to the interactive services and advanced banking solutions provided, to keep pace with the fast-paced developments in the banking industry. These changes reflect the expectations of NBK Customers with whom the bank is always in touch to know about their needs and expectations, to ensure offering relevant services at the branches.

Kuwait: NBK Opens Its New Branch at The Warehouse Mall in Subahiya

Seeking to be always closer to customers around the clock inside and outside Kuwait to cater to their needs and deliver top-notch, quick and convenient service, National bank of Kuwait (NBK) has announced opening its new branch at The Warehouse Kuwait Mall in Subahiya Area.

NBK always seek to enrich customers’ banking experience, by delivering impeccable banking experience nation-wide, aiming to solidify its leading position in the local market through the largest local banking network in terms of branch number and breadth.”

NBK’s branch expansion strategy mainly focuses on being closer to our customers, so as to integrate branches’ services with digital channels services to ensure offering customers a comprehensive banking experience.

All NBK’s banking products, services and payment solutions aim to serve customers’ needs, which are carefully identified through constant communication with all segments.

This is made using the bank’s various digital channels and advanced analytical methods through cutting-edge AI and Data Analytics techniques, then working to serve those needs to ensure delivering an impeccable banking experience.

NBK continues to cement its leading position in the banking sector through the largest domestic banking network in Kuwait, with 72 branches. In addition, it stands out with the biggest owned ATM network totaling 450 onsite and offsite ATMs/CDMs.

It is worth mentioning that NBK’s new branches are on par with international standards, reflecting the radical changes introduced in the traditional branches concept, starting from the design, to the interactive services and advanced banking solutions provided, to keep pace with the fast-paced developments in the banking industry. These changes reflect the expectations of NBK Customers with whom the bank is always in touch to know about their needs and expectations, to ensure offering relevant services at the branches.

Kuwait: NBK Announced the 2nd Millionaire After Raising Al Jawhara Account Prizes to KD 4,925,000

In line with National Bank of Kuwait's (NBK) commitment to delivering a comprehensive banking experience, complemented by exceptional rewards programs and the most lucrative prizes in Kuwait, the bank has increased the value of Al Jawhara grand prize four times starting from the beginning of the year, to KD 1,000,000, with three annual draws.

In this context, NBK has unveiled the second winner to secure the grand prize and attain millionaire status this year, with Ali Hussain Abbas Al-Mahmeed being announced as the winner. The draw was conducted electronically under the supervision of a delegate from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as a representative from the international firm "Deloitte." This protocol aligns with NBK's collaboration with an external auditor to ensure that the process adheres to the directives set by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

Since the beginning of 2023, NBK has more than doubled the cumulative value of Al Jawhara Account draw prizes to an annual total of KD 4,925,000, and the value of the weekly draw prize has also been increased by four times to KD 20,000.

Commenting on this event, Mr. Mohamed Al-Othman, Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer and Digital Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: "We are thrilled to announce the second millionaire of the year, as a result of our decision to increase the amount of Al Jawhara Account prizes by more than double. This initiative demonstrates our dedication to providing the highest level of services to our customers and enhancing the overall quality of their banking experience”.

“Increasing Al Jawhara prizes highlights NBK's strategic commitment to providing customers with a comprehensive banking journey, encompassing exceptional rewards, top-notch banking services, and unique products”.

“Al Jawhara Account serves as a significant avenue for earning, saving, and future planning for all family members. Furthermore, it contributes to fostering a culture of savings and advancing financial inclusion through its initiatives”.

Al-Othman emphasized that NBK's services and payment solutions are built upon constant engagement with customers, aiming to understand their requirements. This is accomplished using thorough analyses that employ analytical tools and customer surveys.

The account can be opened very easily through NBK Mobile Banking or NBK Online Banking for existing customers or by visiting the nearest NBK branch.

The minimum opening balance for Al Jawhara Account is KD 400, and the maximum limit to be held by customer is KD 500,000 in all Al Jawhara Accounts. If no withdrawals or transfers are made on the account during the holding period, the customers will receive an additional chance to enter the draw for every KD 50 held in the account, doubling their chance to win.

For more information about Al Jawhara Account, please visit nbk.com

Kuwait: NBK Renews Its Two-Year Partnership with Rafa Nadal Academy

Pursuing its endeavors to promote healthy living and practice of sports, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has renewed its partnership with Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA), the leading sports institution specializing in tennis and fitness, to sponsor all the academy’s exquisite sports activities and events.

NBK is the only bank in Kuwait that offers customers exclusive access to the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy, one of the most prestigious tennis academies in the world. This comes as part of delivering on its CSR commitments and its determined pursuit of sustainable development by promoting sports engagement and the adoption of a well-balanced lifestyle among its customers.

Under this partnership, NBK orchestrates a series of remarkable and exceptional events catering to numerous clientele at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy.. The primary objective of NBK's efforts is to enhance recognition of tennis heritage and furnish Kuwaiti youth with an avenue for honing their skills and fortifying the academy's preeminent standing in the region. Additionally, NBK is dedicated to providing its customers with unparalleled experiences, further amplifying the distinctive nature of this partnership.

The RNA extends a diverse array of offerings to its members, encompassing extensive options such as professional tennis training for those aspiring to participate in the sport. Alongside this, fitness sessions and swimming instruction are also available, all overseen by a specialized team of international professional athletes.

Speaking on this partnership, Mr. Mohamed Al-Othman, Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer and Digital Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We always seek to offer our customers top-notch banking experience by providing a wide range of exclusive offers that suit their diverse lifestyles and serve their needs, including customers’ with passion for tennis.”

“We are keen to leverage our solid ties with leading institutions in various sectors to enrich our customers’ banking experience by providing premier offers, benefits and discounts that suit various segments,” he added.

“NBK aims to encourage customers to practice sports and follow healthy living, considering its central focus on promoting sports culture in general among all segments of society and consistent endeavors to raise awareness of the importance of sports, especially among young people,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Mustafa Al-Marzouq, CEO of Tamdeen Sports Company, a subsidiary of Tamdeen Group, expressed his satisfaction and pride in the ongoing collaboration with NBK. He highlighted the bank's aspiration to elevate awareness about tennis and a wholesome lifestyle among the youth in Kuwait. This initiative is expected to engage a fresh wave of sports enthusiasts, thereby positioning Kuwait as a prominent regional tennis hub.

Furthermore, Al-Marzouq remarked, "This academy stands as an exceptional platform, actively contributing to turning the aspirations of tennis enthusiasts into tangible achievements through refining their on-field technical abilities. We have leveraged all our resources and collaborated with leading global experts and innovative partnerships to make this a reality."

It is worth mentioning that back in 2021, NBK signed a two-year partnership and sponsorship agreement with Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA), the leading sports institution specializing in tennis and fitness.

RNA members enjoy a variety of world-class sports facilities, including 15 high-end indoor and outdoor tennis courts, as well as padel and squash courts, indoor swimming pool, separate male/female gym providing a wide range of fitness classes and programs.

Kuwait: NBK and LOYAC Conclude the “KON” Social Entrepreneurship Training Program

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and LOYAC concluded the “KON” social entrepreneurship training program. The program is held with NBK’s Platinum Sponsorship, as part of its strategic partnership with LOYAC for the 8th year in a row, in collaboration with Babson College for Entrepreneurship Education to enhance students’ leadership and innovation skills for introducing projects that drive community development.

The program ran for 5 weeks with the participation of 53 male and female students between the age of 12 and 16, and included training sessions, discussions, lectures and workshops, which aim to introduce and promote pioneering social programs in Kuwait.

The program was delivered by leaders from NBK as well as experts from the participating companies and institutions who transfer their knowledge and expertise and give the necessary advice to the participants to help them develop their projects.

Speaking on this, Joanne Al Abdul Jaleel, Manager, Public Relations Officer at National Bank of Kuwait, said, “At NBK, we are proud of our sponsorship of the “KON” program, which embodies our keen endeavors to deliver on our social responsibilities, especially with regard to qualifying national talent from “today’s youth, tomorrow’s leaders”, and empowering them with knowledge and training to perform their crucial role towards a better future for our country, Kuwait.”

“Our strategic partnership with LOYAC, and consistent sponsorship of its meaningful cultural and youth activities emanate from our firm belief in its impactful contributions in supporting the endeavors of the government and private sector’s endeavors towards achieving sustainable development,” she added.

Al Abdul Jaleel expressed her pleasure with the program’s outputs and the noticeable tremendous development in the performance and knowledge of the participating students, who emphasized they have greatly benefited from the entire program’s content, which reflects highly careful preparation based on prudent scientific study.

NBK continues its annual humanitarian initiatives and support for social welfare programs in line with its unwavering commitment to deliver on its social responsibilities and firm belief in the powerful impact of these programs in serving the society and people, as well as in reflecting its leading role in this field over long decades.

LOYAC is a nonprofit organization that runs several programs for the youth to develop their professional skills, enhance their personal growth and help them find their sense of purpose by extending themselves to others.

Kuwait: NBK Academy Celebrates the Graduation of Wave 28

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Academy celebrated the graduation of its Wave 28 of newly hired employees who successfully met admission criteria for this intensive course specially designed for Kuwaiti fresh university graduates.

The graduation ceremony was attended by Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK- Kuwait, Mr. Faisal A. Al-Hamad, Chief Executive Officer - Global Wealth Management at NBK, Mr. Mohamed Al-Othman, Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer and Digital Banking Group.

The program ran for 7 months, from January to August 2023, during which the trainees received intensive training on banking, technological and behavioral as well as other skills that allow them to build a long career at NBK.

The course covered various areas of banking principles, such as design thinking and increasing productivity, training on creativity, innovation, and digital trends in the banking sector beside, in addition to banking business, and comprehensive understanding of all NBK groups and departments.

The participants presented new ideas to the executive management through a project covering all learnt topics, aiming to give them the opportunity to practice entrepreneurship as well as to stimulate their creative faculties and ability to generate innovative solutions.

The program also included various blended learning interventions occurred through in person and virtual courses. Furthermore, their development continues through e-Learning after the academy ends. 

It is worth mentioning that NBK Academy program content is regularly enhanced to keep pace with the latest trends in banking, management and digital areas.

The Academy reflects NBK’s vision to support sustainable human capital development as one of its top strategic priorities and a shared responsibility between the various governmental institutions and the private sector.

Launched in 2008, NBK Academy aims to pave the way for fresh Kuwaiti graduates to join the banking services sector by providing them with the best training programs developed in cooperation with leading international institutions and universities to meet the demands of the labor market.

NBK maintains its leadership in the private sector in terms of attracting, training, upskilling national talent and qualifying them to join the banking sector. The bank also stands out as the employer of choice for national professionals, with the highest Kuwaitization and employee retention ratios across the private sector.

Kuwait: NBK Enables Complaint Submission via NBK Mobile Banking App

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always seeks to be closer to customers by providing innovative digital services that help serve their needs and promote financial literacy and awareness among them. In this context, the bank now allows customers to file an official complaint through the NBK Mobile Banking App.

Through the new service, customers can submit complaints digitally through the NBK Mobile Banking App anytime, anywhere, and to receive a written response within 15 working days. They can also print the bank's response letter in case they wish to file a grievance with the Central Bank of Kuwait.

Using its social medial accounts, which are the most popular among all Kuwaiti banks, NBK intensifies awareness campaigns by posting educational and awareness material including text communications and video clips to familiarize customers with the best ways to benefit from the new services, as well as sending notifications about these services via the NBK Mobile Banking App.

Commenting on these new updates, Mohammed AL Dakheel, Head of Mobile Banking, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We are always keen to be closer to our customers and to keep constant communication with them; relying on digital channels which are instrumental in this regard, by enabling us to deliver all customers’ needs quickly and easily.”

“Achieving the highest customer satisfaction levels is a deeply-rooted culture among the NBK team and at strategy level. Customer satisfaction is also fundamental in all the bank’s business practices,” he emphasized.

“Digital channels, especially the NBK Mobile Banking App, have become instrumental, not only in making transactions, but also in communicating with our customers, giving them a comprehensive banking experience, which makes us always work on enhancing the advanced products and services provided by these channels,” he explained.

“NBK focuses on leveraging its tremendous data analytics and AI capabilities to enhance its ability to provide products that live up to customers’ needs and exceed their expectations,” he concluded.

In line with its leading position as the largest banking institution in Kuwait, NBK continues to support the “Let’s Be Aware” banking awareness campaign launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait, in cooperation, reflecting its belief in the importance of promoting financial inclusion among all segments of society, as well as increasing awareness on the best ways to benefit from the various services provided by banks.

Kuwait: NBK Supports the Kuwait Dive Team Project To Protect Coral Reefs

As part of its corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability strategy, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) supports the Kuwait Dive Team project to protect coral reefs in a number of Kuwaiti islands.

The project includes installing mooring buoys to prevent boaters from using anchors in this fragile environment. The project covered four important marine locations in Kuwait including Jaber Al-Kuwait Reserves, Along the north and mid coast of Bnaider and Al Khairan.

NBK Public Relations Senior Manager, Talal Al Turki, said: “The environment is a major priority for NBK. Protecting and preserving the environment are pivotal elements of our Social commitment for the aim of realizing overall sustainability in Kuwait.”

Al Turki added: “NBK is proud to join Kuwait Dive Team in these initiatives to clean up and preserve the marine environment of the Kuwait Bay, which is one of the main drivers of the national economy.”

“NBK is committed to promoting the adoption of socially impactful and accountable practices in Kuwait. This initiative is in-line with our directive to raise awareness on the best practices of social responsibility as well as increase awareness to reduce harm and preserve the environment,” he noted.

NBK is keen on supporting programs that serve the community and spread awareness in efforts to keep the environment safe and clean. NBK remains the largest contributor to society. NBK confirmed its commitment to corporate social responsibility through its tireless community development efforts.

The Kuwait diving team has been participating in the protection and rehabilitation of Kuwait’s aquatic world through a host of activities that runs the spectrum of positive interaction with the environment.

Kuwait: NBK Offers Privilege Customers Unmatched Summer Experience

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is keen to provide Privilege Banking Customers with unmatched experience comprising an array of top-notch banking products and services and a variety of offers that are relevant to their unique lifestyle. To this end, the bank introduced an exceptional range of luxury services and offers that meet their needs and expectations during the summer and holidays.

In this context, NBK announced providing Privilege Banking Customers with special discounts at Waldorf Astoria Kuwait including 15% on spa memberships, 15% on restaurants (AVA, Peacock Alley, OXIO or ROKA), and 5% when booking the wedding venue or the executive club.

The bank also provided Privilege Banking Customers with Free Limo Service to and from the airport during the Eid Al-Adha holidays as well as Eidiya Cash Delivery service to their doorsteps, anywhere in Kuwait through concierge service provider “Q’go Concierge” by calling or messaging WhatsApp number 1888125.

In addition, NBK conducted a draw on return tickets to the Maldives valid for 6 months for customers who used 3 services provided by “Q’go Concierge”, by making the booking and using the services during the period from February until July 2023, and 3 winners were announced on 4 July 2023.

NBK also introduced Multi-Currency Delivery to the doorstep of Privilege Banking Customers. The service is available around the clock all week long through concierge service provider “Q’go Concierge” by calling or messaging WhatsApp number 1888125. The currencies included US Dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling, Saudi Riyal, UAE Dirham, and Qatari Riyal.

Moreover, NBK offered Privilege Banking Customers up to 50% discount on Samsonite products when making their purchases using eligible NBK Credit Cards.

Speaking on this, Mohammed Akram Hashim, Head of Segments, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Recognizing the unique lifestyle of Privilege Banking Customers, we strive to provide them with a personalized experience incorporating unmatched services and offers that are tailored to their needs and expectations.”

“We are committed to deliver a luxurious experience to customers and always seek to be closer to them all year round, which makes us more able to meet their various needs at all times, including holidays and Eids,” he added.

“NBK is always seeking to provide a steady stream of premier innovative services and offers to give Privilege Banking Customers more luxury and peace of mind,” he noted.

Over the past years, NBK was able to maintain top-notch Privilege Banking services, and is always striving to offer customers a more innovative banking experience.

NBK provides Premium Banking Customers with an exclusive array of services, including: a dedicated relationship manager for Privilege Customers and a Personal Banking Officer for Thahabi Customers taking care of all customers’ banking needs. It also provides them with access to Premium Banking lounges, diverse investment solutions including: SmartWealth and Watani Brokerage, Family Banking package, Premium Banking Teller Services which grants them priority in making their transactions in a quick and easy way, in addition to card home delivery service, priority status when contacting NBK Call Center on 1801801 available 24/7.

Kuwait: NBK Supports LOYAC’s “KON” Program

As a platinum sponsor, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) welcomes the participants from LOYAC’s  program “KON”. This social entrepreneurship program is co-created with Babson College, the most prestigious entrepreneurship college in the United States and the number one institution in the world for entrepreneurship education. The program aims to introduce young adults between the ages of 12 to 16 to the world business and to turn their ideas into action.

Emad Al Ablani, General Manager Human Resources Group attended the opening of the program. NBK will take part in the training sessions that will be ongoing until the 10 of August 2023.

Throughout the four weeks program, leaders from NBK along with a group of professional leaders mentors and trainers, locally and regionally will encourage the 53 participants to create a profitable business that solves social challenges.

NBK’s sponsorship and participation in the program comes as a part of its strategic partnership with LOYAC. NBK is dedicated towards supporting talented young people and empowering them towards achieving their goals.

 KON is one of these initiatives that help invest and support young youths. NBK supported KON for eight consecutive years. The program provides its expertise to young people through training sessions and workshops and looks forward to seeing the participants moving into key leadership roles in their near future.

“KON” students will experience different stages during the program, thinking, planning and doing. The experiential learning journey the students undertake throughout the five weeks supports them to learn skills that include creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. The students also learn technical skills to write up a successful business plan, and how to pitch their business ideas to investors. By the end of the program, students will be able to present their business ideas before a jury panel, in addition to a professor from Babson College.

NBK believes that investing in human resources is investing in our future. The KON program goes along with NBK’s initiatives to invest in youth and support their aspirations.
LOYAC is a nonprofit organization that runs several programs for the youth to develop their professional skills, enhance their personal growth and help them find their sense of purpose by extending themselves to others.

Kuwait: NBK Organizes a Lecture on “Future Working Worlds” for Employees

Underscoring its belief in the importance of investing in the human capital, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues the series of Masterclasses on innovation and leadership organized for its employees, in partnership with IE Business School- Madrid.

This series is part of the bank’s consistent endeavors to develop its human capital and talent and qualifying them through top-of-the-line training programs that develop their skills, in partnership with the most reputable international educational institutions.

The series includes lectures focusing on several key topics, mainly Innovation and Leadership, as well as Communication and Digital Trends, Design Thinking Strategy and Customer Experience.

The second Masterclass, which was held during July, was given by Pablo Esteves, Professor of Leadership, IE School of Human Sciences and Technology. Esteves has extensive experience in entrepreneurial endeavors, and is a partner at Emzingo, a leading institution in leadership development, entrepreneurship and social innovation, and helped manage 100+ social projects since 2011.

The Masterclass aimed to explore future working trends and strategic planning for a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, identify the challenges and opportunities that may emerge and understand the waves and signals that help imagine plausible future scenarios, and apply them in different fields and industries.

This Masterclass comes within an intensive Development initiative, which includes 8 masterclasses which extend until the beginning of next year, and focus on many key topics that are instrumental in the future of the banking industry.

Speaking on this, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said: “NBK regards its employees as its most valuable resource, therefore, we give top priority to developing the skills of its employees, harnessing all capabilities to contribute to their professional development. To this end, the bank provides training and development programs in partnership with the most reputable international educational institutions, engaging a number of well-renowned experts to benefit from of their experience in relevant fields.”

“NBK’s consistent efforts to increase the efficiency of its employees reflect its commitment to achieving sustainable growth and creating a banking generation that can assume leadership in the future, and sustain the bank’s successful journey,” she noted.

“Human capital investment is one of NBK’s key strategies to achieve more success, especially considering that developing human resources is a key driver of the bank’s leadership, locally and regionally,” she added.

Founded in 1973, IE Business School is one of the largest business schools in the world, consistently ranked among the top international educational institutions by international magazines and newspapers, Forbes, The Economist, Financial Times and Bloomberg

Kuwait: NBK Warns Customers Against Sharing Their OTP

Reflecting its keenness to promote financial culture and raise awareness among the different segments of society, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched an awareness campaign for customers about the different fraud schemes and protection tips. The campaign emphasizes that the best way to maintain account confidentiality is not to reveal the OTP, which is highly confidential information that may not be shared with anyone.

The campaign comes as part of NBK’s ongoing intensified support of the “Let’s Be Aware” banking awareness campaign launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait, in cooperation with local banks and Kuwait Banking Association (KBA).

NBK uses its social media accounts and all digital channels to urge customers and followers not to share their OTP with anyone, accentuating that the bank will not ask customers to share their OTP.

NBK is keen to warn customers against the risks of different fraud schemes by posting written and graphic messages on its digital channels, as well as re-posting the Central Bank’s related messages to increase customers’ awareness about how to avoid falling victim to fraudsters.

These awareness messages reaffirm that the bank will never ask customers for their personal information via e-mail, SMS or phone calls, warning them against responding to messages representing fraudulent attempts to obtain their banking information to steal their money or data.

Launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait, in cooperation with local banks and KBA, the “Let’s Be Aware” campaign is the largest across the GCC region that aims to raise banking and financial awareness among banks’ customers, by covering a variety of highly important topics.

NBK is a key supporter and partner in all Central bank of Kuwait’s initiatives and campaigns aiming to raise financial and banking awareness among all segments of society. As a leading financial institution in Kuwait and the region, NBK frequently organizes different activities that help raise awareness about all topics related to the banking sector. It also organizes a wide range of activities and training courses on combating fraud and financial crime.

Kuwait: NBK Introduces New Features on Mobile Banking App

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues to enrich the services provided under NBK Mobile Banking App, aiming to help customers rely on mobile phones for all their transactions. In this context, the bank announces introducing a number of new services and features on the app, mainly including updating Personal information digitally without having the need to visit the branch, Generating NBK Quick Pay using QR Code, Paying Quick Pay links instantly through the App, and viewing card’s details and PIN using NBK Mobile Banking App.

The new updates of NBK Mobile Banking also include other services like using Quick Pay service to make in-app payments when receiving a Quick Pay link from an NBK Customer payee.

Updating Personal Information

NBK now allows customers to update Personal information using Mobile Banking App digitally at any time.

Whether inside or outside Kuwait, customers can now update their Personal Information simply by logging into NBK Mobile Banking App, tapping on “Update My Personal Information” under “Profile”, filling out the digital form, and Submitting the request in minutes.

Generating NBK Quick Pay through QR Code

The new updates allow using Quick Pay service on NBK Mobile Banking App by scanning QR code. The service is available in simple and easy steps anytime and anywhere, which will make link-generation process for NBK Quick Pay even quicker and easier.

If the payer is an NBK Customer, he can proceed with a payment by simply scanning the Quick Pay QR Code that was generated by the payee and make the payment using the new service in a fast, smooth, and secure way.

In-App Quick Pay Payments

NBK customers can now Pay NBK Quick Pay link instantly through NBK Mobile Banking App, which will give them the option the choose which account to Pay the link with in one tap, without having the need to enter the card credential to proceed the payment.

This new feature fulfills the daily needs of today’s customers when using NBK Mobile Banking App to make Quick Pay payments in a fast and convenient manner.

Commenting on these new updates, Mohammed AL Dakheel, Head of Mobile Banking, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK continues to add new innovative digital solutions to make daily banking more convenient. In this, we focus on enhancing NBK Mobile Banking App, seeking to offer our customers new and innovative methods to make their banking transactions, anytime, anywhere, for delivering the best banking experience.”

“As we are approaching the travel season, we seek to enable our customers to make all their transactions anytime, anywhere. In this context, enabling the service of updating personal information using NBK Mobile Banking App reflects our understanding of customers’ needs and endeavors to meet them,” he added.

“NBK will continue introducing innovative digital services to help serve the needs of customers via NBK Mobile Banking App, in an effort to enrich their banking experience and offer them more luxury and peace of mind,” he noted.

It is worth mentioning that NBK launched the new experience of NBK Mobile Banking App, including comprehensive enhancements to enrich customers’ experience and better meet their banking needs in an easier way.

With Mobile Banking App being NBK Customers’ personal banking companion, the new experience promises to strengthen the connection even further with upgraded features such as quick-action buttons to reach essential services easily, reordering favorite accounts and products on the dashboard, faster “NBK Quick Pay” service, a new Rewards Center, and much more.

The NBK Mobile Banking App is available for download on the App Store, Google Play Store, as well as Huawei App gallery.

Kuwait: NBK Launches Enhanced IVR Services

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always seeks to provide innovative and advanced digital banking products and services to better meet all customers' needs. In this context, the bank announced the launch of its enhanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services, which aim to enrich customers’ banking experience by adopting the latest technologies in this field, thus making transactions safer, faster and more convenient.

The enhanced IVR services empower customers to conveniently access a wide range of banking services at their fingertips, anytime and anywhere, by offering the following key features and benefits:

 With the upgraded IVR system, customers can effortlessly perform a variety of transactions, including opening new accounts, balance inquiries, fund transfers, bill payments, credit and prepaid card services, and more, all through a simple and user-friendly interface.

 NBK’s enhanced IVR services is now offering more personalized and intelligent interactions, leveraging customer recognition through their phone numbers.

 The upgraded IVR services offer 24/7 availability, allowing customers to access their accounts, make transactions, and seek assistance at any time, regardless of branch operating hours.
 Since security is a top priority for NBK, the enhanced IVR services incorporate advanced robust security measures in all their transactions.

Speaking on this, Tamer Allam, Head of Contact Center at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Enhancing our IVR services comes as part of our endeavors to integrate our services provided through various digital channels, and to meet our customers’ needs and offer them highly convenient banking experience through quick, easy and secure banking transactions.”

“The enhanced IVR services reflect NBK’s investment in state-of-the-art technologies, leveraging its fast-paced digital transformation to meet customers’ needs and expectations, which cements its position as a leading provider of highly advanced banking services in Kuwait and across the region,” he added.

“In developing all services, NBK relies on in-depth awareness of customers’ needs which is gained through continuous communication with them using various channels. Consequently, it ensures providing relevant products and services that meet and even exceed customers’ expectations,” he noted.

NBK always seeks to offer its customers unmatched banking experience 24/7, reflecting its solid leadership, which it seeks to maintain by meeting all customers’ banking needs, and continuing to provide the best, most advanced and secure services.

NBK continues to cement its leading position in the banking sector through the largest domestic banking network in Kuwait, including branch, ATM and POS networks. It also allows its customers to control their accounts and manage their finances all day and week round through NBK Online and Mobile Banking, in addition to NBK Call Center on 1801801 available 24/7 to receive customers’ enquiries and attend to their needs.

Kuwait: Al-Fulaij: Optimistic about Sustaining Strong Performance with Solid Balance Sheet

Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, the CEO of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) - Kuwait, said that the record financial results reported by the bank during the first half of 2023 are a continuation of the solid performance during the past year, as NBK succeeded in achieving exceptional performance thanks to the improvement in the Group’s income from core business activities.

In an interview with CNBC Arabia, Al-Fulaij stated: “the Growth in net profit is mainly driven by the increase in net operating income, which boosted by 18.8% in the first half of 2023, reaching KD 565.9 million, combined with substantial growth in net interest income and net fees and commissions.”

Al-Fulaij indicated that higher interest rates and the bank’s solid balance sheet contributed to the increase in margins, expecting this trend to continue moving forward.

“Our endeavors to strengthen our balance sheet, both locally and internationally, across different business sectors, including corporate, retail and Islamic finance, have enabled us to maintain our leadership in the markets where we operate,” he added.

“We succeeded in maintaining exceptional levels of credit quality and comfortable liquidity ratios, which paved the way for an increase in earnings per share. We also proceeded with our strategy to maximize returns for shareholders, in line with our long-term goals, as return on average assets and return on average equity recorded 1.53% and 15.2%, respectively,” he continued.

Al-Fulaij expected strong performance to continue during the second half of the year, despite some headwinds, with continued benefitting from a robust and diverse balance sheet and the group’s ability to seize opportunities in the different markets where it operates.

Resilience and diversification

As far as the operating environment in Kuwait is concerned, Al-Fulaij said that it has recently received some support after the election of a new parliament, expressing his hope that this would lead to a stable political scene in Kuwait. Al-Fulaij stressed that any stability would reflect on the operational environment gaining further momentum during the second half of the year, and that cooperation between the executive and legislative branches is crucial to driving financial and economic reforms and stimulating the private sector.

Speaking on the impact of changes in the operating environment on operating income, Al-Fulaij said that more than a third of the balance sheet come from outside Kuwait, which makes future growth and income streams geographically well-distributed; thus ensuring sustainable profitability. We also operate across diversified business sectors, which is one of the buffers protecting the Group’s growth and profitability.

“We will continue to strengthen our business activities and profitability across all markets and business sectors, while being well-prepared to seize growth opportunities resulting from the expected recovery of the non-oil sector activity in Kuwait,” he emphasized.

“NBK will continue its historical precautionary approach, as the Group will continue to follow a conservative policy in managing its credit exposures, taking into account the extended impact of a number of factors, including the impact on the operating environment as a result of the geopolitical developments, the crisis faced by European and American banks, as well as the uncertainty of the global economic outlook, with a possible downturn in global economy,” he mentioned.

Improving margins

On a question about NBK’s vision of interest rates, Al-Fulaij said that interest rate raising cycle is nearing its end, noting that higher interest rates are generally viewed as a positive factor, considering the strong and diversified funding structure of the group’s deposits.
“Around 40% of our non-bank deposits are CASA deposits, which are low-cost deposits that are not sensitive to interest rates, which is favorable for us when the interest rate is raised. Also, around a third of the loan portfolio is retail loans with fixed rates that are not re-priced, whereas the remainder are floating rate loans which are re-priced within a short period of time.”
“As we grow and strengthen our loan portfolio, we book new loans at higher interest rates, allowing average return on assets to improve regularly. This reflected positively on margins, which grew by 34 bps year-on-year to 2.52% in 1H 2023,” he added.

Growth markets

Al-Fulaij went on to talk about NBK’s geographical footprint in regional markets saying: “NBK is operating in 13 countries across 4 continents. At the present time, we are focusing on strengthening our presence in the key growth markets, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Saudi Arabia is one of the key growth markets that the Group is focusing on, as we are expanding our business in all sectors there, in view of the continued improvement of the operating environment and the various emerging opportunities that are in line with our strategic objectives.”

“We are laser-focused on expanding our recently launched global wealth management platform and benefiting from the NBK brand in growing assets under management there, as the Group’s AUM in Saudi Arabia have exceeded USD 1 billion since its inception, thanks to our highly professional wealth management and private banking team there,” he continued.

“We are greatly benefitting from the tremendous developments taking place in the Saudi market in light of Saudi Vision 2030, as we provide financing to projects that are witnessing a boom across all sectors. We also benefit from the influx of investments into the Kingdom from most of the main regional markets in which we operate,” he elaborated.

Speaking on the Group’s vulnerability to economic changes in Egypt, Al-Fulaij explained that the Egyptian economy is going through a difficult year, like other emerging markets, which were suffered successive external shocks over the past period. However, he expressed his hope for improvement in these conditions going forward, in light of the current economic reforms, and the potential resulting influx of foreign investments, and the normalization of inflation, starting next year.

“EGP devaluation against the USD has adversely affected NBK-Egypt’s dollar-denominated profits in our consolidated balance sheet, but its contribution to the Group’s profits is marginal, in view of the geographical diversity of our income sources, and that the Egyptian market represents only a small percentage – less than 5% – of our total assets,” he highlighted.

Al-Fulaij mentioned that NBK has a long-term strategy towards the Egyptian market. “Domestically, the bank’s operations are performing very well, it is reporting decent profits, and has a very healthy balance sheet as well.”

“We have plans for further expansion in Egypt, especially in the retail sector, in which we see growth opportunities given the large population and increasing financial inclusion, based on increasing our investments in digital banking,” he concluded.

Kuwait: NBK Reports KD 275.3 Million in Net Profit for 1H 2023

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has released its financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2023. The Bank reported a net profit of KD 275.3 million (USD 896.7 million), recording a year-on-year growth of 15.8% compared to the same period in 2022, where it recorded KD 237.8 million (USD 774.6 million).

In the three-months period ended 30 June 2023, NBK achieved a net profit of KD 141.1 million (USD 459.7 million), reflecting a year-on-year growth rate of 16.4%.

Total assets as of the end of June 2023 grew by 5.3% year-on-year to reach KD 36.1 billion (USD 117.5 billion), whereas total loans and advances increased by 7.1% year-on-year to KD 21.6 billion (USD 70.2 billion), while total shareholders’ equity reached KD 3.6 billion (USD 11.7 billion), growing by 6.6% year-on-year.

NBK Board of Directors has resolved to distribute semi-annual cash dividends of 10 fils per share for the period ended 30 June 2023 representing 10% of the nominal value of the shares.

Commenting on the bank’s 1H2023 financial results, Hamad Al-Bahar, NBK Group Chairman, said: “NBK delivered robust financial results in the first half of 2023. Our performance during that period reflects the great value derived from our diversified business portfolio and the resilience demonstrated by our balance sheet. It further reinforces our dedication to delivering sustainable and long-term added value to our customers, communities, and shareholders”.

“In the face of a challenging global economic landscape, we demonstrate our resilience and strength through our growth strategy, prudent risk and capital management, and diverse business portfolio,” Al-Bahar added.

Furthermore, Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK is reaping the benefits of its strategic investments in technology and its people, expressing his unwavering confidence in the bank's ability to continue its successful path, effectively addressing the growing needs of its customers, and achieving accomplishments that cater to their increasing demands.

“Our dedication to fostering customer loyalty, community contributions, and upholding the highest sustainability standards, strengthens our position as a regional leading bank. Moreover, it facilitates long-term growth opportunities,” Al-Bahar stated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Isam J. Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO, said: “In the first half of 2023, we demonstrated our commitment to our shareholder-focused strategy by successfully achieving strong profits and maximizing returns”.

Al-Sager highlighted that the sentiment in the operating environment in Kuwait is gradually improving following the election of the new parliament. He also expressed his optimism that this could result in improved momentum in the operational environment during the second half of the year.

Furthermore, he emphasized the exceptional performance of NBK's core business activities during the reporting period, building upon the continued positive performance achieved since the beginning of the year.

“Thanks to substantial growth in net interest income and net fees and commissions, the net operating income experienced a notable increase of 18.8% in the first half of 2023, reaching KD 565.9 million,” Al-Sager stated.

“Leveraging its robust foundation and a proven track record of maintaining resilient financial performance in various scenarios, NBK is well-positioned to provide its customers with comprehensive and tailored services from professional financial advice, to all products and services they require. Furthermore, the bank is dedicated to advancing its innovative digital experiences, distinguishing itself from competitors, and creating long-term value for its shareholders,” Al-Sager explained.

He highlighted the significance of strong business growth, robust liquidity, and prudent levels of asset quality as factors that will continue to drive profit growth throughout 2023. Furthermore, he emphasized that these factors have also empowered the bank to successfully navigate substantial challenges within the global banking industry.

“The first six months of the year witnessed NBK’s unwavering commitment in executing its strategic priorities and initiatives, resulting in notable revenue growth and strong operational performance. Additionally, significant milestones were achieved in the bank's digital transformation journey, bolstering relationships with existing customers and attracting new ones,” Al-Sager noted.

Furthermore, Al-Sager expressed the bank's pride in being awarded the “Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in the Middle East” by Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023. He also highlighted NBK’s advancements in digital innovation, initiatives for women's empowerment, sustainable development of resources and talent. These achievements are the results of the diligent efforts of the bank's employees in creating a unique customer experience and executing the bank's strategic priorities.

“In its pursuit to become the leading partner for customers and the community, NBK has unveiled its strong commitment to business practices and sustainable financing activities, including dedicated efforts towards achieving carbon neutrality. In alignment with these endeavors, NBK has recently re-envisioned the ESG strategy, with a focus on integrating its pillars throughout the group's operations and various activities. The bank has also published its Sustainability Report 2022, employing a new methodology and framework that effectively highlights the progress achieved in its initiatives. Additionally, NBK has organized training programs to equip employees with accredited certificates, ensuring that they possess the necessary knowledge and skills to fully understand the standards established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),” Al-Sager concluded.

Kuwait: NBK Publishes its Annual Sustainability Report 2022

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has recently released its "2022 Annual Sustainability Report", marking a significant milestone in its sustainability endeavors. This year's report adopts a new methodology that provides valuable insights and showcases a range of key initiatives, underscoring the bank's unwavering dedication to securing a sustainable future.

The Seventh Annual Sustainability Report 2022 marks a significant shift from NBK's prior reports by offering a comprehensive insight into the Group's innovative ESG Strategy Framework and its strategic approach to sustainability. This approach seeks to positively influence the communities it serves, promote sustainable growth, and uphold the highest global reporting and disclosure standards.

The report also presents a holistic perspective on NBK's fundamental ESG issues, risks, and performance data. It goes beyond that by encompassing the Group's ESG-related policies, strategies, and commitments throughout 2022.

The newly approved ESG strategy is centered around four pillars, which take center stage in the Sustainability Report 2022. Additionally, this report adheres to various sustainability reporting standards and frameworks, along with national and global environmental, social, and governance standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Moreover, NBK externally verified its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions data for the year ended 31 December 2022 and the reports alignment with the GRI standards.

The GHG audit certificate in the bank’s sustainability report verified that NBK’s reported GHG emissions are inline with GHG protocol. It also highlighted the evaluation process which rigorously assessed the accuracy and credibility of NBK's environmental impact data. Moreover, the bank obtained an independent audit to ensure alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. NBK's exceptional accomplishment establishes its unique position as the pioneer and sole organization in Kuwait to undergo an external assessment of its sustainability report. This achievement significantly bolsters the bank's credibility and is a testament to its unwavering dedication to adhering to international standards and frameworks.

Moreover, the report emphasizes NBK's significant accomplishments in the field of ESG. Notably, the bank received a score of 'C' from CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world's leading environmental disclosure platform, for its Climate Change and Forests 2022 Categories.

The bank has also made notable strides in responsible banking services, as exemplified by the introduction of its Sustainable Financing Framework. NBK has also set interim goals to reduce its total operational emissions by 25% by 2025, relative to the base year levels of 2021. These achievements reflect NBK’s commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible practices.

The report further showcased the NBK’s commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, mainly through its emphasis on talent development. Additionally, the report highlighted the bank's substantial community investment, reaching a total of KD23 million. These initiatives exemplify the bank's dedication to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, nurturing talent, and making significant contributions to the community.

Commenting on releasing this year's issue of the Sustainability Report, Mr. Isam J. Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO, said: "This year's Sustainability Report is a testament to our unwavering dedication to sustainable practices. It brings a renewed approach and perspective, shedding light on NBK's new sustainability strategy and its dedication to fostering positive change. This commitment extends beyond the bank itself, aiming to positively impact our societies. Our commitment is further affirmed by our announcement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and joining the United Nations Global Compact initiative."

"The report places emphasis on the ongoing progress made by the bank in its ESG priorities. These efforts are aimed at fostering a sustainable and inclusive future, demonstrating NBK's commitment to responsible practices across these key areas," Al-Sager added.

Al-Sager also highlighted the bank's support of clear and transparent ESG disclosures, emphasizing the importance of utilizing frameworks that enable comparability across different sectors and adhere to globally recognized standards. NBK also conducts external audits to facilitate the broader adoption of sustainable banking standards in Kuwait and the region. "This commitment underscores our dedication to promoting accountability and driving sustainable practices in the banking industry," Al-Sager confirmed.

"At NBK, we firmly believe that sustainability is integral to our long-term success. We are truly committed to positively impacting the environment and society, recognizing that these efforts will ultimately benefit our shareholders and clients. By prioritizing sustainability, NBK aims to create value beyond financial returns, embracing a broader responsibility to contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous future," Al-Sager concluded.

The four pillars of NBK's ESG Strategy Framework are:

1. Governance for Resilience;
2. Responsible Banking;
3. Capitalizing on our Capabilities; and
4. Investing in our Communities.

Kuwait: NBK Receives UK Investment Minister

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hosted Dominic Johnson, UK Investment Minister, and his accompanying delegation for a luncheon at its headquarters, on the sidelines of their visit to Kuwait.

Lord Johnson and the accompanying delegation were welcomed by members of NBK executive management.

Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait, welcomed the visitors, expressing his appreciation to UK Investment Minister and his role in building resilient bilateral relations between Kuwait and UK, which hosts many leading Kuwaiti financial institutions.

This visit reflects the solid long-standing ties that bring together the business communities in both countries and yielded decades of successful business and financial relations, extending to exchange of expertise and visions, and significantly contributing to serve the mutual interests of the two countries.

The mayor’s visit to Kuwait is part of his tour to promote economic and trade relations between Kuwait and the UK, in addition to unlocking investment opportunities and discussing areas of cooperation across various sectors. During the visit, other issues were addressed, including the latest financial and economic developments, both locally and globally. 

NBK always seeks to strengthen its presence in the main financial markets, foremost of which is the City of London, in line with the Bank’s strategy to support trade exchange between developed economies and countries in the region, in addition to serving its customers around the world. It also aims to strengthen relations with major London-based international companies seeking to launch their business in Kuwait and the region.

NBK’s international presence spans many of the world’s leading financial centers including  branches, subsidiaries and representative offices in China, Geneva, London, Paris, New York, and Singapore, alongside its regional presence in Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and UAE.

Kuwait: NBK Maintains Leadership in Attracting Top Kuwaiti Talent and Upholding Highest Kuwaitization Rates

Throughout the first half of 2023, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) remained committed in its role as the primary sponsor of national workforce, offering favorable employment prospects for Kuwaiti graduates. Furthermore, the Bank remained dedicated to attracting exceptional young Kuwaiti talents and actively strengthening sustainability initiatives, while placing even greater emphasis on Kuwaitization within the banking sector.

NBK is dedicated to upholding the highest Kuwaitization rates, in accordance with the regulations set by the Central Bank of Kuwait. To achieve this goal, the bank is actively developing initiatives that specifically target the attraction and nurturing of local talents. The Kuwaitization strategy further reinforces NBK's commitment to expanding efforts in attracting and retaining national talent in a sustainable manner.

Commenting on NBK’s successful strategies, Emad Al-Ablani, Head of Group Human Resources at NBK said, “Throughout the first six months of the year, we maintained our relentless efforts in attracting exceptional talents and skills. We take pride in being the largest private sector institution in Kuwait, with a remarkable 75.7% national workforce representation by the end of the first half of 2023. Furthermore, we continue to uphold the highest retention rates among Kuwaiti employees, reaffirming our commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment.”

“It is worth noting that approximately 83.6% of the total appointments in 1H2023 comprised Kuwaiti citizens, highlighting our commitment to national employment. Additionally, the proportion of Kuwaiti nationals holding managerial positions increased to 62.6% of the total number of managers by end of 1H2023, showcasing the continuous growth of local talents in our workforce, including those who graduated in 2022,” Al-Ablani added.

“These figures emphasize our unwavering and profound conviction in our historical role and our CSR commitment to recruit and attract national talents while fostering their skill development. By doing so, we aim to empower them to become the leaders of the future. This message and these values have been consistently preserved throughout our long-standing commitment,” Al-Ablani confirmed.

He further highlighted that the recruitment strategy of the Human Resources Group is focused on attracting top talents, aligning with the objectives of “New Kuwait Vision 2035”, and actively working towards increasing the employment of Kuwaiti citizens within the banking sector, thereby supporting the national economy.

“NBK has gained widespread recognition as a leading institution in attracting employees, thanks to its reputation for prioritizing equal opportunities and fostering workplace diversity. Through comprehensive programs focused on training and developing employees' capabilities and skills, the bank provides a solid foundation for building successful careers and preparing its people for future leadership roles within the organization. As a result, NBK has emerged as the preferred employer among Kuwaiti fresh graduates in the private sector,” Al-Ablani said.

In its efforts to attract and recruit professional talents, NBK actively seeks to establish strong partnerships with both local and international universities. By leveraging the latest applications and considering local recruitment campaigns, the bank aims to enhance opportunities for attracting employees. Furthermore, NBK has forged strategic relationships with numerous academic institutions to provide its people with professional development opportunities, ensuring their continuous growth and advancement.

In a recent achievement, NBK was honored with the prestigious top recruiter award for its remarkable contributions in job creation and Kuwaitization within the GCC. This esteemed recognition was presented by the Committee of GCC Ministers of Social Affairs and Social Development. During a career fair organized by AUM, the bank distinguished itself among all participating organizations for its exceptional efforts in recruitment and Kuwaitization. This accomplishment serves as a testament to NBK’s unwavering commitment to promoting national employment and advancing the goals of the GCC nations in these critical areas. In addition, NBK's endeavors were recognized by the international magazine "MEED," honoring NBK Academy as the "Best Youth Programme Initiative" for two consecutive years. Furthermore, NBK won “Best Implementation of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives” award, and NBK Rise was selected as “Best Initiative for Women in Business”.

Every year, NBK actively sponsors numerous job fairs for Kuwaiti youth, aiming to provide them with valuable information about job opportunities that align with their interests and aspirations. This consistent effort underscores NBK's ongoing commitment to supporting young national talents and equipping them with the necessary qualifications to enter the job market and secure suitable employment that matches their skills and ambitions.

Beyond its focus on employment, NBK continues to extend support to Kuwaiti youth through its sponsorship of the "TAMAKAN" program. This program, which was recently named the “Best Project in the Private Sector” by the GCC Committee of Ministers of Social Affairs, highlights the bank's commitment to empowering and uplifting young individuals. Additionally, the bank actively promotes financial literacy and awareness among students in public and private schools through the "Bankee" program. These initiatives showcase the bank's dedication to fostering the growth and development of Kuwaiti youth across various domains.

Kuwait: NBK is the Middle East's Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was named "Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in the Middle East" by Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023. This award was in recognition of NBK's exceptional contributions to community service, advancement of financial literacy, and dedication to empowering youth and women.

NBK's recognition resulted from meeting several criteria, encompassing its dedication to serving the community, advancement of financial education, and empowerment initiatives for youth and women. The evaluation also considered NBK's strategic programs, influential partnerships, and contributions to education, culture, women's empowerment, and society's overall well-being.

Furthermore, NBK's emphasis on fostering an inclusive work environment, nurturing employee growth and development, and incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices as a fundamental component of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework were considered.

Manal Al Mattar - Head of Corporate Communications at National Bank of Kuwait received the award on behalf of NBK at a special ceremony recently held in Dubai.

NBK was nominated in recognition of its proactive measures to incorporate and align sustainability standards and implement impactful initiatives in environmental, social, cultural, and health development.

This recognition serves as a further affirmation of the substantial progress made by the bank in achieving its CSR goals. Through successfully implementing a range of targeted programs, NBK has solidified its standing as a leading financial institution and a key driver of sustainable social and economic advancement.

NBK's dedication to empowering youth and women is at the core of its CSR initiatives. This commitment is demonstrated through various means, including mentorship programs, educational opportunities, facilitating access to financial resources, and actively contributing to fostering a more inclusive society.

In addition, NBK has introduced several significant initiatives in recent years, such as NBK RISE, the "TAMAKAN" program, and most recently, the "She's Next" program in collaboration with Visa, the first program of its kind in Kuwait.

Furthermore, through various initiatives, NBK has implemented considerable measures to foster financial literacy for youth. One of the bank’s most recent initiative, Bankee, underscores NBK's firm conviction that equipping youth with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage their finances effectively contributes to sustainable economic growth and prosperity for the entire community.

NBK remains dedicated to supporting initiatives that address pressing social issues, including education, healthcare, and environmental conservation, to promote societal well-being and foster sustainable development. Moreover, the bank is committed to upholding its longstanding mission of giving back to the community. NBK’s legacy spans over seven decades and actively contributes to creating a better future and its enduring commitment to social responsibility, sustainable development, and positive transformation serves as a catalyst for building a brighter future.

2022 was a milestone for CSR excellence, as NBK's initiatives gained momentum, expanding the number of activities, their nature, and the sectors they cover. This was further reinforced by increasing the value of NBK's investments, initiatives, and charitable donations during the year, which stood at KD 23 million, up by more than 45% year-on-year.

Kuwait: SmartWealth by NBK Capital Launches Its Investment Services on the NBK Mobile Banking App

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues to enrich the comprehensive digital experience of clients by providing them with integrated banking and investment products, services, and solutions from NBK and NBK Capital that meet all their needs and expectations. In this context, NBK Capital has integrated the SmartWealth investment service with the NBK Mobile Banking App, which allows app users to start investing in global markets with a diversified investment plan through a quick, simplified process using just their smartphones.
 
This offering is the first of its kind in the region where a bank’s clients are able to digitally open an investment account in an easy and secure way through the bank’s mobile banking app. Through NBK Mobile Banking App, SmartWealth investors will be able to open an account, view the details, holdings, and performance of their investment plan, as well as transfer money directly from their bank accounts to fund their SmartWealth investment account.

SmartWealth is a fully-digital investment service that aims to make investing easier for everyone. It targets investors planning for their long-term financial goals such as buying a home, saving for children’s education, retirement, or general investing. It provides clients with a simple, easy way to invest in multi-asset investment plans comprised of securities that provide exposure to stocks, bonds, real estate and commodities. The service also offers clients the opportunity to invest in global markets like the United States, Europe, Asia, and emerging markets using local funding methods.

These investment plans are customized to each client according to their preferred level of risk and future objectives, allowing them to save and invest their money for the long term even if they do not have any previous investing experience.

On this occasion, Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy General Manager of Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Enabling our clients to invest with SmartWealth through the NBK Mobile Banking App comes in line with our strategy to offer our clients an integrated digital banking experience by enriching the digital investment solutions available for them.”

Al-Nusif emphasized that NBK strives to provide all clients’ needs through the NBK Mobile Banking App, to help enrich their digital banking experience and allow them to make all their transactions anytime and anywhere.

 “SmartWealth has achieved great success, as reflected in the interest of investors looking to invest their money in an easy way that suits their lifestyles and long-term future financial goals,” Al-Nusif highlighted.

SmartWealth is a service by NBK Capital, the investment arm of NBK, which provides clients with investment advice to help them in the execution of their investment plans.

Al-Nusif noted that NBK Capital always strives to provide clients with the best-in-class long-term investment solutions, spearheaded by SmartWealth’s digital investment solutions.

Clients can open a SmartWealth account through the NBK Mobile Banking app, via SmartWealth’s dedicated website and mobile app, or through the designated relationship manager at any of NBK’s Branches.

Kuwait: NBK Organized Blood Donation Campaign For Its Staff

As a part of its social responsibility, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a blood donation campaign for its staff, on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day.

NBK staff voluntarily went to the mobile blood bank to donate blood. NBK provided transportation for the staff to go and donate.

On this occasion, Joanne Al Abdul Jaleel, NBK Public Relations Manager, said: “NBK always goes far in serving the community. The blood donation campaign demonstrates NBK’s lasting commitment to the community and to its Corporate Social Responsibilities Program.”

“NBK’s initiative is a commitment towards all patients who are in dire need of blood and is held to support the blood bank in Kuwait,” she added.

The Blood Bank team commended NBK’s initiative and its continuous cooperation in serving the community in the philanthropist field. 

NBK strongly supports health care awareness. Throughout the years, NBK also organized several annual social awareness programs including dental checkups, blood pressure tests, weight checkups, mental health and breast cancer awareness.

Kuwait: NBK Supports Kuwaiti Artists

Within its consistent endeavors to support of Kuwaiti talented artists and encourage them to showcase their outstanding artistic works, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched a competition for Kuwaiti artists to provide a limited edition design for NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card.

The initiative is introduced in partnership with, Visa and Visual Therapy Art consultancy, and registration in the competition is open from June 15 to August 15, on the Company’s website via the following link:

www.visualtherapy.art/nbkkwtvisainfinite

Contestants can submit more than one design, and at the end of the competition, the organizers will announce two winners; one for the silver card and the other for the pearl white card. Each winner will receive a cash prize of KD 2,500, and one artist can win both prizes.

Applicants must be painters who has previously presented artistic works like drawings, sculptures, artistic design (graphic designer) or a professional artist.

The artistic designs will be presented to a panel consisting of members from NBK, Visa and Visual Therapy, through which the two winning designs will be selected and announced no later than next October.

Commenting on this campaign, Bader Al-Janah, Head of Card Products, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “This competition comes in line with our commitment to support Kuwaiti artists, as part of delivering on our corporate social responsibility towards all segments.”

“NBK seeks to preserve the national identity that these designs can give to the cards,” he emphasized.

“We always aim to provide a comprehensive banking experience with attention to all details to ultimately achieve customer satisfaction and convenience. Therefore, we seek to explore innovative ideas to develop product design and benefits relevant to customers’ needs,” he added.

“This 5-year limited edition design is only for NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card, which combines an exclusive package of exceptional benefits giving its holders a unique lifestyle thanks to the included rewards and offers, which are relevant to their needs and expectations,” he concluded.

On his part, Ankush Devadason, Visa’s Head of Financial Institutions for Kuwait, said: “We are delighted to partner with National Bank of Kuwait and Visual Therapy on this special initiative. Kuwait is home to a vibrant art scene and this initiative is a great way for us to showcase local artists and support them in creating unique designs that will enhance the payment experience of NBK’s Visa Infinite credit cardholders. Good luck to all the participating artists and I am excited about seeing all the great local art that will be designed for this competition.”

Mrs. Shahad Bishara, Founder and Curator of Visual Therapy also voiced her pleasure with the campaign saying: “We are extremely proud to partner with illustrious institutions like NBK and Visa on this creative campaign. This campaign will present young Kuwait artists and creatives with a unique opportunity to showcase their talents on a broad scale. One of Visual Therapy’s key missions has always been to support young local artists and creatives and this opportunity will undoubtedly provide a tremendous creative outlet for them. We would like to thank NBK and Visa for this opportunity and look forward to bringing the artistic creations to life.”

NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card gives customers the flexibility to choose the way they want to earn rewards based on their lifestyle; either the “Spends Tier” or “Merchant Category” option. Customer can earn NBK KWT Points on all their spends made using the card when choosing the “Spends Tier” earning option, based on their monthly spends, with up to 5% on digital payments and international POS, and up to 3% on all other spends.

When choosing the “Merchant Category”, customers can earn NBK KWT Points on all payments made using NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card at the selected categories, with 10% on dining and telecom, 5% on fitness and beauty and 3% on clothing, grocery and education.

In addition, customers can enjoy flat 10% NBK KWT Points when using their card at Ikea, Eureka, Farfetch, and booking.com.

Customers can redeem NBK KWT Points up to KD 1,000 per month. In addition, NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders can earn NBK Rewards Points at over 900 participating outlets.

Kuwait: NBK Sponsors KALD’s Persevering Student Award Ceremony for School Year 2022/2023

Pursuing its support of the students with learning difficulties and ADHD, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has sponsored Kuwait Association for Learning Differences (KALD’s) Persevering Student Award for school year 2022/2023.

The award’s goals include encouraging students to show tenacity and commitment by honoring outstanding students, promoting the culture of excellence, and developing positive attitudes towards teaching and learning among them.

The mechanism for this year’s award included nominating four students by each school for middle, high school, and grade four and five from elementary school, who should be officially registered in a government, private or special education school in Kuwait, and only students with specific learning difficulties or ADHD are eligible for nomination.

NBK is a key sponsor of the various events organized by KALD, in line with its sustainability strategy, which incorporates education as a major factor.

This reflects the bank’s belief that these events help provide valuable opportunities for the young people to show their capabilities and talents and develop their social skills.

NBK’s ongoing strategic partnership with KALD over the past years goes in line with the bank’s social responsibility mission of supporting the different segments of society, particularly children with learning difficulties, with the aim of providing them with psychological support and motivating them to express their talents and potentials.

It is worth mentioning that NBK shows unwavering commitment to supporting humanitarian organizations and childcare societies, in addition to participation in various social welfare programs in cooperation with various entities, reflecting its leading CSR role. NBK stands out among all private sector institutions as a keen sponsor of meaningful social initiatives across many sectors including healthcare and childcare, as well as social, environmental, sports and educational development in Kuwait.
 

Kuwait: NBK Organizes a Masterclass on “Innovation and Digital Trends” for Its Employees

Reflecting its belief in the importance of increasing the efficiency of its employees, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a masterclass titled “Innovation and Digital Trends” which was delivered by Alberto Levy, the Professor at IE’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center.

The masterclass that was attended by managers from various groups and divisions across the bank explored the latest digital trends and how they are driving innovation in various industries. It also discussed some special concepts about providing innovation environment and the key factors that help in creating an ideal environment for innovation, generating new and unconventional ideas and solutions, and ways to promote innovation culture within the same work team.

The lecturer provided an overview of the latest digital trends that are shaping the business landscape including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, data analytics, which is based on predicting customers’ behavior and interests. He also explained how these technologies are disrupting industries and creating new opportunities for innovation.

The class included a workshop in which participants worked in groups to explore how digital trends are being applied to drive innovation, and how to leverage emerging technologies to transform business models, enhance customer experiences, and improve operational efficiency. It also examined the challenges and risks associated with implementing digital technologies in the banking industry.

Throughout the class, the participants engaged in interactive discussions and activities to encourage participation and collaboration, which helped them gain a deeper understanding of the latest digital trends and how they can be leveraged to drive innovation.

Alberto Levy is considered an “Innovation Evangelist”. He holds a Master’s degree from New York University in Interactive Telecommunications and is an international lecturer and professor at IE’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center.

Commenting on this, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We are pleased to organize this intensive training program, which includes 8 masterclasses which extend until the beginning of next year, and focus on many key topics that are instrumental in the future of the banking industry.”

“NBK regards investing in its employees as a key strategic pillar to achieve sustainable growth, and maintain its excellence and leading position in the banking sector. Therefore, it strives to keep pace with the latest developments in the training and development area, to deliver on its commitment to empower and qualify its employees through specialized programs,” he emphasized.

Al-Ablani mentioned that all the programs and courses delivered to employees are designed within an integrated training plan developed according to methodological and scientific standards to meet the needs of all relevant departments, in cooperation with the best banking experts and globally reputable training agencies.

“NBK is always introducing new training opportunities that promote an open work culture, enabling leaders to create a work environment driving employees’ creativity and innovation,” he remarked.

NBK focuses on developing its employees as a top priority, harnessing all its capabilities to contribute to their career progression by providing training and development programs. In addition, it makes its utmost endeavors to support employees in building their careers within the bank, believing that its successful and sustainable transformation depends on diverse and high-caliber talent.
 

Kuwait: NBK Organizes a Training Course for Dasman School Special Needs Students

As part of the ongoing drive to discharge its CSR towards all segments of society, especially the people with special needs, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced the successful completion of a training program for the special needs students of Dasman School, with the aim of encouraging them to receive training and engage in the banking business experience.

The program that ran for two weeks at Domestic Branches Department, focused on familiarizing participants with work nature in branches, as well as the basics and mechanisms of the banking business. It also aimed to provide a comprehensive and supportive environment for students with special needs, allowing them to acquire real-world knowledge, and develop essential skills to be more familiar with the future labor market.

The program witnessed active participation by students in the various activities and assignments, which were carefully designed to suit their abilities and interests. They also had the opportunity to gain practical experience in Domestic Branches Department.

During the program, NBK staff worked closely with the students, providing them with guidance, and support throughout the training journey with the aim of deepen their understanding of the banking industry and building their confidence in the work environment.

Upon completion of the course, the participating students from Dasman School visited NBK to receive their certificates, in a ceremony attended by the executive management, who praised the students for showing enthusiasm, determination and achieving progress during the program.

On this occasion, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at NBK said: “We are very proud to host the special needs students of Dasman School and to give them the opportunity to learn and grow, and help them build their future career path.”

“We believe in the potential of every individual in our society, and this program reflects our keenness to promote inclusion and provide equal opportunities for all segments of society, including the cherished segment of people with special needs,” he added,

“NBK leads the way in extending all sorts of support to people with special needs by developing services and providing the necessary facilities to allow them easy access to the designated branches,” he noted.

“We also provide ATMs equipped with Braille keyboards and headphones, allowing visually impaired customers to make withdrawals,” he elaborated.
It is worth mentioning that NBK is the first bank to have trained employees at all branches to provide services in sign language to hearing-impaired customers. It also offers iPads with speech-to-text functionality for visually impaired customers, as well as wheelchair access to branches, and reserved, clearly marked parking spaces for special needs customers. It also adopts a policy for recruiting people with special needs, in cooperation with the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs (PADA) and the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM).
 

Kuwait: NBK Launches the Eighth Cohort of Its “High-Fliers” Program

Reflecting its firm belief in investing in human capital and continuous development of its employees, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched the Eighth cohort of its “High-Fliers” program for qualifying young banking leaders, in cooperation with IE Business School, Madrid.

The training program, which expands over a period of 6-months, and engages NBK’s international branches, covers various modules and topics including: technological trends, design thinking, change management, strategy, negotiation skills, positive leadership and digital transformation. The participants will work within teams to introduce innovative ideas and solutions. Concluding the program, the winning team will be selected By a panel of NBK executives and representatives of IE Business School.

On this occasion, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said: “The program is primarily focused on enabling trainees to unlock their full potential and encouraging them to combine technical and leadership skills to cultivate strategic thinking in leadership upon successful completion.”

“NBK places human capital development as a top priority, harnessing all capabilities to develop its employees by providing them with training and development programs in partnership with the most reputable educational institutions worldwide, in order to keep pace with the key development in the banking industry,” she noted.

Al-Sager emphasized that NBK always seeks to unlock the creative energies of its employees, which is positively reflected on their performance, ultimately placing the bank at a leading position, both locally and regionally.

The “High Fliers” Program is part of NBK’s consistent endeavors for human capital and talent development to prepare qualified future leaders who are able to sustain the bank’s long-standing success.

Founded in 1973, IE Business School, Madrid is one of the top leading business schools in the world. It is consistently recognized as one of the world’s top centers of learning by international magazines and publications including Forbes, the Economist, The Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Kuwait: NBK Sponsors Seminars Titled “How Will AI Impact Banking” and “Influence & Negotiations” in Collaboration with KIBS

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is sponsoring a number of seminars organized by Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies (KIBS) during May and June, hosting lecturers from IE University- Madrid and London Business School.

The seminars tackle a number of key topics relevant to the banking sector including “How Will AI Impact Banking” and “Influence & Negotiations”.

The workshop titled “Influence & Negotiations” was presented by Dr. Niro Sivanathan, Prof. of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School.

The workshop focused on making good decisions, influencing individuals, and negotiating good deals. Through a variety of simulations and cases dealing with negotiations, and influence, it explored the processes by which leaders can bring value to themselves and their organization.

The lecture augmented participants’ knowledge of negotiations by bringing together extant knowledge on decision-making and the psychology of influence to develop a set of tactics and strategies to influence others at the bargaining table and beyond.

It also helped participants from professionals who have policymaking, managerial or supervisory roles in banks and non-banking organizations developing strategies all designed to help negotiators create and claim the greatest value.

Dr. Niro’s work has been published in top journals in the fields of Science, Management and Psychology, such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behavior, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Psychological Science, and Journal of Applied Psychology, among others.

In a related context, NBK also sponsors a seminar themed “How will AI Impact Banking” which hosts Prof. Ikhlaq Sidhu, the Dean of the School of Science and Technology, IE University in Madrid Spain. The program explores the impact of AI and ChatGPT on the banking industry as well as the various ways in which AI is being used in the sector. It also demystifies the technology trends of AI, ChatGPT and new Web technologies, through discussion of their relevance to the banking industry. In particular, the program also examines how AI technologies, such as machine learning and natural language processing, are being used to automate various banking processes, improve customer service, enhance fraud detection, and reduce costs.

Participants will discuss how AI is transforming the traditional banking system and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for financial institutions and their customers, as well as case studies of AI applications in banking operations and fraud detection.

Prof. Ikhlaq Sidhu is the Dean of the School of Science and Technology, IE University in Madrid Spain and the founding faculty director emeritus of UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology. He is the author of the book "Innovation Engineering" and the creator of the very popular Data-X Course at Berkeley. He has been granted 75 patents in internet communication technologies. Dr. Sidhu developed the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship, a teaching framework used at UC Berkeley as part of the Entrepreneurship & Technology area at the 1 university in the world.

NBK’s participation as a main sponsor of these seminars comes as part of its consistent endeavors to actively contribute to increasing awareness and knowledge among all segments of society, especially in view of the fast-paced technological advancement and its impact on digital banking services.

NBK always sponsors such seminars as part of its social initiatives, reflecting its approach to develop the different areas of society including social and educational sides, in an effort to better serve society and contribute to its development.

Kuwait: The Institute of Banking Studies Honors 17 NBK Employees

The Institute of Banking Studies (KIBS) honored 17 Employees from National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) who participated in a number of training programs provided by the KIBS for the banking sector employees, as part of the Professional Certification Programs for year 2021-2022. These programs are accredited by The London Institute of Banking and Finance, which is one of the leading international institutions in professional banking and finance studies.

NBK employees received various professional certificates including: Certified Bank Branch Manager (CBBM), Certified Bank Branch Operations Manager (CBBOM) and Certified Business Relationship Manager (CBRM).

NBK adopts a strategy that promotes employees’ continuous development and improvement of their skills and expertise. To this end, the bank links promotions and financial incentives to academic certificates and training courses obtained by employees, to ensure continuous development for them.

The bank also regards professional certification as paramount in employee’s career, and always motivates them to pursue continuous development of their capabilities and skills. In addition to being globally accepted tools for continuous learning and training, these certificates help boost the professional competence of banking sector employees to keep pace with global changes in this regard.

The Programs aim to improve their efficiency and enhance their capabilities to ensure that they are up to date with the latest advancements made in the global banking industry and qualify them to become active contributors to the economic development in Kuwait.

KIBS’ initiatives aligns with NBK’s strategy of investing in its human capital, as seen in its consistent endeavors to support, empower, train national talent and provide them with promising employment opportunities. This reflects NBK’s role as one of the top private sector employers of Kuwaitis, and keenness to offer training programs designed according to advanced scientific methodologies, to help improve employees’ performance.

Kuwait: NBK Launches the New “Plus” Package with Exceptional Benefits

Pursing its endeavors to offer customers a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience that suits their various needs and expectations, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched “Plus Package” which provides exceptional benefits and exclusive offers tailored to customers’ lifestyle and needs. This includes NBK Plus Debit Card and NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card, the most popular credit card in the country.

Plus Customers can get up to KD 1,900 discount on Volkswagen cars, exclusive discount on talabat orders every Friday, 100% cashback on Netflix, global airport lounge access with a guest, 10% cashback on retail shopping, instant discounts, and NBK Rewards Points at 900+ partner outlets.

The new Plus Package is for new and existing salaried customers having a monthly salary ranging from KD 800 to KD 1,499.

Commenting on this new launch, Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy General Manager of Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We always seek to provide a relevant and superior banking service that resonates with our customers. Plus Package is intended to enhance customer delight in a meaningful and value driven experience.

“NBK is always working on introducing new banking products and services, based on its close monitoring of the ever-changing behavior and preferences of customers, coping with these changes to ensure offering them top-notch banking services,” he emphasized.

“Plus is the only salary package in Kuwait creating value to the customer that encapsulates their lifestyle needs. In addition, first jobbers can begin their career journey with NBK as a preferred banking partner,” he remarked.

NBK Cards are globally accepted at millions of POS in-store and online, offering cardholders instant discounts. It also offers cardholders utmost convenience and security wherever they are around the world, as they can easily monitor their bank accounts and manage their funds through NBK Mobile or Online Banking.

Additional benefits for Plus Customers

• Up to 10% cashback at IKEA and booking.com 
• Up to 10% cashback and instant discount on FARFETCH and EUREKA
• Buy one get one free ticket with VOX CINEMAS
• Up to 30% off on THOUQI, BAZMA, SHEIN, VOGA CLOSET, and JUST CLEAN.  
• Free dental treatment at Bayan Dental

Kuwait: NBK Awarded “Best Bank in Kuwait” for 2023

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was named “Best Bank in Kuwait” for 2023 by Global Finance, in its annual survey for the Best Banks in the Middle East, based on the input from a large panel of experts, analysts, corporate financial executives, bankers and banking consultants worldwide.

Global Finance mentioned that this year’s Awards recognize the financial institutions that offer the broadest range of services as well as the reliability required for long-term financial relationships.

In selecting NBK as Best Bank in Kuwait, Global Finance relied on a set of criteria including: growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and innovation in products.

Global Finance, founded in 1987 and headquartered in New York, is one of the most reputable magazines specialized in finance and economics. It has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 193 countries worldwide, including senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions.

The magazine conducts various surveys annually about innovation and profitability for banks and financial institutions all over the world, based on which it selects top performers on the regional and international levels.

National Bank of Kuwait is regarded as the top financial institution in Kuwait with actual predominance among commercial banks’ sector. It is consistently awarded one of the highest credit ratings among all banks of the Middle East, collectively from the Big 3 Credit Rating Agencies: Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. NBK also stands out in terms of broad local and global network, including branches, subsidiaries and representative offices across key financial hubs worldwide including China, Geneva, London, Paris, New York, and Singapore, as well as its regional presence in Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE.

Kuwait: NBK Partners with Visa to Launch ‘She’s Next’ Program for the First Time in Kuwait

In its ongoing efforts to empower women and promote their social contributions, especially in business, NBK has collaborated with Visa on ‘She’s Next’ initiative, a global advocacy program that aims to support women-owned small businesses which is brought for the first time to Kuwait.

Until June 23, women entrepreneurs from the owners of small businesses in Kuwait can apply to ‘She’s Next’ to receive support in the form of funding, training and mentorship.

One winner will receive a grant of USD 50,000, a tailored training program, and access to She’s Next Club resources such as a workshop library and community of entrepreneurs.

Grand prize winner will be chosen through a jury that will evaluate participants work based on certain criteria including but not limited to Compelling Story of Entrepreneurship, Strength of Business Metrics, Compelling Digital Presence and other.

Commenting on this partnership, Ghadeer Al-Awadhi, Assistant General Manager – Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait, , at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Supporting and empowering women is firmly embedded in NBK’s corporate culture, strategies and commitment to deliver on its CSR responsibilities to ensure that no segment of society is marginalized and that equality is achieved among all.”

“NBK has many programs in place that support women’s empowerment. Starting from equal pay to inclusion and career development opportunities, the latest of which was ‘NBK RISE’ which has been a huge success in its first batch organized this year,” she noted.

“We recognize the critical role that women entrepreneurs play in driving economic growth and innovation. With the rapid pace of digital transformation in our country, it is more important than ever to support the success of women-owned businesses. That is why NBK is proud to partner with Visa for the inaugural edition of ‘She’s Next’ in Kuwait,” she added.

“Through this partnership with Visa, the global leader in payment sector, we will empower women entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to thrive in today’s digital economy and beyond,” she continued.

On his part, Ankush Devadason, Visa’s Head of Financial Institutions for Kuwait, said: “We are proud to partner with National Bank of Kuwait to bring our global ‘She’s Next’ initiative for the first time to Kuwait. Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges, including limited access to capital, heightened security concerns, and societal pressures, which are further compounded by the shift towards digitalization.”

‘NBK Rise’ is an inspiring experience that is not exclusive for NBK, but brings together a number of leading corporations in Kuwait, who signed a pledge to increase the representation of women in leadership positions, reflecting their firm commitment to work jointly to achieve the goals of this global program.

The 9-month program is divided into various modules, each tackling a different area of leadership. The participants work closely with world-renowned universities, which provide them with the required training to acquire best-in-class leadership tools and techniques.

NBK recently unveiled one-of-a-kind commercial credit cards that provide financial solutions for businesses. NBK Commercial Cards offer unlimited cashback of 1.5% (for the credit card) and 1% (for the prepaid card). Other unique advantages include offering customers virtual cards that facilitate easy fund access while safeguarding their actual card number.

Kuwait: NBK Participates as Gold Sponsor of AUM Career Fair

Reflecting its consistent support of fresh graduates as they make the first step in their career, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) participated as the Gold Sponsor of the American University of the Middle East (AUM) Career Fair 2023.

NBK’s participation in the fair reflects its continuous endeavors to support the Kuwaiti youth and to attract the best national talents and to provide them with suitable job opportunities in an important sector like the banking and financial sector.

The fair was held over 3 days from 22 to 24 May during which NBK’s pavilion attracted a large number of visitors from the participants, as Group Human Resources staff provided answers to all inquiries raised by the students who filled out the job applications for available vacancies. This comes in line with the bank’s endeavors to encourage these graduates to join the banking sector, which is pivotal in developing the Kuwaiti economy.

Speaking on this, Jarrah Al-Shatti, Senior Talent Acquisition Officer at National Bank of Kuwait said: “By sponsoring career fairs, NBK aims to offer a meeting point between private sector companies and potential candidates looking for a career. It also helps graduates navigate their way into the labor market and connect directly with companies and institutions to secure job opportunities.”

“NBK is committed to provide training programs for young Kuwaiti fresh graduates and students, to equip them with the expertise, professional knowledge, and on-job training, as professional preparation for them to navigate their way into the labor market, reflecting its role as one of the key supporters of the youth among private sector institutions in Kuwait,” he added.

“We always seek to solidify our leadership in the private sector in attracting, training, upskilling national talent and qualifying them for joining the banking sector. We also do our utmost endeavors to build professional young national cadres who are able to take on leading roles in the future and promote a sustainable future for the Kuwaiti economy,” he continued.

“NBK boasts a unique and solid workplace culture matching international peers. It ensures continuous development for its employees through exceptional training opportunities including professional training programs that are aligned with the highest international standards to help develop their skills and expertise for a thriving and sustainable career,” Al-Shatti remarked.

NBK is an employer of choice that offers equal opportunities and embraces diversity in the workplace. In addition, NBK’s recruitment strategy is based on acquiring, training and developing the young national cadres through the best-in-class programs to help them build a successful career that qualifies them to take on future leading roles in the bank. This makes NBK the private sector employer of choice for the Kuwaiti fresh graduates as it boasts the highest Kuwaiti employee retention rate.

NBK annually sponsors many career fairs for the Kuwaiti youth to introduce to them suitable job opportunities that meet their aspirations, reflecting its constant commitment to nurture the young national talent and qualify them for the labor market. It also provides unwavering support to all career fairs that help youth and fresh graduates to find the right job.

Kuwait: NBK Participates in Exhibition and Panel Discussion Marking International Museum Day

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always shows commitment to supporting cultural activities, magnifying Kuwait’s heritage, and highlighting its role, as a leading player in the private sector, in Kuwait’s economic history. In this context, NBK Museum participated in the panel discussion and the exhibition organized by National Museum of Kuwait celebrating International Museum Day. As part of this participation, NBK exclusively showcased rare historical holdings dating back to 1952, when it was founded.

The exhibition is held at the Kuwait National Museum from May 18 until the end of the month , with the participation of Kuwait Heritage Society, International Council of Museums (ICOM) – Kuwait, and Quttainah Medical Museum.

Activities include displaying a variety of historical books and documents and valuable objects, which date back to 1952, when NBK was founded, which represent historical milestones in the bank’s journey and the Kuwaiti economy.

Speaking on this, Aeshah Al-Bader, Museum Curator & Archivist, Public Relations and Event Management at NBK said: “By participating in this kind of events, we aim to highlight the milestones of Kuwait’s economic history through NBK Museum’s archive collection including historical documents kept for decades.”

“We seek to benefit from the expertise of Kuwait’s museums as we are in the process of designing the NBK Museum. To this end, we communicated with several museums in Kuwait to learn from their expertise and engagements with local and international museum designers, as well as their experience in sustaining equipment quality and maintenance,” she added.

“Sustainability is not limited to environmental issues, as we also have sustainability of knowledge, which we seek to accentuate through our participation in the exhibition. We aim to promote cooperation between different centers to maximize the benefit of all parties from the expertise and services of others,” she noted.

The National Bank of Kuwait was founded by virtue of Amiri Decree dated 19 May 1952, as the first homegrown bank and  first shareholding company in Kuwait and the Gulf region. Given that, NBK’s history is closely connected to Kuwait’s history and development, therefore the NBK story will not only chronicle the banks development, rather  the different stages of Kuwait’s economic and social development.

Kuwait: NBK Sponsors the 100/100 Best Hundred Arabic Posters Exhibition

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) provides its support to Contemporary Art Platform (CAP)’s “100/100 Best Hundred Arabic Posters Exhibition” for the first time in Kuwait, as part of the bank’s continuous efforts to stand by the social and cultural institutions in Kuwait.

This sponsorship comes in partnership with Sharaf Studio. The exhibition creates a platform connecting artists and scholars worldwide. NBK’s support to this exhibition is a recognition of the important and pivotal role that culture plays in promoting our culture and shedding light on the Arab’s rich heritage.

“NBK’s CSR strategy focuses on supporting cultural activities that aims at building bridges between generations”, said Farah Bastaki, NBK Digital Communications Manager.

“NBK is keen that cultural and historical related events do attract a large segment of the society and it is our duty as a leading institution to be part in spreading cultural activities and help society to be engaged more and continuing to enhance Kuwait and Arab’s history and tradition for years to come”, she noted.

Its worth mentioning that a design workshop took place in line with this exhibition to bring together artists to reimagine the NBK Moneybox in designs inspired by the Kuwait Postage Stamps. The designs that were the outcome of this workshop were then showcased in the exhibition.Real NBK advertisements from the 1960s and 1970s that feature Arabic typography were displayed in this exhibition.

This exhibition in CAP Kuwait is an exclusive chance to witness exceptional winning selections from over 2500 submissions. It honors the best posters from the Arabic region that captured the contemporary visual culture of the Arab world. It is held every two years and with each new edition creating an archive of Arabic graphic design.

Over the past six and a half decades, NBK has committed itself to supporting social and cultural activities in Kuwait as part of its social responsibility. As a leading and prestigious institution, NBK has a track record of serving and supporting the Kuwaiti society. Its contribution to Al Shaheed Park supports promoting and highlighting the richness of history and civilization.

Kuwait: NBK Provides Cash Withdrawal through Digital Wallet

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always seeks to enrich customers’ banking experience by introducing innovative, top-notch products and services that give them a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience. In this context, the bank announced providing cash withdrawal service using the digital wallet on smartphones or smartwatches.

Through the new service, all NBK and non-NBK Customers can now withdraw cash from NBK ATMs in an easy and secure way using the digital wallets on their smartphones or smartwatches, without the need for debit cards.

The new service reflects the integration of premium digital services with the most advanced payment solutions provided by NBK to its customers, which contributes to enriching their banking experience and offering comprehensive and integrated digital services that give them more convenience and peace of mind.

Speaking on introducing this service, Maitham Al-Salem, Digital Transformations Channel Manager at National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK is committed to provide all digital services and payment solutions that meet customers’ needs and allow them quick, easy and secure banking.”

“We are always seeking to strengthen our leading position as the leading banking institution in Kuwait by integrating digital innovation at all levels of our operations, which enables us to provide a comprehensive experience to our customers through innovative products and services,” he added.

“With customers’ growing reliance on digital wallets on smartphones and smartwatches in payments, we have acted promptly to fulfill their expectations to provide more banking transactions through these wallets, basically ATM cash withdrawal,” he mentioned.

Al-Salem emphasized that NBK will continue providing all new digital banking services, advanced payment solutions and mobile banking transactions, within its consistent endeavors to meet the needs of its customers and reinforce its leadership in providing the latest banking services relevant to their various lifestyles and ever-evolving needs.

The advanced technologies and upgraded services provided by NBK to its customers is a key focus in its strategy. Moreover, the extensive experience gained over long decades enables it to understand customers’ needs, evaluate their goals, and even exceed their expectations.

NBK continues to cement its leading position in the banking sector through the largest domestic banking network in Kuwait, with 69 branches. In addition, it boasts the biggest owned ATM network with 450 onsite and offsite ATMs/CDMs.

Kuwait: Al-Othman Named Retail Banker of the Year in MENA for the Second Year in a Row

Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM-Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait was named “MENA Retail Banker of the Year”, for the second year in a row, by MEED international magazine, within its MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2023. The award honors Al-Othman’s keen endeavors and remarkable achievements in providing the best-in-class banking services as well as excellence in digital banking innovations.

For more than 5 years, Al-Othman has led the Consumer Banking Group team in the Kuwait’s leading bank and one of the top banks across the region. During this, he set policies, goals and implementation mechanisms, and made a difference, not only in the lives of NBK Customers and their banking experience, but also in terms of the tremendous development achieved in the banking industry in Kuwait and the region during this period, thanks to the superior innovative digital products and services, and payment solutions comparable to global peers. As a result, NBK’s name was associated, during those years, with pioneering and market-leading banking products and services.

MEED accentuated the significant and extended impact of these strides, noting that MENA Retail Banker of the Year, the award won by Al-Othman for the second year in a row, demonstrates the hard work and commitment of the banking leaders in the winning institutions,. They helped drive progress and innovation, and made effective contributions to advance, not only their organizations, but the whole industry.

Pride and responsibility

Commenting on winning the award, Al-Othman said: “I feel proud and overjoyed with this recognition. However, I am well aware of the increasing responsibility with every success we achieve, as we have to double efforts to remain at the top, as the gap between us and our closest competitors widened over the past years. We also strive to maintain the precious trust of our customers by living up to their growing expectations, as we make more achievements.”

“Throughout my career, I have made and seen many successes and achievements. However, I regard our achievements as a team over the past years as a completely different thing. We worked amid unprecedented adverse circumstances and exceptional challenges, ranging from the pandemic, to fast-paced technological advancement, and successive global crises.”

NBK’s culture

Al-Othman continued, saying: “But we, as usual in NBK, see things from a different perspective from others, as we focused on the entailed opportunities in these exceptional circumstances and challenged the obstacles. This is the prevailing mindset and culture in NBK as a business edifice and a banking school, which always make it stand out at times of crises and come out of it even stronger and better positioned for excellence.”

“NBK’s culture and work environment, which is characterized by innovation, decentralization, and open-door management as key drivers of all success, require that all brilliant ideas should undergo careful study of customer preferences and extensive scientific analysis of their needs, based on the communication channels working day and night, and using the most advanced technologies,” he remarked.

Streak of advanced offerings

Highlighting the key leading banking products and services launched by NBK in the Kuwaiti retail banking market over the recent past period, Al-Othman said: “During the past period, we succeeded in introducing a streak of market-leading products and services to our customers, the Kuwaiti market and the regional banking industry. We continue to work to provide more, hoping to maintain our customers’ image of NBK as the bank they know and trust.”

Al-Othman referred to the many services that NBK was the first to introduce in Kuwait, including NFC payments, noting that NBK anticipated the pandemic and resulting repercussions by providing the first payment services using digital wallets at the beginning of 2020, as we introduced Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay, followed by the most popular digital payment solutions: Samsung Wallet, Apple Pay, and most recently Google Pay.

“We laid the foundation for a new era of digital payments in Kuwait, and made transactions easier, faster, and more secure,” he remarked.

The future of the industry

Al-Othman explained that the key to many of NBK’s achievements is its forward-looking approach, not only in anticipating future changes, but also by contributing in making that future, as he said: “We are already contributing to making a promising banking future, while everyone was competing to provide digital banking services that we were the first to introduce, we were thinking of launching “Weyay”, the first fully digital bank, which remains the only one in Kuwait so far, more than one year and a half after its launch.”

“We managed to develop a comprehensive vision for how future branches operate by launching self-service branches, setting an example for the future branch whose services are integrated with our superior digital services, to provide a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience,” he added.

Kuwait: NBK RISE, a Cross-border Success Story, Concludes its Inaugural Edition

The inaugural cohort of the NBK RISE program wrapped up its 9-month program with a final training session at IE Business School in Spain, culminating in a special visit for the program participants.

As part of the visit, Deputy Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait, Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, organized a dinner banquet to recognize the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait in Spain, Mr. Khalifa Al-Kharafi, and the University's management, as well as students from Kuwait enrolled at the university.

During the visit, Al-Bahar inaugurated the training course and held meetings with the university's top leadership. She also took part in panel discussions featuring the IE Women in Business Club and Kuwait Businesswomen Club.

While visiting, Al-Bahar also joined in reviewing the participants' work plans and delivered a speech about the program's key takeaways, which the participants could apply to their work. She also encouraged them to share experiences and take the lead in driving positive change in their respective societies.

Meanwhile, the university invited  Al-Bahar as a guest speaker at a panel discussion titled "Women in Leadership Positions and the Positive Impact of the Workplace" The discussion was moderated by Professor Caterina Moschieri, a specialist in in Strategy Management, and included participation from the IE Women in Business Club and the IE Middle East and North Africa Club.

On the sidelines of the event, Al-Bahar expressed that leaders should establish a secure environment where women can feel comfortable reporting any form of biased behavior, whether it was subtle or overt actions, and to enforce strict policies that prevent such conduct.

“Modifying our perception of women is crucial in eliminating biases,” Al- Bahar said, adding that it was equally important to consider how gender balance can enhance workplaces and bring significant value.

“With perseverance and determination, women can defeat any obstacles they encounter in industries or sectors predominantly led by men,” Al-Bahar confirmed, highlighting that no obstacle is insurmountable for those willing to put in the hard work and effort required to become successful leaders.

Al-Bahar advocated for an end to the practice of telling women that they have limits or that there is a glass ceiling to their ambitions.

She emphasized that women should not be made to believe that the path to success is full of hurdles just because of their gender, calling for equal opportunities for both men and women to follow their dreams and flourish.

Al-Bahar highlighted a common misconception that women often view each other as adversaries or competition, which she believes is untrue.

She emphasized the importance of women supporting one another, given the unequal opportunities they face in their journey to reach top leadership positions. This is the fundamental concept behind the creation of programs like NBK RISE, which is designed by women for women to provide support in their pursuit of higher leadership positions. The program aligns with NBK’s sustainability objectives of promoting diversity and inclusion.

Al-Bahar stressed the significant achievements of the first cohort of the NBK RISE program. She announced that the program would be held annually and include participants from Kuwait as well as other countries.

Moreover, the program will strive to attract women from different industries to support and foster future female leaders for higher leadership positions.

Graduates of the program will have the opportunity to mentor future female candidates, thereby creating a sustainable cycle for the program.

“NBK offers various programs that promote women's empowerment, such as initiatives for equal pay and opportunities for career development,” Al-Bahar concluded.

NBK RISE

NBK RISE program is an inspiring initiative that extends beyond NBK’s efforts alone. Several top institutions in Kuwait have joined forces and signed a pledge to increase women's representation in leadership roles, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to working together towards achieving the program's global objectives.

The 9-month program was structured into various units that focused on different areas of leadership. Participants collaborated with renowned international universities to receive comprehensive training and equip themselves with strategies and skills to assist them in their leadership roles.

Kuwait: NBK Recognized With 6 Prestigious MENA Banking Excellence Awards for 2023

In recognition of its excellence in consumer banking and leadership in digital innovation, women’s empowerment initiatives, and sustainable development of human resources, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has received 6 prestigious awards from MEED international magazine within its MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2023.

MEED magazine honored NBK with 3 awards for digital innovation including Best Retail Bank –Kuwait, Excellence in Service: Priority Banking, and MENA Retail Banker of the Year which was presented to Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM-Consumer Banking Group at NBK, for the second year in a row.

On the other hand, NBK’s initiatives supporting women’s empowerment and sustainable development of human resources were recognized with 3 awards: NBK Academy was named “Best Youth Programme Initiative” for the second year in a row, whereas NBK won “Best Implementation of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives” award, and NBK Rise was selected as “Best Initiative for Women in Business”.

“These awards reflect NBK’s commitment to innovation and exceptional customer service and building strong and long-term relationships with customers,” MEED mentioned.

MEED Banking Excellence Awards were received by Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at NBK, and Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM-Consumer Banking Group at NBK, on the sidelines of the ceremony held in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in Dubai.

On this occasion, Al-Othman said: “These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees towards delivering the best banking experience to our customers. We are proud of recognizing our commitment to innovation in offering the latest and most advanced digital services.”

“Thanks to the extensive experience gained over long decades, we are capable of understanding customers’ needs, assess their goals and even exceed their expectations. Therefore, delivering a uniquely outstanding customer experience, including innovative products and services, is firmly embedded in our corporate culture, which drives us to continue hard work to deliver the highest service level and reinforce our competitive edge,” he noted

“NBK is incessantly perusing development and innovation. We were the first bank to introduce NFC technology in Kuwait. We also launched “Weyay”, Kuwait’s first digital bank relevant to the needs and lifestyle of the youth segment. Recently, we implemented a major revamp of NBK Mobile Banking App with comprehensive changes aiming to enrich customers’ experience, and enhance the way NBK Customers fulfill their daily banking needs in a much easier way. We also redesigned NBK Credit Cards based on customers’ preferences,” he elaborated.

“We would like to thank our customers for their trust and loyalty that enabled us to win these awards, and promise to continue delivering innovative financial solutions and exceptional experiences that meet all their needs,” he added.

On his part, Al-Ablani said that Banking Excellence Awards reflect NBK’s unwavering commitment to creating a work environment in which everyone can thrive. “We, at NBK, firmly believe that diversity and inclusion are instrumental to our success, and we are committed to continuing our efforts to build a more inclusive work environment for our employees,” he mentioned.

“Recognizing NBK Rise with this distinguished award is an acknowledgment of NBK’s serious strides in advancing women’s empowerment. “This program is not exclusive for NBK, but brings together a number of leading corporations in Kuwait, which signed a pledge to increase the representation of women in leadership positions, reflecting their firm commitment to work jointly to achieve the goals of this global program,” he added.

Al-Ablani remarked that NBK is one of the first regional private sector signatories on United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). “We also provide, on an ongoing basis, specialized programs for developing female leaders, which helped increase the number of women in leadership and supervisory positions in the bank to 29.2%,” he highlighted.

“Naming NBK Academy as “Best Youth Programme Initiative” for the second year reinforces our endeavors to place sustainable development of human resources as a top priority, regarding it as a strategic goal and a shared responsibility between the various government agencies and the private sector.

MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2023
 Best Youth Programme Initiative was won by NBK Academy for the second year in a row.
 Best Initiative for Women in Business was won by NBK Rise
 MENA Retail Banker of the Year                                 
 Excellence in Service: Priority Banking                                
 Best Retail Bank –Kuwait                                                       
 Best Implementation of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives 

Founded in 1957, MEED is a leading magazine focused on economic and business news and intelligence related to the Middle East. In partnership with leading financial services publications Retail Banker International and Private Banker International, both issued by GlobalData, MEED introduces MENA Banking Excellence Awards to celebrate the best-in-class banking and financial services institutions and individuals for their innovative offering and commitment to customer excellence.

Kuwait: NBK Announces the Winner of Al Jawhara Grand Prize Worth KD 1 Million

Pursuing its endeavors to offer customers an exceptional experience that matches up to their expectations and makes them feel special, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has already increased the total annual amount of Al Jawhara Account draw prizes by more than the double. According to the new structure, the weekly draw prize will be KD 20,000, while the grand prize was increased 4 times with 3 draws annually; each amounting KD 1,000,000.

Celebrating Al Jawhara second draw worth KD 1 million, which was postponed from Tuesday April 25 to May 4, NBK organized a special ceremony at its Headquarters, which was attended by Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK – Kuwait, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group, and Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy GM - Consumer Banking Group.

The ceremony included conducting the draw and announcing the winner of the Grand Prize, as well as the winner of the weekly prize postponed from Tuesday May 2 to 4. Concurrently, the bank organized three special events at key shopping malls including The Avenues Mall, 360 Mall and The Assima Mall, which featured engaging activities that were well received by the audience.

NBK started presenting the prizes with the new amounts starting from Al Jawhara draws in 2023, and the names of the winners are announced on all the bank’s digital channels, as usual.

All Al Jawhara draws are held live on NBK’s Instagram page in the presence of a representative from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as representatives from NBK, as well as a representative from Deloitte as the external auditor to oversee the draws as per the mandates of the MOCI in this regard.

Al Jawhara Account can be opened very easily through NBK Mobile Banking or NBK Online Banking for existing customers or by visiting the nearest NBK branch.

On this occasion, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We are committed to provide our customers with a banking experience that reflects our leadership and excellence. To this end, we offer the biggest rewards and prizes in Kuwait, with Al Jawhara total annual prizes amounting KD 4,925,000, which complements our banking services that best meet their high expectations.”

“NBK largely focuses on Al Jawhara Account, being instrumental to our strategy to provide customers with exceptional prizes to help enrich their banking experience. It also serves as important means for winning, saving and planning for the future for all family members, while supporting NBK’s endeavors to promote the saving culture and financial inclusion,” he noted.

Commenting on the event, Al-Othman said: “We organized this special event to celebrate the exceptional event, demonstrating our policy to be always closer to our customers. And we are thrilled with the high engagement of the audience at all malls.”

“All the services, rewards and payment solutions offered by NBK are based on accurate studies, analytical tools and surveys of our customers’ opinions in order to identify their needs and expectations in detail, so that we set these needs imperative goals. In this, we rely on our highly professional and experienced staff as well as the most advanced analytical tools and programs globally,” he remarked.

Starting from 2023, Al Jawhara Account customers were given the opportunity to enter draws and win prizes of KD 20,000 weekly, KD 125,000 monthly, as well as the grand prize worth KD 1,000,000 three times a year.

The minimum opening balance for Al Jawhara Account is KD 400, whereas account balance cap in all Al Jawhara Accounts is KD 500,000. If no withdrawals or transfers are made on the account during the holding period, the customers will receive an additional chance to enter the draw for every KD 50 held in the account, doubling their chance to win.

It is worth mentioning that since 2012, National Bank of Kuwait has been rewarding loyal customers with total prizes now worth KD 4,925,000 annually in Al Jawhara draws.
For more information about Al Jawhara Account, you can visit nbk.com

Kuwait: Bankee.. A Milestone in the Endeavors to Advance Financial Inclusion

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues its ongoing follow-up of the on the pilot phase of “Bankee” financial literacy program for government and private school students, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority “Nazaha”. In this context, the bank organized a visit to The Universal American School (UAS) in Hawally, as part of the executive management’s tour to follow up program implementation.

The visitors included Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK – Kuwait, Mrs. Athraa Al-Arrak, Senior Supervisor, Private Education at Ministry of Education, Mrs. Yasmine Al-Sharhan, Observer of Cooperation with Civil Society Organizations at “Nazaha”, Mrs. Norah Al-Ghanim, Owner and Director of UAS, and Ms. Sumayah Al-Jasem, Founder, Managing Director at Creative Confidence.

During the tour, the visitors reviewed all the details of implementing the “Bankee” program, including the virtual bank experience that allows students to have a financial account in which they can trade using the “Bankos” virtual currency, and how students receive bonuses as a result of accumulating the program’s currency in their accounts. They also visited the classrooms to witness how the program has become part of students’ daily lives.

Additionally, they engaged in discussions with teachers and students and listened to various ideas and opinions aiming to enrich the program, as well as all the details of the program’s day-to-day implementation in the school.

On the sidelines of the visit, Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq said: “Through our follow-up visits to the schools participating in the Bankee program, we witnessed the great success of the program’s pilot phase and the high engagement from all stakeholders including students, families, teachers and the program’s superintendents. We also felt how the programs positively reflects on the students' behavior and understanding of core financial concepts and practices.”

“We focus on aligning NBK’s leading CSR contributions with the government’s and the Central Bank of Kuwait’s strides to promote financial literacy and increase financial inclusion, recognizing how crucial is spreading financial culture in achieving comprehensive and sustainable development,” Al-Marzouq added.

“Bankee combines two key pillars in our strategy to achieve sustainable development. On one hand, it aims to promote financial literacy and support the endeavors to achieve financial inclusion, whereas on the other hand, it serves the endeavors to develop education. We are confident that the program will advance these endeavors in a significant and effective manner moving forward,” he explained.

Al-Marzouq mentioned that the program serves as an exemplary for private sector’s delivering on its CSR commitments, and also reflects how the concerted efforts of the private sector, government and civil society contribute to the success of such key initiatives.

“Bankee’s substantial success according to all indicators proves that the program will be a milestone in NBK’s rich CSR record, as well as in the endeavors to promote financial inclusion and financial literacy in Kuwait, as it introduces a new, integrated vision to advance these endeavors,” he noted.
“NBK firmly believes that the human capital is crucial for achieving sustainable future growth. Accordingly, it greatly focuses on supporting all initiatives aiming to upskill and develop Kuwaiti young people, whose response always exceeds the expectations,” he concluded.

The “Bankee” program was introduced in selected Kuwaiti schools by NBK in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and Kuwait Anticorruption Authority (Nazaha). The program’s goal is to enhance financial literacy among students by teaching them financial literacy through practical and engaging experiential methods.

The program is the first-of-its-kind in Kuwait to be introduced by NBK to explore innovative solutions to promote financial inclusion and sustainable financial literacy among society members, especially school students.

The program’s primary goal is to teach students core financial concepts such as earning, spending, saving, and financial responsibilities. This goal is achieved by employing applied learning and gamification techniques to simulate a real-world economy within the classroom.

The pilot phase will span the entire 2022/2023 academic year, with nine schools from various governorates (for boys and girls), including six government and three private schools. The primary objective of this phase is to evaluate the program’s implementation settings by engaging teachers and students in introductory workshops to assess, enhance, and modify implementation features to align with the existing educational curriculum.

Kuwait: NBK Signs Agreement with Kuwait Municipality for Developing 1.7 km of Shuwaikh Beach

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) signed a cooperation agreement valuing KD 3 million with the Kuwait Municipal for development and beautification of Shuwaikh Beach spanning an area of 1.7 km.
The agreement was signed at NBK’s HQ in the presence of Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO, , and Eng. Ahmed Al-Manfouhi, the Director-General of Kuwait Municipality, as well as officials from the bank and the Kuwait Municipal.
Under the agreement, NBK made a donation of KD 3 million, which was approved by the Council of Ministers, to finance the Shuwaikh Beach Development and Beautification Project over an area starting from Watiya Beach to KPC. The project includes 4 integrated main areas providing all the needs of beachgoers such as picnicking, doing sports, swimming and recreation as follows:
First area: includes playgrounds and entertainment areas, as well as a large green area
Second area: includes an extended sandy beach area with wooden benches in the middle
Third area: includes a closed garden with green landscape and dense trees providing large shaded areas
Fourth area: includes walking and cycling tracks with trees in the middle
The development will include entire restructuring so that the design, implementation and materials used are in line with NBK’s sustainability principles. It is expected that design and construction phases until the final delivery of the project will take around two years, given the long area covered by the project.
All the designs of the walkway, along the vast waterfront, are made to accommodate green areas that dominate the landscape and making up the largest area, in addition to walking, jogging and cycling tracks. These long tracks are surrounded by trees that provide some shaded areas.
The design also incorporates various playgrounds and kids’ entertainment areas, in addition to the vast grassy areas that beachgoers can use for picnics. Beachgoers can also enjoy a fully serviced beach, as well as wooden seating areas.
NBK is committed to supporting Kuwait’s national initiative to promote environmental, social and economic prosperity, in line with the Country’s recent pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060 through its progress towards achieving its environmental goals and contributing to strengthening the efforts of the banking sector to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy.
All the designs and materials used in the project are eco-friendly, reflecting NBK’s commitments to help reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. To this end, all light poles along the beach are designed to be equipped with and fully powered by solar energy cells, without any electrical supply.
The bank also ensured that a major amount of the raw materials used in the project are from recycled materials, as well as recycling most of the project’s outputs, which reduces any harmful environmental impacts of the project, making it an exemplar for project implementation in Kuwait.
It is worth mentioning that the amount of NBK’s CSR contributions including investments, initiatives, and charitable donations during 2022 amounted to KD 23 million; growing by over 45% year-on-year, compared to 2021.
NBK is keen to support Kuwait’s sustainable economic development and climate action plan, as well as protect the environment, reflecting its strategy to embed ESG standards in all its activities and businesses to maximize added value for all stakeholders. The bank is also committed to supporting Kuwait’s national initiative to promote environmental, social and economic prosperity, in line with the Country’s recent pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060 by progressing towards its environmental goals and supporting the banking sector’s endeavors to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy.

Kuwait: “Bankee” Program’s Success Exceeds Expectations in Promoting Financial Literacy Among School Students

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a visit to Hudhaifa Bin Al Yaman Primary School, as part of the executive management’s tours to follow up on the pilot phase of the “Bankee” financial literacy program for government and private schools’ students. The program is an initiative launched by NBK in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority “Nazaha”.

The visitors were headed by Mr. Isam J. Al-Sager, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Mrs. Rajaa Buarki, the Assistant Undersecretary for the Administrative Affairs and Administrative Development Sector in the Ministry of Education, and Ms. Sumayah Al-Jasem, Founder, Managing Director at Creative Confidence.

A large number of parents of participating students attended the visit and discussed the program’s benefits with their children. They were delighted to see significant improvements in their children’s financial behavior and knowledge. Additionally, they engaged in discussions with teachers about the program’s impact on the students.

During the visit, participants reviewed all the details of implementing the “Bankee” program, from the virtual bank experience that allows students to have a financial account in which they can trade using the “Bankos” virtual currency, and how students receive bonuses as a result of accumulating the program’s currency in their accounts. They also visited the classrooms to witness how the program has become part of students’ daily lives and how they were rewarded for their academic excellence and positive behavior.

On this occasion, Al-Sager said: “We are delighted with the high engagement and success of the Bankee program in promoting financial inclusion and raising financial literacy among government and private school students, by providing them with the necessary tools and knowledge to enable them make sound financial decisions throughout their lives.”

Al-Sager highlighted that sponsoring Bankee program aligns with NBK’s broader objective of promoting financial inclusion among all segments of society saying: “We are committed to contributing to this cause by educating young individuals on prudent financial management and helping them establish a strong financial foundation that will serve them throughout their lives.”
“We believe that through proper financial education and support, students will be able to manage their finances in an efficient and constructive manner, thus building financial security for them and their families going forward,” he continued.
Al-Sager remarked that NBK harnesses all its unique capabilities and extensive financial experience to actively contribute to promoting awareness regarding financial stability and independence for this generation of young people. “We expect that the initiative will have a positive impact on the lives of young people and their families, as they will be more capable of managing their personal finances and take better decisions that support their financial future,” he added.

The “Bankee” program was introduced by NBK in selected Kuwaiti schools, with a view to promote financial literacy among government and private schools’ students by introducing them to financial culture through practical and engaging experiential methods.
The program is the first- of-its-kind in Kuwait to be created by a team of young trainees under NBK’s sponsorship to explore innovative solutions that promote sustainable financial literacy among society members.
The program’s primary goal is to introduce students to core financial concepts such as earning, spending, saving, and financial responsibilities. This objective is achieved by employing applied learning and gamification techniques to simulate a real-world economy within the classroom.

The pilot phase will span the entire 2022/2023 academic year, with nine schools from various governorates (for boys and girls), including six government and three private schools. The primary objective of this phase is to evaluate the program’s implementation settings by engaging teachers and students in introductory workshops to assess, enhance, and modify implementation features to align with the existing educational curriculum.

Kuwait: NBK Reports KD 134.2 Million in Net Profit for the First 3 Months of 2023

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has announced its financial results for the three-month period ended 31 March 2023.The Bank reported a net profit of KD 134.2 million (USD 437.8 million), compared to KD 116.6 million ($380.3 million) for the corresponding period in 2022, improving by 15.1% year-on-year.

Total assets as of the end of March 2023 grew by 8.2%  year-on-year to reach KD 36.5 billion (USD 118.9 billion), whereas total loans and advances increased by 5.7% year-on-year to KD 21.2 billion (USD 69.1 billion), while shareholders’ equity reached KD 3.5 billion (USD 11.5 billion), growing by 3.5% year-on-year.

Commenting on the bank’s 1Q2023 financial results, Mr. Hamad Al-Bahar, NBK Group Chairman, said: “NBK delivered as strong performance in the first quarter of 2023, building on the momentum of our exceptional performance in 2022, despite the challenging global economic environment, including geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation and the banking crisis in Europe and the United States”.

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK's balance sheet is robust, with a solid and stable capital base, supporting the Bank's ability to meet the expanding customer needs while maximizing shareholder returns. He added that in 2023, NBK would continue to invest strategically in its people, and its digital capabilities to ensure the bank's future success.

Al-Bahar also emphasised NBK's unwavering dedication to sustainability, which enhances prospects for long-term growth and reinforces the Bank's position as a leader in the region. He noted that NBK is actively implementing various initiatives that promote responsible business practices and contribute to the sustainable development of Kuwait's economy. One of the Bank's recent endeavors in this regard was joining the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate initiative advancing sustainable and socially responsible business practices.

Meanwhile, Mr. Isam J. Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO, said: “We saw a robust start into 2023 marked by substantial increases in both revenue and profit, sustained exceptional operational performance across our business, and ongoing advantages derived from our diverse business model and strategic investments in talents and technologies.”
Despite the political volatility in Kuwait, Al-Sager pointed out that the operating environment remained stable during the first quarter of 2023.
He emphasized the impressive performance of NBK's core business activities during the current quarter, as well as significant advancements in strategic segments such as wealth management, underlining that the bank's success is built upon a foundation of prudent risk management and a steadfast commitment to maintaining high credit quality. Al-Sager also reaffirmed that these strengths will be leveraged to drive value and growth throughout 2023, as NBK remains dedicated to creating added value for its shareholders.

“During the first quarter of the year, the drivers of operational activities continued to demonstrate positive progress, and higher interest rates played a significant role in the robust growth of net interest income,” Al-Sager confirmed.

“The group's net operating revenues rose by 18.4% year-on-year, reaching KD 277.9 million (USD 906.4 million), driven by overall revenue improvement stemming from the diversified revenue stream across various business sectors,” Al-Sager added.

“In 2023, our focus remains on investing in the future, with a strategic emphasis on enhancing our digital capabilities to provide unparalleled experience to our clients. This includes the development of innovative products and solutions aimed at making banking easier and more convenient for consumers, in order to meet their evolving demands,” Al-Sager noted.

“Our consistent track record of delivering long-term results speaks for itself, and we remain committed to enhancing operational efficiency and maintaining prudent capital management practices. This strategic focus ensures that we are well-prepared to navigate any potential scenarios in the global economy,” Al-Sager confirmed.

“Leveraging our robust balance sheet, we are well-positioned to continue to evolve into the bank of the future, delivering value to our customers, communities, and shareholders. With the support of our solid financial position, strong capitalization rates, and ample liquidity levels, we are positioned for sustained earnings growth.” Al-Sager explained.

“We, at NBK, take pride in our meaningful contributions to our communities and the significant progress we have made in advancing sustainability across our operations and corporate culture through various initiatives. This includes our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and reduce operational emissions by 25% by 2025, as we continue to strengthen the pillars of sustainability across our organization,” Al-Sager confirmed.

Al-Sager pointed out that NBK has recently received a score of ‘C’ from CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform, for its Climate Change and Forests 2022 Categories. 

“As pioneers in our industry, we recognize the importance of setting an example of responsible leadership that drives long-term growth. We believe that our commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices is crucial in contributing to a better future, and we strive to lead by example in our pursuit of sustainable growth,” Al-Sager concluded.

Key financial indicators for 1Q2023
• Net operating income of KD 277.9 million (USD 906.4 million), up 18.4% year-on-year
• Total assets grew by 8.2% year-on-year, at KD 36.5 billion (USD 118.9 billion)
• Customer loans and advances grew by 5.7% year-on-year to KD 21.2 billion (USD 69.1 billion)
• Customer deposits increased by 11.6% year-on-year to KD 20.4 billion (USD 66.7 billion)
• Strong asset quality metrics, with NPL/gross loans ratio at 1.55% and an NPL coverage ratio of 245%
• Robust Capital Adequacy Ratio of 17.1%, comfortably in excess of regulatory requirements  

Kuwait: NBK Commercial Credit Cards for Corporate Customers

As part of its ongoing efforts to provide the best financing solutions, exclusive offers, and launch new products and services that meet the diverse banking needs of our customers, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has unveiled one-of-a-kind commercial credit cards that provide financial solutions for businesses. These credit cards are the first of their kind in the country, and they reinforce the bank's commitment to delivering exceptional banking experiences.

The new Commercial Cards include:
 NBK Executive Visa Signature Credit Card: Designed with a distinctive metallic finish, with 1.5% cashback
 NBK Commercial Visa Signature Credit Card: with 1.5% cashback
 NBK Commercial Visa Platinum Prepaid Card: with 1% cashback
Applying for Commercial Cards is a hassle-free process, and customers can do so easily using either NBK Online Banking for Corporate Banking or through the Relationship Manager

Key benefits of Commercial Cards
The Commercial Cards offer several advantages, including the opportunity for customers to earn unlimited cashback of 1.5%, which is deposited to their card on a monthly basis - a first-of-its-kind feature in Kuwait. Additionally, customers can use virtual cards that facilitate easy fund access while safeguarding their actual card number.

Additional benefits of the newly introduced cards include a lifetime free feature with no annual fees and a consolidated statement accessible to customers through the Visa Spend Clarity for Business platform. This includes easy-to-use expense tracking tools, spend management controls, virtual cards and plenty of business features and solutions.

The Visa Spend Clarity for Business platform provides effective work management and enables card spend control through transaction notifications, as well as intuitive dashboards and streamlined reporting that can be easily integrated with various accounting softwares.

Visa Commercial Cards offer its cardholders various perks like extended warranty and buyer protection, which are great for everyday business purchases. All this, plus access to free travel insurance, travel offers and exclusive discounts.

In recognition of the innovative design and cutting-edge functionality of the Commercial Cards, Visa has presented NBK with the “Excellence in Commercial Card Launch” Award.

Mr. Pradeep Handa General Manager - Foreign Corporate, Oil and Trade Finance Group at National Bank of Kuwait commented on this launch, saying, “The newly launched Commercial cards are the first of-their kind in Kuwait.

They offer distinctive financial solutions that enable businesses to have great flexibility and control over their expenses. This aligns with NBK’s objective to providing customers with  a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience, along with market-leading products that reflect our leadership position.”

“With its extensive experience in understanding the unique needs of businesses, NBK is constantly striving to enhance the quality of its banking services to  provide the essential support needed to drive the growth of their operations,” he added.

Handa noted that in creating unique and value added banking solutions for customers, NBK constantly emphasizes innovation, with the purpose of assisting its customers to achieve their goals by providing them with the tools and resources they need to manage their finances effectively.

“NBK collaborates closely with its customers to identify their requirements and establish strong relationships with them. Moreover,  the Bank invests in developing new products and services that exceed their expectations,” he emphasized.

Ankush Devadason, Visa’s Head of Financial Institutions for Kuwait, said: “As the global leader in digital payments, Visa strives to provide innovative and rewarding solutions that address the evolving payment needs of businesses everywhere. These Visa commercial credit cards provide NBK’s corporate clients an attractive cashback proposition as well as increased layer of visibility into spending that will help to lower the costs of doing business.
 

The cards are also backed by Visa’s security technology and offer worldwide acceptance at our 70 million plus merchant locations worldwide. We are therefore excited to partner with NBK and support their efforts in bringing innovative and rewarding payment solutions to their corporate clients in Kuwait.
” Commercial Cards are now available for all corporate banking and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Kuwait: NBK Banque Privée Suisse Relocates to a New Headquarters in Geneva

NBK Banque Privée Suisse announced that it has relocated to a new headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in a strategic move towards expanding its investment and wealth management services, while also broadening its reach in the world’s leading financial and business centers.

The inauguration of the new headquarters was attended by Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice Chairman and Group CEO at National Bank of Kuwait, Mr. Faisal Al-Hamad, CEO - Global Wealth Management at National Bank of Kuwait , and Mr. Malek Khalife, Deputy CEO, Head of Global Private Banking at National Bank of Kuwait and General Manager of NBK Swiss, as well as members of the Board of Directors and bank employees in Switzerland.

The new headquarters is situated in the bustling city of Geneva, at the core of one of Europe's most vibrant and dynamic cities, featuring state-of-the-art and sustainable infrastructure, which provides an excellent business and customer environment.

The relocation to this new headquarters demonstrates NBK’s commitment to invest in the future. It enables the Bank to cater to the evolving needs of its growing clientele by increasing the number of specialized employees in investment and wealth management, along with offering innovative financial products and services to help customers achieve their financial goals.

NBK Banque Privée Suisse S.A. provides banking and investment services to individuals and institutions from the GCC. The bank offers international investment portfolio management services tailored to the specific investment needs and preferences of individual and corporate clients. It also provides personal banking services and expert banking and investment advice. The investment portfolios managed by the bank consist of private portfolios, international stocks and bonds, as well as other types of investment products.

Since its inception in 1984 as NBK Finance, the Swiss entity has maintained a strong presence in Geneva, serving high-net-worth individuals with top-notch asset management services. Over the course of almost four decades, the bank has established itself as a leading provider in the field.

In 1999, NBK Finance acquired a Swiss banking services license and rebranded as NBK Swiss, establishing itself as a fully independent entity that adheres to Swiss laws and regulations. This enables the bank to enjoy all the privileges of a Swiss bank, including complete confidentiality and security.

In 2006, NBK Swiss rebranded as NBK Banque Privée Suisse S.A., signifying its Swiss roots and its focus on providing exclusive private banking services.

NBK Group is distinguished by its local and global reach, with a network of 138 branches and subsidiaries spread across four continents, including seven countries in the MENA region. The Group boasts a global wealth management platform that integrates private banking and asset management, managing a total of over USD 17 billion in assets, reflecting its strong brand name and ability to attract high-net-worth clients not only in Kuwait, but also from around the world.
 

Kuwait: NBK Celebrates Graduates of Harvard Executive Development Program

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) celebrated the graduation of its trainees from Harvard Business School (HBS) Program “Strategic Leadership in a Changing World” which was held in collaboration with The Institute of Banking Studies (IBS). The program ran for 6 days from March 11 to 16, 2023, and was attended by 8 department heads from the bank.

In this program, HBS has provided a select of new studies related to the banking, financial and other sectors, with the aim of offering an integrated set of real life cases and life experiences, to help enhance the analytical skills of the participants.

The 14th iteration of the program also included many interactive group activities for the trainees who, upon completion of the program, received a certificate of attendance from Harvard Business School.

This Executive Education program designed for the department heads of banks and financial institutions adheres to Harvard Business School’s standards for Executive Education Programs that provide rigor and quality in the learning experience.

The program focused on two themes this year: Financial Markets Strategy and Leadership, examining the critical role of leadership and management in formulating and implementing strategy to address these challenges. It also discussed the leadership and management skills required for implementing digital transformation in the financial sector to keep pace with the rapid changes in this area.

The program used real life cases and life experiences related to its themes and to the banking, financial and other sectors, which is a proven method for HBS, to help enhance the analytical skills of the participants, and provide them with tools and approaches that impact the performance, innovation, and culture of their organization.

The program is one of the strategic development projects organized by the IBS, with the aim of developing executive cadres and leaders in Kuwaiti banks. It was held for the first time in 2010, where the participation was limited to the Central Bank of Kuwait and IBS member Kuwaiti banks. The program showed such great success that it continued since 2011 at the level of the GCC countries.

Commenting on this, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Harvard Business School’s Executive Development Program for Banking and Finance Executives is one of the programs of “Kafa’a” Initiative which aims to build highly qualified national cadres to lead the development of the banking and financial sectors.”

“NBK’s participation in this initiative comes in line with its endeavors to develop the society through education and training, with a special focus on the youth segment, and to build national cadres to be an active contributor in the Country’s development process,” he indicated.

“The development of executives has always been a top priority for NBK at the group level. The bank’s training model enhances leadership capabilities, stemming from a consistent vision of the concept of leadership and what we expect from leaders. It also reflects the unique needs of leaders and is supported by rigorous scientific research to identify the knowledge and skills that form the core of effective and comprehensive leadership to meet staff training needs,” he noted.

“NBK believes that leaders are the critical factor to create the environment and culture we strive for, a culture that allows our employees to unlock their full potential and thrive. NBK provides the training programs and the competencies required in future leaders to be able to adapt, stimulate and empower others, and to be decisive at the times of uncertainty,” he added.

The programs of the “Kafa’a” initiative have been designed according to studies that show the size and nature of the tasks required by the financial and banking sector, to provide the national cadres with the means to enhance their capabilities and knowledge, governed by the objectives of the initiative, emanating from the general goals of Kuwait Vision 2035.

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S. and the best globally. It has always been the destination of America’s and the world’s elite students, as it ranks on top of the list of the World’s best 100 universities.

Kuwait: NBK Recognized With Visa’s “Excellence in Product Design Award”

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was recognized by Visa with “Excellence in Product Design” award for NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card.

Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of National Bank of Kuwait - Kuwait received a delegation from Visa at NBK HQ headed by Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, SVP and Group Country Manager GCC, Visa who presented the award to Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK, in the presence of officials from the bank and Visa.

Commenting on this, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK said: “The award represents a recognition of NBK’s efforts in creating customer-centric products which are tailored to meet their evolving needs, as well as a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees to offer customers unique products and services.”

“The award also demonstrates our solid partnership with Visa, through which we always seek to provide exclusive added-value products and offers to our customers,” he added.

Al-Othman emphasized that excellence and provision of best customer experience are key pillar of NBK’s culture, noting that the extensive experience gained over long decades has enabled NBK to understand customers’ needs, evaluate their goals, and even exceed their expectations.

“NBK continues to launch many customer-centric initiatives, with the aim of enhancing customers’ positive experience at all stages, taking into account the rapidly evolving consumer behavior to ensure providing a top-notch banking experience,” he noted.

On her part, Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, SVP and Group Country Manager for GCC, Visa commented: “We are pleased to present this prestigious award to NBK for their commitment to innovation in digital payments and providing the best payment experience to consumers in Kuwait.”

“Visa will continue to pursue endeavors with our local partners to drive innovation and excellence in digital payments. We look forward to building on our successful partnership with NBK with more best-in-class payment experiences for our Visa cardholders in Kuwait,” she added.

NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card

NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card gives its holders a unique lifestyle thanks to the benefits and offers it provides which are tailored to fit their needs and expectations, with up to 10% NBK KWT Points of rewards.
The card combines an exclusive package of exceptional rewards with a design inspiring national pride, making it a card like no other. The card gives customers the flexibility to choose the way they want to earn rewards based on their lifestyle; either the “Spends Tier” or “Merchant Category” option.

When choosing the “Merchant Category”, customers can earn NBK KWT Points on all payments made using NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card at the selected categories, with 10% on dining and telecom, 5% on fitness and beauty and 3% on clothing, grocery and education.

The earned NBK KWT Points can be redeemed through NBK Online or Mobile Banking whether as cashback directly to the card, travel booking at more than 800 airlines and 150,000 hotels, e-vouchers from over 190 merchants, or points exchange with most preferred airlines.

Customers can redeem NBK KWT Points up to KD 1,000 per month. In addition, NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders can earn NBK Rewards Points at over 900 participating outlets.

Kuwait: “Bankee” Program is a Success Story in Promoting Financial Literacy Among School Students

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a visit to Mohammad Al Shayji Elementary School as part of the executive management’s tour to follow up on the pilot phase of “Bankee” financial literacy program for government and private school students, which was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority “Nazaha”.

Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, NBK Deputy Group CEO, Mr. Ghanem Al-Sulaimani, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Development and Activities at the Ministry of Education, Ms. Yasmine Al-Sharhan, Observer of Cooperation with Civil Society Organizations at “Nazaha”, Ms. Sumayah Al-Jasem, Founder, Managing Director at Creative Confidence, were among the visitors.

A vast number of parents of participating students attended the visit and discussed the program's benefits with their children. They were delighted to see significant improvements in their children's financial behavior and knowledge. Additionally, they engaged in discussions with teachers about the program's impact on the students.

During the visit, participants reviewed all the details of implementing the “Bankee” program, from the virtual bank experience that allows students to have a financial account in which they can trade using the “Bankos” virtual currency, and how students receive bonuses as a result of accumulating the program’s currency in their accounts. They also visited the classrooms to witness how the program has become part of students’ daily lives and how they were rewarded for their academic excellence and positive behavior.

Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar remarked, “We are delighted with the tremendous success of the Bankee program, representing our latest efforts  to foster financial inclusion and enhance financial literacy among students and youth.”

“The students’ interactions we witnessed today demonstrate that Kuwait has a promising generation with a passion for knowledge from an early age. We should all take pride in this generation, as they represent  a significant investment in the future of Kuwait,” she added.

According to Al-Bahar, sponsoring Bankee program aligns with NBK’s broader objective of promoting financial inclusion among all segments of society. “We are committed to contributing to this cause by educating young individuals on prudent financial management and helping them establish a strong financial foundation that will serve them throughout their lives,” Al-Bahar noted.

 “We believe that this initiatives introduced by the private sector in collaboration with schools and educational institutions, to provide the youth with the knowledge and skills needed to manage their finances positively impact their lives and contribute to the creation of a more financially inclusive society.” Al-Bahar further explained.

“The process of financial education is a continuous learning journey, and the earlier it begins, the more effective and beneficial it becomes. Starting financial education at a young age sets individuals on the right path towards achieving their goals related to investment, savings, entrepreneurship, and even planning for retirement,” Al-Bahar confirmed.

“NBK firmly believes that the youth are the future leaders of our nation, and we are dedicated to playing an active role in their development journey by teaching them the importance of wise financial management,” she added.
Highlighting the bank's commitment to fulfilling its national obligations and responsibilities, Al-Bahar emphasized that NBK continues to utilize its unique capabilities and extensive financial knowledge to actively promote awareness of financial stability and independence among the current generation of Kuwaiti youth.

She also emphasized that high-quality education leads to the long-term well-being of individuals, families, and societies. Furthermore, improved financial literacy is the foundation for personal and national prosperity.
The “Bankee” program was introduced in selected Kuwaiti schools by NBK in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and Kuwait Anticorruption Authority (Nazaha). The program’s goal is to enhance financial literacy among students by introducing them to financial culture through practical and engaging experiential methods.

“Bankee” is the first- of-its-kind program in Kuwait, created by a team of young trainees under NBK’s sponsorship to explore innovative solutions that promote sustainable financial literacy among society members.

The program’s primary goal is to introduce students to core financial concepts such as earning, spending, saving, and financial responsibilities. This objective is achieved by employing applied learning and gamification techniques to simulate a real-world economy within the classroom.

The pilot phase will span the entire 2022/2023 academic year, with nine schools from various governorates (for boys and girls), including six government and three private schools. The primary objective of this phase is to evaluate the program’s implementation settings by engaging teachers and students in introductory workshops to assess, enhance, and modify implementation features to align with the existing educational curriculum.

Kuwait: NBK Honors its Outstanding Employees Through MVP Program for 2022

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has celebrated its outstanding employees in Kuwait and IBG locations for 2022, reflecting its firm belief that recognizing high achievers and appreciating their efforts is a fundamental part in its strategy focused on human capital, as it drives employees’ performance and innovation.

In this annual recognition, the bank’s executive management presented the “Most Valuable Team Players” (MVP) & “Most Collaborative Team” (MCT) Awards within each group. Through this initiative, NBK aims to increase teamwork, productivity, engagement and responsibility among employees through recognizing their efforts.

The executive management praised the efforts, dedication and commitment of the bank’s employees, who exhibited a positive and supportive attitude towards their teams and group, which is always the main driver of the bank’s success and world-class banking services provided to customers.

The purpose of these awards presented for the 6th year in a row is to recognize employees who have shown an exceptional manner by exemplifying outstanding service through his or her work and encourage them to increase teamwork and productivity in order to further bolster NBK’s leading local and regional position.

This year's awards included, for the first time, IBG branches, including Watani Wealth Management in Saudi Arabia, Geneva, London, Paris, New York, and Singapore, in addition to Bahrain, Iraq, and the UAE.
This recognition also demonstrates NBK’s focus on human capital and endeavors to fully support them, which is reflected on their performance and helps improve the quality of products and services provided to its customers.

Speaking on this, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “This recognition, which we are keen to hold annually, demonstrates our appreciation of the crucial role played by our employees in NBK’s successive achievements locally, regionally and globally.”

“Improving services quality and introducing new products tailored to customers’ needs and satisfaction is the result of the dedication and commitment of our employees to provide the best services. Therefore, we are keen to appreciate their dedicated efforts, exemplar performance and adherence to high standards of quality and customer service that make NBK stand out from all other competitors,” he continued.

Al-Ablani mentioned that NBK is pursuing its initiatives aiming to motivate its employees in line with its belief that sustaining its long-term excellence is conditioned on having highly-qualified professional human resources.
“Our human capital is instrumental to maintaining our success, and none of our strategic goals can be achieved without their active participation and dedicated efforts to achieve those goals,” he noted.

“Our employees are our most valuable resource, and we are always keen to be closer to them and listen to them. We also seek to motivate them and appreciate their efforts and dedication, which is an integral part of a successful work environment and a sustainable performance culture,” he added.

Al-Ablani affirmed that NBK boasts a unique work environment encouraging continuous career development. To this end, it harnesses all its enormous capabilities towards developing its employees, and always seeks to unlock their creativity to go to the extra mile and achieve excellence, thus paving the way for career growth and taking on leadership positions in the future.

MVP awards offer a unique appreciation mechanism, as employees have the chance to vote for their colleagues from the same divisions/ groups as the “Most Valuable Team Player”. Those employees are rewarded by the executive management, in recognition of their efforts during a number of special celebrations held for each divisions bank-wide.

The results are based on a digital vote, in which each employee can nominate a colleague for the “Most Valuable Team Player” award, based on the following criteria: excellent teamwork spirit and engagement, efficiency, positive and supportive attitude towards their teams and group. The winning staff are awarded a certificate of recognition by top management in an event attended by executive management.

Kuwait: NBK Celebrates Outstanding Employees of 2022

As part of its endeavors to encourage and recognize its employees, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held its Annual Elite Awards Ceremony to honor the outstanding employees of Consumer Banking Group. This annual ceremony aims to recognize employees’ performance throughout the year and to promote them to sustain excellence and accomplishment in a way that helps bolster NBK’s leading position.

There ceremony was held at Odachi SVN and attended by the bank’s executive management headed by Mr. Isam Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice-Chairman and CEO, Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK – Kuwait, Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK- Kuwait, Mr. Faisal A. Al-Hamad, Chief Executive Officer - Global Wealth Management at NBK, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group, and Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM - Group Human Resources at NBK.

During the ceremony, the executive management distributed certificates of appreciation to the CBG outstanding employees, who showed exceptional performance during the year 2022, in recognition of their efforts in providing top-notch products and services that achieved a high level of customer satisfaction.

Speaking on this, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM-Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “The Elite Awards Ceremony is one of the key events organized by NBK annually to honor our employees for their exceptional efforts and performance during the year, in line with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource.”

“We do our utmost endeavors to develop the skills of our employees at all levels, which reflects positively on the quality of our banking products and services that are tailored to meet our customers’ needs,” he added.

“NBK has a unique work culture and environment that promotes innovation, and offer continuous career development for its employees through training programs that are on par with international standards, in cooperation with the most renowned international educational institutions,” he mentioned.

Al -Othman extended thanks and appreciation to all CBG employees praising their efforts, which are instrumental to NBK’s leadership in providing market-leading banking services in Kuwait.

Over the past year, NBK’s Consumer Banking Group succeeded in developing many top-notch banking products and services that are tailored to customers’ needs. This included launching the new experience of NBK Mobile Banking App, including comprehensive enhancements to enrich customers’ experience and better meet their banking needs in an easier way. This also included launching many of cutting-edge payment solutions, including the "Apple Pay" service, offering the highest security and privacy.

NBK continues to cement its leading position in the banking sector through the largest and ever-expanding domestic banking network in Kuwait, as well as the largest owned-ATM network.

Kuwait: NBK’s AGM Approved All BOD’s Recommendations

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held yesterday, Saturday, 18 March 2023, its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2022 with a quorum of 71.47%. The AGM approved the Board of Directors’ recommendation to distribute 25% cash dividend to shareholders (25 fils per share) for the second half of the financial year, bringing the total cash dividend distributions to 35% (35 fils per share). Moreover, the AGM also approved the distribution of 5% bonus shares (5 shares for every 100 shares owned).

Mr. Hammad Al-Bahar, NBK Group Chairman, delivered his speech to attendees of the AGM and reported that in 2022, NBK achieved exceptional results thanks to its geographical diversification, digital excellence, and solid financial position.  “Our constant revenue growth can be attributed to those essential components and our consistent adherence to prudent policies over the years. This is evident in the exceptional quality of our assets and our strong capitalization.," Al-Bahar said.

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK's stellar financial results were founded on the Group’s strategies built upon striking a balance between long-term investments and meeting current financial commitments, to overcome today’s challenging economic environment.

“The Board of Directors has recommended the distribution of over half of the Bank's profits for this year. This decision signifies that our commitment extends beyond generating wealth for our shareholders, and demonstrates our desire to reinvest our earnings into various sectors of the economy, maximizing the benefits for a wider range of stakeholders and positively impacting the national economy,” Al-Bahar added.

He explained that these distributions were consistent with the Group’s long standing cash distribution policies. Over the past ten years, NBK distributed KD 1.8 billion in cash dividend, in addition to KD 3.2 billion in bonus shares.

“Over the years, we have increased investments behind NBK brand and sustained our leadership among the top five banking brand names in the region,” Al-Bahar confirmed.

New vision

Al-Bahar stated that 2022 marked a transition in the Group’s sustainability journey, re-imagining its focus to proactively embed ESG across all operations. “The Group’s new ESG strategy is designed to reinforce what it means for us to be a trusted leader in this dynamic world,” Al-Bahar said.

“Our strategy focuses on promoting economic prosperity and serving as a model for sustainable development, aligned with the dynamic market conditions and our stakeholders’ expectations,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Isam J. Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO, outlined in his speech that in 2022, NBK recorded the highest profits in its 70-year history, owing to strong operational and financial performance, confirming the resilience of its business model and successful strategy in promoting sustainable growth.

“This year, the Group recorded net profits of KD 509.1 million, up 40.5% year-on-year, as we continued to further solidify our financial growth trajectory, with total assets growing by 9.3% year-on-year to reach KD 36.3 billion, thanks to the accelerated growth of our credit and investment portfolios. In the meantime, we maintained the highest asset quality, keeping the Bank’s ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.42%, while the loan loss coverage ratio stood at 267%, reflecting the conservative provisioning policy of the Group, while maintaining a capital adequacy ratio of 17.4%, way above the minimum regulatory requirements,” Al-Sager said.

Al-Sager pointed out that the global economic scene in 2022 was progressively unwelcoming as economic issues began to emerge. Several shocks have hit a world economy already weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic, including a worse-than-expected slowdown in China, geopolitical tensions caused by the Ukraine war, and higher-than-expected global inflation in the developed world that reached historical highs, unabated by the tight monetary policy stance.

“Despite those challenges, the orderly implementation of NBK's strategic objectives has paved the way for consistent and long-term profitability. Our diversification strategy, balanced business model and our commitment to a disciplined approach to risk management demonstrate our ability to thrive throughout various economic cycles,” Al-Sager stated.

Al-Sager emphasized that among the Bank's most essential strategic objectives is to maintain NBK’s  leadership and excellence in providing digital banking services. “We prioritize the integration of digital innovation into all of the Group's business operations to provide the latest banking solutions with utmost flexibility and efficiency,” Al-Sager explained.

Al-Sager also stated that these efforts culminated in the launch of the new and improved NBK Mobile Banking App. In the meantime, Kuwait's first digital bank, "Weyay," is attracting new customers at exceptional rates, while "SmartWealth," launched in partnership with NBK Capital, offers a variety of investment solutions.

“In 2022, NBK received 13 digital awards from Global Finance, including five regional designations, in addition to being recognised as the best Financial Innovation Lab, while Weyay received the “Outstanding Innovation in Mobile Banking” Award for 2022,” Al-Sager said.

“We continue to expand our international operations, by targeting continued growth and increasing our share in our core markets. In addition, we have made investments in our wealth management operations to facilitate growth. Our global wealth management platform offers a comprehensive range of solutions designed to achieve long-term investment goals while enriching customer experiences and growing their wealth,” Al-Sager added.

“In line with our leading role in supporting national economy, we aligned our strategic goals with Kuwait National Development Plan (KNDP) and continued to provide the required financing for mega projects. Since the launch of the government’s “Vision 2035”, NBK played a key role in advancing the development agenda, as we continued to lend our diverse expertise to support the State’s strategic directives, particularly in the area of digital transformation,” Al-Sager noted.

Al-Sager also highlighted that the Group’s strategic focus is to maintain its leadership and excellence in providing the latest digital banking services, with the Bank continuing to engrain digital innovation into all of its operations and provide the most up-to-date banking solutions to ensure unparalleled flexibility and efficiency.

“We launched our Sustainable Financing Framework and continued to disclose the environmental impact of our operations through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), receiving a score of ‘C’, one of the highest scores in the GCC. We are also the only financial institution that submitted this disclosure in Kuwait, further solidifying our commitment to continue improving our environmental performance and accelerating our transition towards a low carbon economy and net zero emissions,” Al-Sager confirmed.

Last year, NBK announced its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2060 to support Kuwait's strategic initiative to drive environmental and socio-economic prosperity.

“Moving forward, we will continue to implement our successful business model, which focuses on maximizing value for all stakeholders. We will continue to prioritize achieving sustainable growth, making strategic investments, enhancing our contributions to the transition to a low-carbon economy, providing innovative products and services, expanding our digital capabilities, promoting equality and community development, and maintaining our leadership role in effectively contributing to the development of Kuwait’s economy,” Al-Sager concluded.

On the sidelines of the AGM, Ms. Shaikha K. Al-Bahar, NBK Deputy Group CEO highlighted that NBK's performance last year reflected the Group’s diverse business model and prudent approach to risk management, as well as the significant progress in executing its customer-centric strategy.

Al-Bahar emphasised that throughout 2022, NBK continued to build positive momentum across various business pillars, including achieving strong levels of capitalization and high credit quality, as well as strengthening the Bank's relationships with its customers, thereby increasing the volume of its operations, adding that these factors will strengthen the Group's performance going into 2023 and will create long-term added value for all shareholders.

“Throughout 2022, NBK prioritized expanding its business activities to cater to a wide range of customers while also improving the quality of its service. Moreover, the Bank placed emphasis on enhancing customers’ experiences, as it is a crucial element in helping customers achieve their financial,” Al-Bahar said.

Al-Bahar indicated that NBK's aims to maintain its commitment to providing an unparalleled banking experience while operating at maximum efficiency. To achieve this goal, the Bank plans to expand its market share by offering customers a wider range of financial alternatives and value-added services.

Al-Bahar explained that during the past year alone, NBK added over 84,000 new customers to its network in Kuwait, including its digital channels.

She also highlighted that to create added value for all stakeholders, NBK has adopted a balanced approach to increasing revenue from various sources. The Group aims to improve its profitability by maintaining its leading position in core business activities while expanding non-core business activities to enhance profitability.

Solid Performance

Al-Bahar outlined that in 2022 the International Banking Group (IBG) delivered a robust and flexible performance, as it effectively managed to enhance its balance sheet and optimize profits while maintaining its credit portfolio and financing base diversity.

This approach, according to Al-Bahar, bodes well for NBK's future growth, since international operations and Islamic banking activities contributed significantly to the Group's net operating revenues in 2022, accounting for about 26% and 21%, respectively.

Al-Bahar highlighted that the Group continued to focus on its diversification strategy and strengthened its presence in the global markets through the development of business sectors in the core markets, with a special focus on Egypt and the GCC, stressing that going forward, IBG will focus on cross-selling opportunities to achieve group-wide synergy.

“Our Assets under Management (AUM) continue to grow consistently as a result of the good momentum of our inflows, with our primary growth market, KSA, surpassing USD 1 billion in Assets under Management since inception,” Al-Bahar stated.

Al-Bahar also indicated that NBK has invested in wealth management operations to enhance growth, stating that the global wealth management platform has evolved into a comprehensive set of wealth management solutions to achieve long-term sustainable investment goals through a strategy focused on enriching customer experiences and growing their wealth sustainably.

Digital Excellence

Al-Bahar  affirmed that NBK is committed to enhancing its digital capabilities to deliver an exceptional and unparalleled banking experience to its customers. This involves offering cutting-edge financial solutions, introducing new banking services, and continuously updating the NBK Mobile App, which is regarded as one of the top banking applications in the industry. Moreover, the Bank utilizes data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in various products and services to optimize customer engagement and provide a personalized experience that surpasses their expectations.

Al-Bahar also pointed out that NBK plans to make significant investments in cultivating its digital culture to enhance operational efficiency, elevate customer experiences, and deliver a cutting-edge digital banking experience. These factors will help maintain the Group's reputation for excellence and its competitive advantage in the dynamic FinTech landscape.

Women’s Empowerment

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK launched NBK RISE—a women-led leadership initiative designed by women for women - to bring together corporate entities and female executives to elevate women in the regional and international workplace. “We have come a long way in promoting women’s empowerment and raising female labor force participation,” Al-Bahar said. 

Al-Bahar also highlighted NBK’s efforts to attract and retain female talent. As a result, NBK has achieved a women participation rate of 43.6% and increased the number of women in management to 29.2%. These efforts include various initiatives and advanced training programs to support and empower women.

Following the AGM, Mr. Salah Y. Al-Fulaij, Chief Executive Officer - Kuwait, stated that the business environment in Kuwait has greatly improved as business activities have normalized and post-pandemic pent-up demand has continued to support consumer spending, in addition to higher oil prices, which have boosted business confidence and positively reflected on credit growth.

"NBK maintained its digital dominance over its peers, as evidenced by the rapid growth in NBK Mobile Banking customers, as it accounted for 64% of total NBK Mobile Banking users," Al-Fulaij said, citing the Personal Banking Services Group's success in capitalizing on the momentum of consumer spending and operations throughout the year, as well as following a strategy that takes into account offering ample choice to customers to choose from an array of products and services that suit their needs and lifestyles.

Speaking of Weyay Bank, Kuwait's first and only digital bank, Al-Fulaij noted that it successfully extended its reach to a broad population of youth, with the bank's clients tripling in 2022 compared to earlier forecasts at the time of its inception. He said that "Weyay" is a key pillar in NBK's goal to preserve its digital leadership by offering new solutions that cater to the lifestyles of the younger client base while effectively competing with growing FinTech disruptors.

Seizing Opportunities

Al-Fulaij explained that despite challenging market conditions, the Corporate Banking Services Group has remained committed to supporting its clients and enhancing its strategic relationships, with a focus on improving client experiences and leveraging its capabilities to deliver the best financial solutions possible. The Corporate Banking Relationship Model has proven successful in maintaining NBK’s position as Kuwait's leading corporate bank.

“The Group successfully managed to capture new business opportunities in numerous industries, particularly oil and gas, as the industry started to witness some consistent growth toward the end of 2022 on the back of higher oil prices,” Al-Fulaij noted.

“With the persistent supply chain bottlenecks and the unprecedented rise in global inflation, smart management of cash and treasury systems has become more important than ever. The Treasury Group continued to improve its technologies and infrastructure to reduce costs while providing the best services to its customers.  Furthermore, the development of the Treasury Group's strong digital foundation has allowed NBK to manage liquidity more efficiently and accurately, as well as hedge against the risks of foreign exchange exposure. As a result of these efforts, the Group was crowned Kuwait's Best Bank for Treasury and Cash Management,” Al-Fulaij added.

A Role Model

The year 2022 was a milestone for CSR excellence, as NBK’s initiatives gained momentum, expanding the number of activities, their nature, and the sectors they cover. This was further reinforced by increasing the value of NBK’s investments, initiatives, and charitable donations during the year, which stood at KD 23 million, up by more than 45% year-on-year.  Throughout the year, NBK launched and sponsored various CSR programs with a special focus on health care and education. Last year, NBK generously donated KD 13 million to add a new extension to NBK Children's Hospital. It also launched "Bankee" financial literacy program in schools to support the education system and improve students' academic achievement.

Al-Fulaij expressed appreciation for NBK's employees and their dedication, recognizing them as a key factor in NBK’s success. “NBK's exceptional operational and financial performance would not have been possible without the support and devotion of our highly skilled human capital, which is one of the most significant contributors to our success,” Al-Fulaij said.

The Human Resources Department has continued to establish the groundwork for a positive work environment, paving the way for employees to provide their best work, devote more effort, and increase their innovation. In 2022, the Group spent KD 1.2 million and provided 21,000 hours of training and development to its people. This is a significant increase over last year's average. Despite fierce competition for talent across all sectors of the labor market, we were able to recruit the top national talents and hired around 260 Kuwaiti employees last year.

Dominant Market Share

Al-Fulaij indicated that NBK continued to drive its labor nationalization efforts, which was highly recognized as it received “The Job Replacement and Nationalization Award”, a prestigious regional recognition by the Committee of the GCC Ministers of Social Affairs.

“Looking ahead to 2023, we aim to sustain our dominant position in corporate finance, reinforce our digital capabilities, and transfer our digital knowledge to our international branches. Strengthening our partnerships with strategic allies, particularly in the oil and gas industry, remains a priority as we strive to maintain our reputation as the preferred bank for financing public projects, and as the "house" bank for lending to KPC and its subsidiaries as we continue to maximize the benefits of infrastructure financing in Kuwait. Meanwhile, our focus on retail banking includes defending our market share through exceptional customer experiences and cutting-edge products and services,” Al-Fulaij concluded.

Kuwait: Al-Bahar: Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality are Critical to Ensuring a Prosperous and Inclusive Future

Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait, took part in a panel discussion organized in Riyadh on International Women's Day.

The "The Journey of Women to Success " panel discussion brought together influential female executives from a variety of sectors to explore the challenges and opportunities women encounter throughout their careers.

Key issues including gender equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as women’s role in driving economic growth were also discussed during the event.

Al-Bahar addressed the pressing need of empowering women and promoting equity at the workplace as the key to success, highlighting the necessity for additional programs to further support and encourage women to pursue leadership roles.

Vision 2030

“Without a doubt, Vision 2030 provided unprecedented support to Saudi women and promoted their leadership and empowerment. The significant economic impact of this transformative action will spread throughout the GCC and beyond Saudi’s future. As GCC citizens, We consider ourselves KSA’s partners in this forward-thinking objective for economic progress,” Al-Bahar said.

As Al-Bahar explained, empowering women in the Kingdom would lead to promising economic prospects across several booming industries since women empowerment have become a key factor in the sustained growth of the country's human capital.

She also explained that Saudi women are now at the helm of several key industries, creating history, and acting as a source of inspiration to drive Saudi’s growth and prosperity.

NBK RISE

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK launched NBK RISE—a women-led leadership initiative designed by women for women to bring together corporate entities and female executives to elevate women in the workforce. This unique initiative engages numerous partners, with participating companies signing an NBK RISE pledge to increase women’s representation in leadership positions.

Al-Bahar also discussed NBK’s commitment to promoting gender equality and diversity in the workplace, highlighting the Bank's numerous initiatives to support and develop female talents, including training programs, mentorship opportunities, and flexible working arrangements, thus closing the gender gap at NBK, with women's participation rate at 43.6% and women in management at 29.2%.

“NBK was recognized with a prestigious award as the “Best Bank for Diversity and Inclusion in Kuwait” from Euromoney, a testament to our dedication and continuous efforts to build our culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Al-Bahar stated.

Leadership Qualities

During the panel discussion, Al-Bahar emphasized that leadership qualities are determined by individual experiences and strengths, not gender, noting that both men and women can be great leaders, as effective leadership involves key features including personality, communication skills, the ability to inspire and motivate others, and a clear vision for the future.
She highlighted that KSA is a great example of the potential of making a difference and opening new avenues for women to become successful leaders, entrepreneurs and ambassadors for positive change, adding that they represent a promising future for economic growth and the comprehensive renaissance the country is experiencing.

During the course of the discussion, Al-Bahar urged businesses to foster an open and supportive work environment that promotes diversity and gender equality by ensuring that men and women have equal access to leadership training and development programs.

She also underlined the need of diversity and inclusion training, as well as continuous efforts to raise awareness and promote equality, in combating gender-based stereotyping and discrimination that may impede women's professional advancement.

Decision Making

Women in power, according to Al-Bahar, have added fundamental improvements to the decision-making process since they have a greater tendency to cooperate and take a proactive approach, resulting in more comprehensive and effective decision-making processes and, ultimately, improving business outcome and corporate financial results.

“Women have an insight into comprehending the different points of view and the demands of more than half of the society, which strengthens the value of their perspective. They are also recognized for their strength, flexibility, enthusiasm in learning, and scientific curiosity, as well as their capacity to empathize with people. These are all excellent attributes in leaders," Al-Bahar explained.

To achieve this objective and guarantee a prosperous and inclusive future for all members of the society, Al-Bahar underscored the significance of empowering women and supporting gender equality.

Gender Wage Gap

Speaking of the biggest challenges facing women in the workplace, Al-Bahar said that the gender pay gap is a key barrier to women’s advancement in the corporate world. To combat this issue, businesses should undertake frequent pay reviews to identify and address any gender-based wage discrepancy to level the playing field for female employees.
“NBK takes pride in the fact that there is no gender wage gap. Furthermore, it has made considerable improvements to its female employees' compensation and benefits to achieve greater equality among its employees,” Al-Bahar concluded.

Kuwait: NBK Provides Multi-Currency Cash Delivery Service for Its Customers

Seeking to enrich its customers’ banking experience by providing the best innovative products and services, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has introduced multi-currency cash delivery service to customers’ doorsteps.

The new service is available for Private and Privilege Banking Customers around the clock all week long through concierge service provider Q’go by calling or sending whatsapp @ 1888125. The currency’s that can be provideas a part of the service are:

1. US Dollars

2. Euros

3. British Pounds

4. Reyal Saudi

5. UAE Dirhams

6. Qatar Reyal

Speaking on this, Mohammed Akram Hashim, Head of Segments, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We always aim to be closer to our customers by always keeping in touch with them to identify their needs and expectations and tailor our services accordingly. This helps us offer them a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience that suits their various needs and lifestyles.”

“NBK is always keen to enrich the banking experience of Premium Banking Customers by introducing additional innovative services for their utmost luxury and convenience. This service comes as part of the wide range of services provided under Q’go Concierge including:  cash delivery up to KD 10,000, airport transportation and limo service, and airport Meet & Assist in Kuwait,” he added.

Hashim noted that NBK seeks to bolster its leadership as a provider of the latest and most advanced banking products and services, as well as providing various financial solutions to Premium Banking Customers.

Over the past years, NBK was able to maintain the highest level of banking services, and is always working to provide a more innovative banking experience for its customers.

NBK provides Premium Banking Customers with an exclusive array of services, including: a dedicated relationship manager taking care of all customers’ banking needs. It also provides them with access to Premium Banking lounges, diverse investment solutions including: SmartWealth and Watani Brokerage, Premium Banking Teller Services which grants them priority in making their transactions in a quick and easy way, in addition to card home delivery service, and priority status when contacting NBK Call Center on 1801801 available 24/7.

Kuwait: NBK Offers Its Customers an Exclusive Dining Experience at Ava Restaurant

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always seeks to enrich its customers’ banking experience through top-notch exclusive offers. In this context, the bank is providing an exclusive dining experience at Ava in Waldorf Astoria Kuwait located in The Avenues Mall for its Private and Privilege Banking Customers.

To enjoy the offer, customers must show their eligible Private or Privilege Debit Cards, and pay using their eligible credit cards.

The offer provides an exclusive NBK menu from Ava including starter, salad, entrée, and a drink at lucrative price.

Commenting on this, Amirah Al-Zayed, Marketing Segment Manager, Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We seek to provide top-notch products and offers that suit the expectations of our customers from different segments, to help offer them an exceptional banking experience.”

“We are keeping close communication with our customers to identify their needs, and we strive to provide exclusive offers and services that help meet those needs and give them a more luxurious banking experience,” she added.

Al-Zayed noted: “NBK is committed to offer more luxury tailored to the lifestyle of Private and Privilege Banking Customers, leveraging our solid ties with the leading institutions across all sectors.”

NBK offers Privilege Banking Customers a wide range of outstanding banking services including a dedicated relationship manager, and top of the line credit cards. Services also feature various investment solutions such as SmartWealth, Global Banking exposure through NBK Network, Premium Concierge Service, and NBK Home Banking with cash delivery at home to customers anywhere. Moreover, NBK is the first bank in Kuwait to offer Premium Family Banking Services.

NBK Visa Credit Cards are the best payment method for the convenience they provide to customers, in addition to the various benefits like eligibility to NBK Rewards Program, NBK Miles Program, Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty, as well as giving the chance to enter NBK’s various draws.

Kuwait: NBK Platinum Sponsor of the 2nd K-Tech Career Fair 2023 Themed “With You Throughout”

Reflecting its belief in the importance of supporting young national talent and qualifying them for the labor market, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) provided sponsorship for the 2nd Kuwait Technical College (K-Tech) Career Fair 2023 themed “With You Throughout”.

NBK’s participation in the Fair comes as part of its consistent endeavors to nurture the Kuwaiti youth and to attract high-caliber national talent and offer them suitable job opportunities in a key sector like the banking and financial sector.

The Fair ran for two days, March 6 and 7, during which NBK’s pavilion attracted a large number of visitors from the participants, as Group Human Resources staff provided answers to all inquiries raised by the students who filled out the job applications for available vacancies. This comes in line with the bank’s keenness to encourage these graduates to joining the banking sector, which plays an instrumental role in the development of the Kuwaiti economy.

NBK sponsors this Fair as it provides a meeting point between private sector companies and potential candidates looking for a career. It also helps graduates navigate their way into the labor market and connect directly with companies and institutions to secure job opportunities.

Commenting on this, Mubarak Al-Enezi, Recruitment Manager at NBK said: “We always seek to solidify our leading role among private sector institutions in attracting, training, upskilling national talent and qualifying them as future leaders in the banking sector. We also do our utmost endeavors to build efficient young national cadres who are able to take on leadership positions in the future and promote a sustainable future for the Kuwaiti economy.”

“NBK annually sponsors many career fairs for the Kuwaiti youth to introduce to them suitable job opportunities that meet their aspirations, reflecting its constant commitment to nurture the young national talent and qualify them for the labor market. We also provide unwavering support to all career fairs that help youth and fresh graduates to find the right job,” he added.

“NBK enjoys a unique work environment culture, providing significant support as well as exceptional career development opportunities to its employees on continuous basis. This includes professional training programs aligned with the highest international standards to help develop their skills and expertise for a thriving and sustainable career,” he noted.

NBK’s recruitment strategy is based on attracting, training and developing the young national cadres through the best-in-class programs to help them build a successful career that qualifies them to taking on future leadership positions in the bank. This makes NBK the private sector employer of choice for the Kuwaiti fresh graduates as it boasts the highest national labor retention rate.

NBK’s efforts in attracting national talent go in line with its development and training plans aimed to invest in national cadres and prepare a promising banking generation. It is also keen to offer a series of training courses and professional academic programs, being one of the leading banking institutions in Kuwait in organizing training programs for the youth

Kuwait: NBK Supports “Let’s Be Aware” Campaign by Warning against Virtual Currencies

Pursuing its endeavors to promote financial culture and raise awareness among different segments of society, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) intensified its endeavors to support the “Let’s Be Aware” banking awareness campaign launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait, in cooperation with Kuwait Banking Association (KBA) and local banks, by raising awareness on the risks of dealing in virtual currencies.

In this context, NBK publishes content and posts on its social media pages as well as all communication channels with the aim of raising the financial culture of customers and followers of these channels, and educating them on the various fraud schemes that they may be exposed to when dealing in virtual currencies and investing in digital assets, and the consequent heavy losses that may be incurred.

These awareness materials included introduction to the nature of these currencies that are not issued by official entities and not controlled by any regulatory authority or approved by the central bank.

NBK highlighted that all virtual currencies issuers and dealers are not controlled or licensed by any regulatory authority, which makes these investments highly risky and exposes users to fraud.

NBK explained that fraudulent websites trick victims using various professional fraud techniques to steal their money, such as convincing them to invest in virtual or cryptocurrencies. The bank warned against responding to such websites, which also include fictitious or worthless shares, unlicensed financial investment activities, and investment opportunities promising exaggeratedly lucrative profits.

Therefore, NBK drew customers’ attention to the necessity of choosing their investments very carefully, paying attention to all details such as the people with whom they invest their money, as well as consulting unrelated parties like licensed brokers or financial advisors before taking the investment decision, to ensure avoiding falling victim to fraud.

It is worth mentioning that NBK makes consistent endeavors to raise awareness among its customers, being a fundamental part of its strategy. To this end, it always uses all communication channels to educate them on the necessity to keep their passwords/PINs and financial and personal information confidential, and not to reveal it to anyone impersonating the bank, including the one-time password (OTP).

NBK is a key supporter and partner in all the initiatives and campaigns of the Central Bank of Kuwait, harnessing its huge capabilities, including all its digital channels, which are the most popular among all Kuwaiti banks to increase the trust of its customers and familiarize them with their rights and the ways to protect their information, accounts and money, through regular posts and competitions.

Kuwait: Al-Mattar: “Tamakan” is a Real Investment into the Future of Kuwait

NBK’s strategic sponsorship, a panel discussion was held, hosting Manal Al Mattar, Head of Group Corporate Communications at NBK, who gave the participants tips on the best ways to do their jobs and build a sustainable career. She also shared with them her experience and the milestones of her professional journey at NBK, Kuwait’s leading banking institution and among the top banks across the region.

NBK’s firm strategy for supporting the youth

During the session, Al-Mattar advised the youth saying: “You have to keep learning new things every day and look for different solutions to get the job done and do not be a limited by the routine and always seek development and innovation, as learning is a non-ending process no matter how high you are in your career, in order to keep up with the rapid technological developments every day in the banking industry.”

“Every step forward in your career will make you have a better perspective for the work system, so you should always look at the picture more deeply, aside from the different points of view with the work team, and initiate ideas to develop the workflow in cooperation with team members,” she added.

Al-Mattar explained that NBK always focuses on acquiring talent, building professional cadre, and extending to them all means of support by providing training courses from day one, and the bank’s continuous motivation policy encourages employees to do their best.

“NBK has a firm commitment to support the youth and help them build their career, considering this as a real investment into the future. NBK always seeks to give youth the priority, as this guarantees building human cadre who are able to achieve a prosperous future for Kuwait,” she emphasized.

Al-Mattar called on the youth to seize the opportunity of the bank’s training initiatives offered to fresh graduates, to develop, upskill and qualify them to navigate their way into the labor market, and emerge as effective workforce to contribute to building a thriving economic future for Kuwait. She noted that “Tamakan” program comes in line with the bank’s strategy to support the youth and pave the way for them to acquire the necessary experience to improve their knowledge and broaden their understanding, which qualifies them to meet the requirements of the labor market.

My team is my second family

Al-Mattar touched on the behind-the-scenes of working with her team in Public Relations, saying: “NBK employees maintain friendly relationships and I regard my team as my second family. I give them advice and directions not orders, and enough space to do their jobs allowing innovation, creativity, development, and finding faster and more advanced solutions to execute their tasks.”

 “All the successes we achieved over the past years were attainable through cooperation and the work of the whole team who always do their best to improve the work mechanism within our workplace recognized as Kuwait’s leading banking institution,”

Al-Mattar continued: “There are no barriers between our team, regardless of the different positions, as I consider myself one of the team members and I listen carefully to criticism and different opinions, and we hold discussions that enrich how all the team think, which ultimately positively reflects on the work system.”

“NBK provides exceptional opportunities for continuous career development through top-notch training programs organized in cooperation with the most prestigious international institutions, thus ensuring a sustainable career for its human capital,” she noted.

The secret to success

Al-Mattar mentioned that all NBK departments work like a beehive to serve customers, create added-value for stakeholders and shareholders, and reinforce the bank’s leading position as the top banking institution in Kuwait.

“I am always proud of working in a prestigious institution like NBK, and I thank all my team members for the efforts they have made and the success we have achieved so far in cooperation with all other departments. We also strive to do more to ensure the bank’s excellence and leadership at the local and regional levels,” she concluded.

Kuwait: NBK’s National Days Song Amasses 7 Million Views

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is keen to celebrate the National Days every year by presenting an exquisite artistic work to share citizens their celebrations of these days. This year’s song titled “From Generation to Generation, Kuwait’s Beauty is in Our Hearts”. The song is particularly significant, as it coincides with NBK’s celebration of its 70th Anniversary.

Similar to the songs presented by NBK in celebration of the National Days over the past years, this year’s song has amassed over 7 million views on NBK’s YouTube channel within the first days of publishing.

NBK’s song for this year was performed by the songstress Ahlam, in continuation of NBK’s cooperation with prominent artists over many years to present memorable songs celebrating the National Days, including Abdul-Karim Abdul-Qader, Abdullah Al-Ruwaished, Bashar Al-Shatti, Nabil Shuail, and Sulaiman Al-Qassar as well as singer Khaled Al-Mulla, lyricist Bader Bouresli and composer Ghannam Al-Dikan.

Commenting on this, Basma Khaled Al-Hassan, Advertising Manager at National Bank of Kuwait said: “Our celebration of the National Days has become an annual tradition for NBK. Every year, we aim to present a meaningful and engaging artistic work to share the Kuwaiti people their joyful celebrations.”

Al-Hassan expressed her pleasure with the massive interest to watch the song, which reflects people’s keenness to watch NBK’s new TV commercials every year, which have become memorable patriotic artistic works.

It has been the tradition of NBK to actively participate in different occasions and national days, as part of delivering on its CSR commitments. Over the years, the bank launched many initiatives related to the National Days, such as “Watani Al-Kuwait”, “Hatha Hwa lKuweiti”, “Habibityi ya Kuwait” operetta, “Al Sidra” and many other songs that are still engraved in the memory of all Kuwaitis for long years and generations.

Kuwait: NBK Launches Its New Mobile Banking App Experience Themed “Tailored for You”

Pursuing its endeavors to provide the latest and most advanced digital services to its customers, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched the new NBK Mobile Banking App, enhancing the way NBK Customers fulfill their daily banking needs in a much easier way.

The new NBK Mobile Banking App brings a new more personalized comprehensive experience that includes smart design and experience changes resulting in a host of benefits for customers; including shortcuts to popular transactions, personalization, and a redesigned holistic dashboard.

With the mobile app being NBK Customers’ personal banking companion, the new experience promises to strengthen the connection even further with upgraded features such as quick-action buttons to reach essential services easily, reordering items on the dashboard, faster "NBK Quick Pay" service, a new Rewards Center, and much more.

On this occasion, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: "As part of our digital transformation strategy, the new NBK Mobile Banking App elevates our digital offerings to new heights. This milestone is crucial for NBK’s digital banking ambitions, and is a sign of things to come in our journey to empower customers through digitalization."

"We greatly focus on tailoring our digital services to fit the nature and expectations of each customer individually, as clearly reflected in the customers’ freedom to choose the design and rearrange the dashboard according to their different needs," he added.

"We put customers at the center of the design process; we listened to the feedback faced over the years and built upon that – which meant a number of experience changes were required to create something that overcame their pain-points," he explained.

"The NBK Mobile Banking App is a key part in our digital transformation strategy, as it comes on top of our digital channels, with the largest share representing almost two-thirds of our banking transactions," he noted.

Al-Othman concluded by saying: "With customers at the heart, we are excited to build upon this achievement with many new features to come to better meet all of our customers’ needs."

The NBK Mobile Banking App is now available for download on the App Store, Google Play Store, as well as Huawei App gallery.

For more information about the NBK Mobile Banking App, you can visit the bank’s website: nbk.com

Kuwait: NBK First Bank in Kuwait to Introduce SWIFT g4C Service

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) always seeks to provide the best and most advanced banking services. In this context, NBK announces introducing the SWIFT g4C service for tracking incoming international payments, which enables customers to know the details of incoming transfers since origination from the sending bank outside Kuwait, through intermediary banks, until reaching NBK.

The new service enables beneficiaries to track international incoming payments for individuals, corporates, and SMEs, by inquiring about them and verify their details before they are deposited to their accounts.

The SWIFT g4C service for tracking incoming international payments will make cross-border payments quicker and easier as well as enhance their security and reduce related risks, in view of the early detection of useful information that helps in making business decisions in the event that an incoming international transfer is validated and details matched.

Customers can also utilize this service to communicate with the bank using the official channels or contacting the account officer for companies and SMEs and sending Transaction Reference to obtain all the details of their incoming payment quickly and easily.

On this occasion, Mr. Mohammed Al-Kharafi, General Manager, Head of Group Operations at National Bank of Kuwait, said: “At NBK, we always seek to provide the most advanced digital services to our customers, in line with our commitment to the continuous development of our digital agenda and our tremendous technological infrastructure gives us the edge and leadership in this regard.”

“The new service allows customers to better manage their liquidity, and helps them to make more accurate decisions regarding their financial transactions,” he noted.

“NBK always strives to be closer to its customers, so the support team will be available around the clock to assist customers in providing the required information and benefitting from this service by contacting the bank using the official channels or contacting the dedicated account officer for companies and SMEs,” Al-Kharafi added.

Commenting on launching the new service, Mr. Abdullah Al-Mutawaa, AGM- Group Operations at NBK said: “NBK puts meeting customers’ needs at the heart of its operations, investing its enormous digital capabilities to provide the best-in-class products and services with the aim of offering customers an exceptional banking experience that is on par with the latest and most advanced international levels.”

“The new service also enhances security by providing capabilities and tools to control payments, and to generate daily reports on the transactions,” he pointed out.

On his part, Mr. Onur Ozan, Head of Middle East, Turkey and Northern Africa at SWIFT said: “The SWIFT g4C service for tracking incoming international payments tracking will enhance liquidity forecasting and reconciliation for NBK’s customers, enabling them to see when a payment is on its way and when it will arrive. This opens up a realm of new opportunities for businesses to cut costs, manage risks and reduce friction.”

NBK is also the first bank to introduce the latest technologies in instant payments and transfers in Kuwait, including (SWIFT gpi) service for tracking payments on its digital channels: NBK Mobile Banking, NBK Online Banking and NBK Online Corporate Banking, enabling customers to check the status of their transfers online in quick and secure way.

Kuwait: NBK Named Best Trade Finance Provider in Kuwait for 2023

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was named the Best Trade Finance Provider in Kuwait for 2023 by Global Finance. Through its annual survey that includes input from hundreds of industry analysts, corporate executives, and technological experts, Global Finance names the best trade finance providers in the world.

Mr. Waleed Jarjouhi, Head Of Financial Institutions and Trade Finance at National Bank of Kuwait - London, was presented with the award on the sidelines of the ceremony held in London, England.

Global Finance selects the winners base on a rigorous criteria including transaction volume, the scope of global coverage, customer service, competitive pricing, and innovative technologies.

NBK was recognized as one of the best banks in the world and MENA region for providing trade finance services in Global Finance's 23rd annual survey naming the best financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world.

This distinguished award acknowledges NBK's dominating position and share of the trade finance industry, as well as its crucial role in mega deals across a wide range of vital industries, owing to its superior customer service and added value. These efforts are further supported by its vast regional and international reach and its professional and knowledgeable team.

The award also recognizes NBK's exceptional capability to maintain strong and sustainable relationships with its customers, firmly positioning the Bank to participate in some of the most important financing transactions while strengthening its leading and dominating position in the local and regional markets.

Global Finance, founded in 1987 and headquartered in New York, is one of the most reputable finance and economics magazines. It has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 193 countries worldwide, including senior corporate executives and financial officers making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions.

The magazine recognizes the best international and regional banks and financial institutions based on the results of several yearly surveys that measure their creativity and profitability.
 

Kuwait: Al-Bahar: Women in Kuwait Have Long Been Acknowledged as Pioneers, But There is Much Progress to Be Made

Forbes Middle East has unveiled its annual list of the region’s Most Powerful Businesswomen – 2023. Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, Group Deputy CEO at National Bank of Kuwait topped the list of the most powerful businesswomen in Kuwait and ranked 4 in the Middle East for 2023, owing to her outstanding career in the banking industry and her leading role in promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

In a recent interview with the magazine, Shaikha Al-Bahar talked about the fundamental pillars driving NBK’s growth and detailed some of the CSR efforts she manages, as well as offering a glimpse into her successful professional path.

Sustainable Growth

Commenting on NBK’s solid financial results in 2022 and her outlook on future performance, Al-Bahar said that NBK is optimistic that the positive trend will continue in its financials, driven by diversification and digitization, an improving operational environment, higher oil prices, and a lower cost of risk.

When asked about future expansions, Al-Bahar responded that NBK is present in 13 countries and has no current plans to expand geographically, adding: “Currently, the focus is on our existing markets, but we are open to any opportunity, and inorganic growth is still on the table if an opportunity having synergy with our strategy arise”.

Al-Bahar also talked about NBK’s digital transformation, saying that the Bank’s headquarters house a digital lab focused on conducting market research and scouting the global Fintech market for new ideas as well as developing its own product solutions. The Bank uses data analytics, RPA, and machine learning in its operations.

As for Kuwait Development Plan, Al-Bahar sees that “The focus was on Vision 2035, so the core of it is to have the government as regulator, policy-maker, and allow the private sector to handle operations. They are building bridges, establishing companies, creating jobs, but they have to go to the private sector to build more efficiency.”

Leading Initiatives

“We learned from experience that disruption is bound to happen, so we decided to lead the change. We started from scratch and built from the ground up. We delivered the digital bank in just 12 months. We will, of course, be eager to have this digital bank contributing to the bottom line,” Al-Bahar said.

Al-Bahar also described Bankee education program saying that it gives the participants the culture of how to save rather than keep spending.

On the asset and wealth management front, Al-Bahar said: “Most banks focus on pushing clients to spending, spending, spending, and banks keep lending, lending, lending, but our Smart Wealth is giving clients the opportunity to start saving. This is really a very ambitious plan for digital banking, and we are really happy with the outcomes.”

“NBK has embedded its mobile banking options with its investment arm, Smart Wealth, which enables customers to also access investment services in-app, such as transferring funds and viewing their portfolios,” Al-Bahar added.

NBK RISE

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK established NBK RISE—a women-led leadership initiative designed by women for women to bring together corporate entities and female executives to elevate women in the workforce. Participant companies signed an NBK RISE Pledge to increase women’s representation in leadership positions.

“Female executives provide a greater degree of creative thinking, and companies with more female representation engage more with social causes. Companies with a greater proportion of female executives and board members have been shown to score higher at social responsibility, corporate governance, and transparency,” Al-Bahar confirmed.

“I always take things very passionately. Women in Kuwait have long been acknowledged as pioneers, it’s not just recently, but there is much progress to be made. In my opinion, the two most glaring challenges are the proportion of women in leadership roles within the financial industry and closing the gender gap, mainly in wages,” Al-Bahar noted.

A New Approach to Greatness

Forbes demonstrated the magnitude of Ms. Sheikha Al-Bahar's hard work and sacrifices throughout her professional journey. As she was building her career, Al-Bahar worked very hard with full dedications & passion, 24/7and getting herself outside her comfort zone. This helped her a lot in differentiating herself. Working for late hours. Working on one of Kuwait’s first BOT projects—she was in the office until 5 am to close the deal. Al-Bahar described working on that project, saying: “I went home, I got orange juice, I took a bath, and I went back to the office at 6:30 a.m.” 

“I love to put myself under pressure; I am a workaholic,” Al-Bahar added.

“I was very curious and eager to learn. I wasn’t going to settle for a routine job. I continued to ask questions, learn, and grow, never accepting any limitations to what I could do, and this opened the sky for me,”

Describing her unique professional path, Al-Bahar said: “Each success story has its own unique twists and turns, but there are thematic necessities to success. Cultivating a positive attitude, honoring my values, and playing to my strengths have propelled my career”.

“Now I spend more time on strategy, building teams, succession planning and investing in people. This will give me time to deliver the Group’s strong aspiration of growth and not doing the nitty gritty; however meeting with groups and leaders to discuss the performance as per the plan,” Al-Bahar said, describing her main focus at this junction of her professional path.

“A career in our field is not a smooth upward trajectory. I chose to have a different approach where I had to double the work to prove myself,” Al-Bahar added.

“My dream is to be part of a non-profit organization to help the community, with a focus on education. This is really my dream. I want to be part of the change,” Al-Bahar concluded.

Kuwait: NBK Joins the United Nations Global Compact

National Bank of Kuwait announced that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate initiative advancing sustainable and socially responsible business practices, as the Bank continues to lead responsible practices that drive Kuwait’s sustainable economic development.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact was initiated to encourage businesses to adopt a responsible approach and align their strategies and operations with the most significant global challenges by upholding the Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption.

“Joining the United Nations Global Compact demonstrates NBK’s commitment to delivering long-term added value to all stakeholders, the society and future generations,” said Isam Al-Sager, Vice Chairman and Group CEO.

“NBK firmly believes that businesses can shape a better future. By joining the initiative, we demonstrate our commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices,” Al-Sager added.

Al-Sager emphasized that as a leading bank, NBK recognizes the importance of demonstrating responsible leadership to drive sustainable growth.

Furthermore, Al-Sager pointed out that within the UN Global Compact framework, NBK would disclose its progress in implementing the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and engage in a dialogue with its stakeholders on topics pertaining to sustainability and responsible business practices. The Compact presents a great opportunity for companies and organizations that have a similar vision to collaborate, exchange ideas, and promote best practices in order to positively impact their societies and the environment.

"We are proud of the progress we have made in our journey to engrain the foundation of sustainability in our operations and corporate culture through numerous initiatives, including our pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and reduce operational emissions by 25% by 2025. We also launched our Sustainable Financing Framework and continued to disclose the environmental impact of our operations through the Carbon Disclosure Project" (CDP)”.

"NBK has made substantial progress in terms of women's representation in the workforce and their participation in various boards and committees throughout the Group,” Al-Sager concluded.

Highlights of NBK’s key milestones in its journey to sustainable growth

• Committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
• Joined the United Nations Global Compact.
• Set targets to reduce operational emissions by 25% by 2025.
• Launched its Sustainable Financing Framework.
• Achieved significant progress in women's participation in the workforce, as well as their representation on various boards.
• Continued to disclose the environmental impact of its operations through the CDP.

“We encourage you to visit our profile on the UN Global Compact website and learn more about our latest sustainability work. National Bank of Kuwait | UN Global Compact “

Kuwait: NBK Donates KD 1 Million to Support KRCS’ Relief of Quake-affected People in Turkey and Syria

Reflecting its consistent support of civil society’s endeavors to provide relief and humanitarian aid to the fraternal peoples, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) donated KD 1 million to the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS), to support its efforts to extend urgent aid to those affected by the earthquake that has struck Turkey and Syria.

NBK’s donation will be directed to support the KRCS’ efforts to secure the urgent needs of those affected in the earthquake-stricken areas in Turkey and Syria.

The donation comes in line with NBK’s CSR commitment to supporting all humanitarian initiatives, civil society efforts and relief activities.

Following the crisis, NBK promptly contacted the KRCS to provide the necessary support for their relief efforts to alleviate the suffering of those affected in the earthquake-stricken areas.

NBK’s donation to the KRCS comes in continuation of its support of all civil society’s initiatives, inside and outside Kuwait, which reflect the civilized, humanitarian image of Kuwait, and demonstrate the spirit of human solidarity of the Kuwaiti people.

In this context, NBK praises the KRCS’ relief efforts extended to people affected by crises and disasters, and its outstanding humanitarian contributions around the world, especially in countries suffering from emergency crises requiring urgent aid, as well as areas where refugees suffer the scourge of wars and conflicts.

NBK is proud and supportive of the relentless efforts of the KRCS, being one of the oldest societies in the humanitarian and charitable field, in addition to its contributions in providing relief in many countries around the world.

It is worth mentioning that National Bank of Kuwait is a strategic partner of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society in a large number of charitable campaigns and initiatives inside Kuwait, including winter supplies campaign, annual education campaign for the most vulnerable students, as well as child-focused social welfare programs.

NBK continues collaboration with charitable societies and cooperation with many civil society players, as well as commitment to support purposeful CSR programs in the areas healthcare, childcare, in addition to social, environmental, sports and awareness, cementing its leading position as the largest CSR contributor in Kuwait.

Kuwait: NBK Opens New Branch in Al-Siddiq Area

Seeking to provide top-notch advanced banking services to all customers, wherever they are, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has recently opened its new branch in Al-Siddiq Area. This comes as part of the bank’s endeavors to cement its leading position in the local market through its branch network, which the largest in Kuwait both in terms of number and breadth.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Ali Al-Asfar, Hawally Governor and Acting Capital Governor, Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK - Kuwait, Mr. Mohammed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK, as well as a number of the executives of Consumer Banking Group.

The opening of the new Al-Siddiq Branch serves NBK’s strategy to be closer to its customers, meet their needs and expectations, and ensure offering them an integrated, superior banking experience throughout all the areas of Kuwait.

On this occasion, Mr. Ali Al-Mulla, AGM, Head of Domestic Branches at National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK always seeks to offer its customers the highest service level, thanks to its broad branch, ATM/ITM network covering all areas of Kuwait. These banking networks integrate with its multiple highly advanced digital channels to make NBK always closer to its customers.”

“We are constantly seeking to enrich our customers’ banking experience by offering banking solutions and services that make all transactions faster and easier. This helps save time and effort and ensure a unique banking experience that reflects NBK’s leading position and enormous capabilities,” he added.

“NBK’s strategy to meet customers’ needs is focused on maintaining close communication with all their segments to carefully identify their needs through different digital channels, using advanced analytical methods, based on the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics technologies,” he noted.

It is worth mentioning that NBK’s new branches are on par with international standards, reflecting the radical changes the bank is making to the traditional branches concept, starting with the design, interactive services and advanced banking solutions provided by the branch, to keep pace with the rapid developments in the banking industry. These changes reflect the expectations of NBK Customers with whom the bank is always in touch to know about their needs and expectations, and ensure providing the same when they visit the branches.

NBK boasts the largest domestic banking network with 67 branches covering all areas of Kuwait, as well as the largest owned ATM network including 450 onsite and offsite ATMs/CDMs.

Kuwait: NBK Provides Its Customers Exclusive Discounts on Eco-friendly Products from Eureka

Reflecting its consistent endeavors to provide customers with unique offers, concurrently with advancing its sustainability initiatives, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is providing 2% discount, in addition to 10% NBK KWT Points, on customers’ purchases of eco-friendly products from Eureka, when using the NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card for payment.

Customers can choose from a variety of eco-friendly appliances and gadgets for in-store shopping at Eureka using the NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card.

On this occasion, Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy General Manager of Consumer Banking Group, National Bank of Kuwait, said: “NBK strives to embed ESG standards into all its activities and businesses, including the banking products and services provided to customers, as well as the exclusive offers and rewards that are tailored to meet their needs and expectations.”

Al-Nusif stressed that NBK Consumer Banking Group plays a leading role in this regard, with its initiatives, most notably the endeavors to transform all branches to be eco-friendly.

“We constantly strive to maintain our leading position in the banking sector when it comes to adhering to our responsibilities towards society, as we place promoting sustainability as a key consideration placed at the heart of our strategy and all our products and services,” he added.

“NBK is committed to supporting the government’s agenda, especially in its endeavors to achieve net-zero emissions, in a step to promote environmental, social and economic prosperity, which comes in line with the Country’s recent pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060,” he concluded

NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card combines an exclusive package of exceptional rewards with a design inspiring national pride, making it a card like no other. In addition, it gives its holders a unique lifestyle thanks to the benefits and offers it provides which are tailored to fit their needs and expectations.

It is worth mentioning that NBK plays a leading role in actively contributing to the transition to a sustainable and low-carbon economy. In this context, it recently announced transforming its branch network to be eco-friendly by installing solar panels as a supplemental source of energy in its local branches in Kuwait, which will immensely contribute to its efforts to effectively reduce carbon emissions. This initiative underscores the bank’s fast-paced strides to achieve sustainable growth enshrined in New Kuwait Vision 2035 and the National Development Plan.

NBK has gone a long way in transitioning to supporting the initiatives to combat climate change and adopting sustainability practices across all its operations by taking several initiatives aimed at reducing energy consumption, including energy optimization, auto switch off technologies, heating and cooling auto savings technologies, highly efficient (LED) fixtures, and the Tarsheed annual campaign for reduction of electricity and water consumption.

Kuwait: Faisal Al-Hamad: NBK Provides a Great Working Environment that Rates Among the Best in the World

As part of its ongoing support and sponsorship of "TAMAKAN" program and its strategic collaboration with Creative Confidence, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hosted another panel discussion for the participants of the program with the Bank’s executives. Mr. Faisal Al-Hamad, CEO - Global Wealth Management at National Bank of Kuwait, participated in the latest panel discussion to share his insights.

Sharing his professional journey from college graduation to senior positions at the largest financial institution in Kuwait and one of the most renowned banks in the region, Al-Hamad gave this year's TAMAKAN participants a glimpse into his path in the corporate world by sharing his wealth of experience, perspectives, and expertise.

NBK Offers an Ideal Work Environment

“National Bank of Kuwait is one of the few financial institutions in Kuwait that has a unique and ideal work environment that is on par with the finest organizations in the world. By working closely with some of the world's most prestigious and top educational institutions, NBK provides its employees, new recruits, and recent college graduates with unparalleled access to the best training and development programs available. This method ensures that every employee has a sustainable and rewarding professional future”. Al-Hamad said.

Al-Hamad emphasized the significance of a positive work environment in terms of employee engagement, productivity, and overall performance. He discussed how corporate culture and values contribute to creating an extraordinary work environment and adopting measures that enhance professional growth possibilities.

“Employees with a relentless passion for learning, development, and knowledge, as well as a constant drive to improve their skills, are the best. "TAMAKAN" program provides an outstanding opportunity for new grads who are in need of this type of intensive practical experience, rich in challenges that they require to become powerful professionals”. Al-Hamad added.

As part of his advice, Al-Hamad pointed out that there is no limit to learning since it is a constant process that does not end at a certain position or by reaching a level of experience, adding that there are always new things that can be learned, regardless of how far along in a person's career they are and urging that, especially at the outset of their careers, people shouldn't pass up training opportunities.

Asset Management was the Steppingstone

Sharing how he started his professional journey, Al-Hamad said: “When I graduated from university in the United States, I intended to continue living and working there. However, after lengthy discussions with my father and older brother, I started working in asset management for four years; then, I earned my master’s degree. By the time I returned to Kuwait, I had seven years of professional experience, in addition to the two years I had spent working on my master's degree.

Al-Hamad further stated that he joined NBK Capital in 2007 when it was a small team of 25 people. Nonetheless, NBK corporate culture reflected on the company and provided him with enthusiasm, passion, and constant development, in addition to his relentless drive to continue learning and developing.

Al-Hamad urged the youth to prepare ahead of time for every step, from the decision to attend university to reaching the top of the organizational ladder.

According to Al-Hamad, one of the secrets to success is graduating from a reputable university since it refines the personality and adds invaluable skills such as critical thinking, arranging thoughts, and making the right decisions. He went on to say that acquiring a master's degree after years of experience is more beneficial in practice, suggesting that committed employees aspire to continually develop their skills and advance their careers without factoring in the time.

Work Ethics

Al-Hamad revealed that working at NBK necessitates a certain set of qualities, most notably ethics, professionalism, willingness to learn, a team spirit, and maintaining work confidentiality. Another key quality is representing NBK’s values and maintaining its sterling reputation. Following those standards will always lead to continuous success.

“NBK regards its people as its most valuable asset, as a result, a key component of NBK's strategy is to invest in human capital, including providing the greatest training and educational opportunities,” Al-Hamad said.

NBK is committed to fulfilling its national duty and social responsibility goals by establishing new initiatives year-round that are centered on the youth of Kuwait. These programs include strengthening their professional abilities and promoting a culture of financial awareness so that they may save and invest their money, as well as manage their funds in line with the most effective methods and strategies,” Al-Hamad added.

My Father… My Inspiration

Talking about people who had the greatest influence on his career, Al-Hamad said: "My father deserves the most credit for the successful career I've had thus far. Most of my professional accomplishments can be traced back to him. His guidance illuminated the road to my success and played a significant role in my decision-making."

“Aside from constantly gaining experience, I also sought to learn from my experienced and skilled coworkers. I also concentrated on being patient and willing to learn. Neither the time it would take, nor the timing of my next promotion was on my mind. I knew that everything would fall into place at the perfect time; I just had to be prepared to take on the responsibilities to strengthen my managers' faith in my abilities." Al-Hamad added.

Educated Decisions

When a participant inquired about investing in digital currencies, Al-Hamad responded, "Certain investment categories, such as digital currencies, may not be appropriate for our customer base owing to the risks they entail. We do not advise clients to invest in areas where we do not have extensive expertise."

"Technical analysis is an effective instrument in a powerful and deep market full of vast data," Al-Hamad said when asked about the significance of technical analysis.

Investment Diversification

Al-Hamad explained that various investments based on solid financial foundations are safe and protected from sharp market fluctuations, citing the Covid-19 pandemic and the havoc it unleashed on the global economy as a valuable lesson in how to be effective in implementing and diversifying long-term investments to stand on solid ground capable of withstanding such crises.

He emphasized that customer satisfaction is the key to NBK’s success, as the Bank strives to build their trust, increase their savings, and provide added value to all stakeholders.

The young graduates benefited greatly from this event, as they were able to hear from the CEO of Group Wealth Management about what it's like to enter the workforce and how to advance professionally. Participants heard Al- Hamad's recommendations on how to improve their future careers.
Al-Hamad also discussed the difficulties that new graduates may encounter in their professional lives, as well as strategies for overcoming these difficulties. He emphasized the value of seeking advice from more experienced colleagues and mentors when necessary, as well as keeping an open mind and willingness to learn at all times.

Gold Nuggets of Advice

Al-Hamad shared some words of wisdom with the newly graduated college students. He emphasized the value of being an active participant in one's own development by seeking out new challenges, establishing meaningful connections with colleagues, and finding out ways to contribute. In addition, he advised the trainees on how to have a successful career by maintaining a positive outlook, working well with others, and being flexible in the face of change. Some of the most important pieces of advice Al-Hamad gave were:
• No matter how far along in your profession you are, there is always room for improvement and growth.
• Seize valuable training opportunities in the prime of your life.
• Having a strategy in place before taking any action increases the likelihood of making wise choices.
• The most significant factors in achieving one's goals are work ethics, confidentiality, and reputation.
• Don't strive to rise up the ranks too quickly, but instead focus on steadily gaining experience.

Kuwait: NBK Participates in the “Employment after Completion of Military Service” Career Fair

Reflecting its belief in the importance of supporting the youth and providing them with suitable job opportunities in the banking and financial sectors, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) participated in the “Employment after Completion of Military Service” Career Fair, which was organized by the National Military Service Authority of the Ministry of Defense, to help the youth who have completed their military service to start their career.

The fair was held for one day, where many agencies introduced their vacancies to the graduates from the military conscripts who enjoy responsibility, discipline, skills and high values that were instilled in them during performing their national service.

On this occasion, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We are pleased to participate in this important career fair, which aims to open the way for our youth who have completed their military service by providing them with the best job opportunities to start a thriving career that serves the Country in all economic fields.”

Al-Ablani indicated that the fair represents a genuine tool to enhance the participation of national talent in various work sectors and fields, in line with the strategic and comprehensive framework for the employment of Kuwaitis, as enshrined in Kuwait Vision 2035.

“As the largest financial institution in Kuwait, NBK continues to reinforce its leading position among all private sector institutions in employing national manpower, as the bank is always seeking to attract human capital, provide them with training, upskilling and qualifying them for banking work,” he added.

Al-Ablani stressed that NBK’s recruitment strategy is based on diversity and equal opportunities, attracting the best talent, training them and developing their abilities and skills with the best programs, so that they can build a successful career that will help them take leading positions within the bank in the future. This makes NBK the employer of choice in the private sector for Kuwaiti fresh graduates, in addition to being the bank with the highest retention rates for Kuwaiti employees.

“NBK does not only provide job opportunities, but also a promising career path and future, thanks to the bank's professional training resources and programs that are on par with international standards in a way that helps enhance the skills and competencies of the youth,” he explained.

NBK participates in career fairs as they serve as a meeting point between private sector companies and potential candidates looking for a career. It will also help graduates navigate their way into the labor market, in supports of the bank’s endeavors to promote the culture of working in the private sector among the Kuwaiti youth and attract high-caliber talent to the banking sector.

NBK is committed to provide training programs for young Kuwaiti fresh graduates and students, to equip them with the expertise, professional knowledge, and on-job training, as professional preparation for them to navigate the labor market, manifesting NBK’s role as one of the leading local private sector institutions in supporting the youth.

NBK’s endeavors to acquire national talent go in line with its development and training plans aimed to invest in national cadres and prepare a promising banking generation. The bank also seeks to provide a series of professional training courses and academic programs, given its leadership among all banking institutions in Kuwait in organizing training programs for the youth.
 

Kuwait: NBK Contributes KD 3 Million for the Development of Shuwaikh Waterfront

In line with the National Bank of Kuwait's commitment to driving Kuwait's sustainable economic growth, supporting the country's climate action plan, and protecting the environment, as well as implementing the Group's strategy to embed ESG practices as an integral part of all its activities and operations and maximizing the added value for all stakeholders, NBK donated KD 3 million to the Municipal Council to participate in covering the costs of the 1.7 KM Shuwaikh Waterfront Development Project. The Municipal Council is currently seeking approval from the Council of Ministers to direct the donation to the project.

Keeping sustainability at the core of all its operations, NBK recommended that the project be restructured such that the design, implementation, and materials utilized are consistent with its sustainability standards. Given the size of the project's coverage area, the design and construction phase is anticipated to last two years.

NBK continues to launch, and sponsor targeted CSR programs addressing health, childcare, social, environmental, sports, and awareness-raising aspects, devoting its leading position as the largest contributor to social responsibility in Kuwait, as it aligns its sustainable development goals with Kuwait's National Development Plan (KNDP). Last year, NBK's efforts to make its services, contributions, and initiatives sustainable, particularly those relating to the environment, society, education, and sports, were a great success.

Healthy Lifestyle

Along its broad coastline, all the walkway's designs take into account the abundance of green spaces that dominate the terrain and cover the majority of the area, in addition to incorporating designated walking, running, and cycling sections. These extensive paths are lined with trees that provide shaded areas.

In addition to the large grassy spaces where beachgoers may have picnics, the design also takes into account the availability of several sports playgrounds and recreational areas for children. Alongside the fully serviced beach, there are also locations with wooden seats designated for sitting and relaxation.

Sustainable Growth

NBK is committed to supporting Kuwait's national initiative to promote environmental and socio-economic development, in line with Kuwait's recent pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060, by making progress toward achieving its environmental goals and contributing to the country's banking sector's efforts to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy.

In this context, NBK envisions initiating a wide range of programs and getting access to cutting-edge technologies to enhance reliance on renewable energy.

NBK further reiterates its commitment to continuing to fulfil its role as a leading financial institution in supporting sustainable economic growth and advancing the path to a sustainable economy.

Environmentally Friendly

As part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and attain carbon neutrality by 2060, NBK aims for all project designs and materials to be environmentally friendly. All additional poles along the beach are scheduled to be outfitted with solar energy cells, eliminating the need for a power source.

To reduce the project's negative environmental impacts and position it as a model for sustainable development in Kuwait, NBK also emphasized the importance of sourcing a significant proportion of the raw materials used in the project from recycled materials and recycling the majority of the project's outputs.

Merited Leadership

NBK recently announced its plans to become carbon neutral by 2060 to support Kuwait's strategic initiative to drive environmental and socio-economic prosperity. This commitment aligns with the State of Kuwait's recent pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

This year, CDP acknowledged NBK’s progress toward its environmental objectives in the Financial Services Sector’s Climate Change and Forests Categories. The CDP score affirms the Group’s commitment to continuously improve its environmental performance while contributing to the industry’s efforts to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. Furthermore, NBK launched its Sustainable Financing Framework as part of its pioneering activities that serve as a model for the financial sector in Kuwait and strengthen NBK’s dominant presence, both locally and regionally.

Kuwait: Al-Bahar: Our Solid Financial Position and Diverse Revenue Streams Enable us to Maintain Significant Earnings in 2023

Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO at National Bank of Kuwait, commented on NBK's announcement of record profits for the financial year 2022, stating that the Group had a stellar performance in the fourth quarter of 2022, capping off yet another strong year.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK had strengthened its balance sheet both domestically and internationally and across different business segments; corporate, retail, and Islamic, maintaining market leadership.

“We continue to focus on maintaining exceptional credit quality and capitalization ratios, thus lowering the cost of risk, and increasing profitability. Moreover, we capitalized on higher interest rates as franchise deposits played a key role in helping achieve margin expansion”, Al-Bahar said.

Discussing the Group's strategies, Al-Bahar underlined that NBK remained committed to advancing its diversification and digitization agendas while the wealth management offerings strengthened their footholds in various markets.

Catalysts of Profitability 

Al-Bahar attributed the strong bottom line growth achieved in 2022 to stronger core banking income and a lower risk cost.

“The Group continued to grow its balance sheet, leverage its leading position in the market, and grow both the net interest income as well as fee income leading to total revenues growth of 12.2% year on year”, Al-Bahar confirmed.

Positivity and Optimism 

Al-Bahar shared her forecast for 2023, confirming a positive outlook as several of today’s uncertainties will unfold mainly around the global macroeconomic outlook.

“Oil prices are expected to remain relatively stable around current levels leaving the GCC markets with a positive sentiment, which means stronger business volumes. Meanwhile, with the higher rate environment, our solid financial and risk positions, and the diversified revenue streams, we should also continue to see healthy bottom-line growth in 2023”. Al-Bahar noted.

Growth Markets

Al-Bahar highlighted that the focus of the Group’s geographical footprint is to expand its presence in some key growth markets, with particular emphasis on GCC and Egypt.

“Our top priority market is Saudi Arabia, as we are approaching it on all fronts. The developments we see in the Saudi market fully align with the Group’s key strategic initiatives,” Al-Bahar stated.

“We are using our digital transformation strategy and the success we made in launching a digital bank experience in Kuwait as a foundation for regional growth and expansion, with a special focus on young demographics and retail businesses, especially in KSA and Egypt,” Al-Bahr said, adding that the Saudi market is also quite lucrative for wealth management activity and that is another cornerstone in our growth strategy.

“Under our newly launched Global Wealth Management platform, we have been active in the Saudi market, and the NBK franchise is playing an important role in our AUM growth in KSA,” Al-Bahar explained.

She also pointed out that the Group continues to focus on cross-selling in other developed markets, integrating its various offerings to maximize business opportunities and increase bottom-line contributions.

Higher Interest Rates 

When asked about the higher interest rates scenario, Al-Bahar responded that NBK is a very strong franchise bank. Generally speaking, higher rates should be positive for its margins and profitability, adding that CASA or franchise deposits are not rate sensitive and accordingly allows for margin expansion.

The EGP Devaluation Challenges

Commenting on the ongoing currency weakness and its repercussions on the Group, Al-Bahar said: “Egypt is a strategic market for us, and we always referred to it as our second home market.”

She indicated that although the recent currency devaluation moves are creating short-term shocks to the economy and leading to inflationary pressures, it is a move in the right direction, adding that this devaluation move has been expected for a long period of time. That uncertainty stalled a lot of activity that could generate foreign currency, including FDIs and other capital flows.

“Now that a more flexible currency regime exists, we expect a better outlook for the foreign currency squeeze. We have already started seeing some stability in EGP movements in recent days,” Al-Bahar predicted.

“Egypt is one of our key markets, but it is quite small in the Group context. The impact on the Group’s financials is mainly reflected in lower contribution when consolidating the Egyptian subsidiary because of the devaluation. Still, it is not material because of the size of Egypt’s operations in a Group context”, Al-Bahar said.

Missed Opportunities 

Al-Bahar shared her view on the current political situation in Kuwait and its potential impact on the business outlook, confirming that it continues to be volatile, given the government’s recent resignation. “This situation poses some challenges to the business environment and, most importantly, to the government’s infrastructure development program,” Al-Bahar explained.

“We view this as a lost opportunity especially considering Kuwait’s solid fiscal position and the financial capacity to accelerate the country’s Capex program to upgrade its infrastructure,” Al-Bahar added. 

Kuwait: Dr. Mulla Ali: NBK’s Generous Donation Gave the Go-Ahead for the New Hospital Expansion

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues to present a role model for leading corporations in fulfilling corporate social responsibility, taking new remarkable steps in the way of its consistent contributions at all levels, especially the improvement of healthcare. In this context, the bank is making significant strides, culminated in NBK Children’s Hospital, which is preparing for opening a new building, whose cost is fully provided by NBK.

In this regard, Dr. Ali Mulla Ali, Consultant Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and Director of NBK Hospital, highlighted the latest developments in the hospital, future expansion plans, NBK’s contributions to the continuous development of the hospital, and its generous donation.

Dr. Mulla Ali said: “NBK gives a role model in delivering on CSR commitments, as clearly demonstrated in its great edifice NBK Children’s Hospital.”

“The growing need to provide healthcare for clinical cases in line with the highest medical standards, necessitated to expand the hospital. As usual, NBK, which is leading the way in fulfilling CSR commitments, especially related to healthcare, made a generous donation of KD 13 million, giving the go-ahead to start planning for the third Building (C) on an area of 8,000 sqm,” he added.

Integrated care

Dr. Mulla Ali reviewed all the details related to NBK Children’s Hospital as well as the services it provides, explaining that the hospital currently consists of two integrated buildings; the first Building (A) was opened 20 years ago and includes 3 wards, patient beds, and an accident and emergency unit working around the clock for patients registered in the hospital, in addition to a pharmacy, specialized labs, and a branch of the radiology department.

The second Building (B), it was built in 2017 and includes outpatient clinics, the main pharmacy, a stem cell lab, a stem cell transplant ward, and a day care clinic open 24 hours for the hospital’s patients receiving medication doses or blood transfusions and other services, in addition to administration offices.

As for the third Building (C), which is the planning and design phase, it is scheduled that all wards will be moved to it after construction, and there are other details that will be discussed later, such as the number of beds in the new building. These bed will be sufficient according to the available statistics and the expected increase in the number of new patients over the coming years, to provide all patients with high-quality healthcare, while all administrative departments will be moved later to Building (A).

The hospital includes around 68 beds for patients distributed into public rooms and private rooms for patients who need long hospitalization separately. It also includes the nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, medical records and medical devices departments, in addition to the administrative departments that regulate workflow such as public relations, administration, stores and hotel services.

Medical and technical staff

Dr. Mulla Ali talked about the hospital’s medical staff, noting that the hospital is considered small compared to other hospitals in Kuwait in terms of the workforce, as the number of doctors is around 34 doctors, whereas the number of the nursing staff ranges between 140 to 150 nurses, and as a specialized hospital, the working staff is sufficient to provide due care to all patients.

“NBK Children’s Hospital receives all cases of leukemia and cancerous tumors from all hospitals and areas of Kuwait, as it is the only center that receives these cases, in addition to including a stem cell transplantation center for children under the age of 16,” he explained.

Stem Cell Unit

Dr. Mulla Ali said: “The idea of the Stem Cell Unit came as a result of planning and work over many years, as the hematology and oncology unit was affiliated to the children’s department in Al-Sabah Hospital, which the former Minister of Health, Dr. Hilal Al-Sayer, separated to become a specialized department within the hospital.

After NBK’s donation, preparations began for Building (B) of NBK Hospital, allocating part of it to the stem cell unit, and a joint work team was formed from NBK, Engineering Affairs and the Ministry of Health to prepare and plan the new building until it was equipped and opened in 2017. The hematology and oncology department was completely separated from Al-Sabah Hospital technically and administratively, assigning a management team to the hospital and its affiliated technical and administrative departments until it took its final form, which is now known as NBK Specialized Children’s Hospital, Building A and Building B.

Dr. Mulla Ali reported that the stem cell unit receives all patients living in Kuwait, and has so far made transplantation operations for 33 cases since opening in October 2020.

Rehabilitation

Touching on the details of the work and services provided by the hospital, Dr. Mulla Ali said: “The role of the hospital is not limited to diagnosis, but extends to rehabilitation, especially since cancer patients need long periods of treatment which differ according to the condition of each patient, and they also need special and accurate care and treatment, as well as their families.”

Dr. Mulla Ali added: “One of the most difficult situations for doctors is when they inform the family that their child has cancer, so we prepare for such an interview carefully, where we sit with the parents and explain to them all the details of the treatment plan, because there are cases that need to be treated for months and others that require years, and other cases which require hospitalization for one or two months, then they are discharged and visit the hospital for separate treatment sessions.”

“The hospital’s nursing staff are highly experienced in dealing with children with cancer and their families. We also engage with a team from Bayt Abdullah for the Care of Children in Hospice (BACCH), and Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH) to deal with children and their families, rehabilitate them, and inform them of future steps and how the child can be prepared to repeated medications and long periods of hospitalization, and how to spend their time, in addition to the rooms for games and entertainment facilities,” he continued.

Treatment abroad

Dr. Mulla Ali explained that NBK Hospital resulted in a reduction in the cases of treatment abroad, after patients found treatment protocols and medical care that are on par with the highest international standards, stressing that the protocols are updated periodically, and yet there may be incurable cases, which need to travel abroad for treatment.

Mulla Ali revealed that the hospital has built an advanced database including annual statistics showing the number of cases of cancer and their types, which helps in processing and expanding to accommodate future cases. The new building is being planned according to the available statistics.

British protocol

Regarding the treatment protocol used, Dr. Mulla Ali stressed that NBk Children’s Hospital follows the British Protocol for Leukemia, which is updated periodically in accordance with what is in force in the United Kingdom, pointing out that the hospital’s management is committed to adhering to the highest international standards in providing medical care for the patients and their families.

He also stressed the importance of prevention and informing the public of the symptoms that require medical examinations and consultation, noting that the hospital always strives to provide the utmost caring for the patient children as well as psychological support to their families.

Consistent Support

NBK contributes to supporting the hospital by continuing to invest in developing all its units and sponsoring all its activities that go beyond treatment services to include various activities aiming to alleviate the suffering of patients and their families.

NBK had provided a donation to establish a stem cell therapy unit for children under the age of 16, in an initiative that is the largest all over the local private sector. Throughout that period, the unit continued to provide its services for free, which contributed to strengthening the hospital’s role in the field of treating patients, applying safety standards, developing research, and providing the best international standards of care for patients and their families.

Kuwait: NBK becomes the First Financial Institution in Kuwait to Align with the State’s Pledge to become Carbon Neutral by 2060

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced today its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2060 to support Kuwait's strategic initiative to drive environmental and socio-economic prosperity. This commitment aligns with the State of Kuwait's recent pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

As part of this commitment, National Bank of Kuwait has set interim goals to reduce its gross operational emissions by 25% by 2025. In 2022, NBK aligned its environmental footprint with the GHG Protocol global framework to reinforce its commitment to placing environmental protection at the heart of its future agenda. This year, CDP acknowledged the Group’s progress toward its environmental objectives in the Financial Services Sector’s Climate Change and Forests Categories. The CDP score affirms the Group’s commitment to continuously improve its environmental performance while contributing to the industry’s efforts to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy. Furthermore, NBK is exploring innovative research and development technologies to magnify its reliance on renewable energy beyond 2025, to reach net zero operationally by 2035.

In keeping with its commitment to play a vital role in the region’s transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy, the Group launched its Sustainable Financing Framework, which has been externally verified with a Second Party Opinion (SPO) by S&P Global to confirm alignment with the ICMA 2021 Green, Social, and Sustainability Bond Principles and Guidelines.  Through the Sustainable Financing Framework, the Group strives to respond to the growing demand for sustainable finance and to recognize its responsibility in mobilizing capital to address environmental and social challenges, providing innovative and best-in-class sustainable finance value propositions to assist and enable NBK customers to effectively transition to a carbon-neutral economy.

“Kuwait’s national pledge to carbon neutrality, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, marks a key milestone in the country’s commitment to transitioning to a low carbon economy”, said Mr. Hamad Al-Bahar, Group Chairman. “We fully support Kuwait’s vision, and we are aligning our carbon neutrality commitment with the country’s ambitions as the leading financial institution in Kuwait, thus creating positive synergies between the private sector and public interests. Moreover, we recognize our role at the forefront of enabling economic development and financing the transition”.

“We have always sought to provide exceptional value to all our stakeholders while embracing social and environmental challenges, reinforcing what it truly means to be a trusted leader. We identified our ESG goals and acknowledged our responsibilities to ingrain ESG in the Group’s DNA. Our sustainability journey has evolved through time to reflect our dedication to aligning with the industry best practices and regulations, and responding to investors’ interests. Our commitment to carbon neutrality builds on our pioneering efforts to integrate ESG into our long-term business strategy and operations”. He added.

“As a leading financial institution in the region, we are actively exploring strategies to assess climate change risks and opportunities, lessen our operational impact on the environment, and engage with our customers, pursuing effective change in the real economy as part of our efforts to accelerate net zero carbon transition. Using this approach, we will build and execute transition strategies, assess decisions, and monitor progress to unlock and capitalize on business opportunities. We are defining what it means to be environmentally responsible and establishing the role that financial institutions must play in enabling the transition to a low carbon economy”. Al-Bahar confirmed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Isam Al-Sager, Vice-Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, shared his vision on NBK Group's approach to delivering its ambitious market-leading targets across environmental and social themes over the coming years. In 2022, NBK evolved its ESG Strategy from a six-pillar approach to four interrelated pillars supported by ambitious and well-defined targets to promote regional economic prosperity and sustainable development. “Although ESG has long been a key element of our success, the Group’s transformed strategy embeds ESG across all of our operations and business while aligning with the dynamic market conditions and our stakeholders’ expectations.’, Al-Sager said. “We set the standards for sustainable finance in Kuwait’s banking sector by supporting our clients through their own transition through designing and delivering tailored advisory services and providing them with innovative transition finance value propositions. We are convinced that the Group’s plans will only be achieved in partnership with our clients and stakeholders”.

“On the operational front, our redefined approach closely monitors our activities, while exploring new opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint through the adoption of renewable and clean energy solutions”. Al-Sager added. “This commitment underscores NBK’s pioneering efforts in accelerating the adoption of sustainable practices, and resulted in earning a score of “C” for the Group’s disclosure through CDP, making us one of the highest-scoring financial institutions in the GCC and the only financial institution who submitted this disclosure in Kuwait”. Al-Sager concluded.

Through its solid positioning, NBK strives to play a key role in driving sustainable development in the region and has already started developing its interim targets. Furthermore, combining its Carbon Neutrality commitment with accountability and transparency, NBK will be communicating, over the coming 18-24 months, its pathways and scientifically aligned strategic goals to achieve its carbon neutral by 2060 ambition.

Kuwait: NBK Celebrates the 7th Cohort of Graduates of “NBK High Fliers”

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) celebrated the graduation of the 7th cohort of its leadership development program “NBK High Fliers” which is held in collaboration with IE Business School, Madrid.

The closing ceremony was attended by Mr. Isam Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice-Chairman and CEO, Mrs. Shaikha Al-Bahar, NBK Group Deputy CEO, Mr. Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK – Kuwait, Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK- Kuwait, and Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM - Group Human Resources at NBK, as well as other members of the Executive Management at NBK and representatives of IE Business School, Madrid.

This cohort of the program extended over a period of 6 months and engaged International Branches staff. It covered a variety of topics including developing new and unconventional thinking, building a culture of excellence, managing change and innovation, measuring and managing performance, effective communication, high performance teamwork, customer centricity, design thinking, and effective guidance and training and many more.

The five contesting teams presented their innovative themes and solutions; and the panel, which consisted of the NBK’s Executive Management as well as the representatives of IE Business School, Madrid, selected the winning project, which will be implemented in line with NBK’s applicable terms and criteria.

On this occasion, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM - Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK continues this unique program that aims to prepare young banking leaders capable of maintaining the course of the bank’s success, reflecting our vision in placing sustainable development of human capital as a top priority.”

“NBK places the development of its people as a top priority, harnessing all its capabilities to contribute to their career progression by providing training and development programs held in partnership with globally renowned educational institutions, in order to keep pace with the key changes in the banking business,” he added.

Al-Ablani noted that NBK firmly believes that investing in human capital ensures sustainable growth of its business in the future at all levels. Therefore, the initiatives for learning, training, and upskilling the youth is a key priority placed at the heart of the bank’s strategic plans.

NBK has a unique work environment culture, in which it harnesses all capabilities to develop its employees by providing them with training and development programs in partnership with the most reputable educational institutions worldwide, in order to keep pace with the key development in the banking industry.

Founded in 1973, IE Business School, Madrid is one of the top leading business schools in the world. It is consistently recognized as one of the world’s top centers of learning by international magazines and publications including Forbes, the Economist, The Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Kuwait: NBK Celebrates With NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders

Underscoring its endeavors to be closer to its customers, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a special event at Al-Waha Walkway- Mishref to celebrate the 1st anniversary of NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card, which witnessed large attendance and interaction from customers.

The event featured a variety of entertainment segments including many activities, games with prizes for the winners, which were highly engaging for the audience. The event also hosted food and coffee stations.

During the event, NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders enjoyed participating in various games in this special entertainment day reflecting NBK’s commitment to reward its customers with the best offers and exclusive benefits.

On this occasion, Mr. Hisham Al-Nusif, Deputy General Manager of Consumer Banking Group, National Bank of Kuwait, said: “We seek to provide a comprehensive and exceptional banking experience that suits all customer segment. This comes in line with NBK’s strategy to reward customers with a variety of draws and prizes that reflect its leadership as a provider of innovative, top-notch products and services.”

“NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card gives its holders a unique lifestyle thanks to the benefits and offers it provides which are tailored to fit their needs and expectations,” he added.

Al-Nusif emphasized that NBK strives to stay closer to its customers, identify their needs and actively communicate with them through all channels to monitor their changing needs and develop products services accordingly.

“NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card combines an exclusive package of exceptional rewards with a design inspiring national pride, making it a card like no other,” he noted.

NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card gives customers the flexibility to choose the way they want to earn rewards based on their lifestyle; either the “Spends Tier” or “Merchant Category” option. Customer can earn NBK KWT Points on all their spends made using the card when choosing the “Spends Tier” earning option, based on their monthly spends, with up to 5% on digital payments, up to 5% on international POS and up to 3% on all other spends.

When choosing the “Merchant Category”, customers can earn NBK KWT Points on all payments made using NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Card at the selected categories, with 10% on dining and telecom, 5% on fitness and beauty and 3% on clothing, grocery and education.

In addition, customers can enjoy 10% NBK KWT Points when using their card at Ikea, Eureka, Farfetch, and booking.com.

The earned NBK KWT Points can be redeemed through NBK Online or Mobile Banking whether as cashback directly to the card, travel booking at more than 800 airlines and 150,000 hotels, e-vouchers from over 190 merchants, or points exchange with most preferred airlines.

Customers can redeem NBK KWT Points up to KD 1,000 per month. In addition, NBK KWT Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders can earn NBK Rewards Points at over 900 participating outlets.

Kuwait: NBK Embraces Environmental Transparency by Disclosing through CDP

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) today announced that it has received a score of ‘C’ from CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform, for its Climate Change and Forests 2022 Categories. This score is consistent with our roadmap to build environmental and socio-economic resilience. NBK furthered its commitment to environmental transparency by disclosing its environmental impact through CDP. NBK initially disclosed through CDP since 2021, and in June 2022 completed its first CDP’s Climate Change and Forests questionnaires.

Disclosing data around environmental impact is now a business norm. More than 680 financial institutions with US$130 trillion in assets and 280 purchasing organizations representing US$6.4 trillion in procurement spend requested environmental data from companies through CDP. A record 18,700+ companies responded in 2022.

NBK has one of the highest score of CDP disclosures among all financial institutions in the GCC and is the only financial institution who submitted this disclosure in Kuwait.

By disclosing through CDP, National Bank of Kuwait is prepared to respond to the increasing demand for environmental transparency from financial institutions, customers, and policymakers. In its disclosure, NBK shared the results of returning to more normal working patterns as employees moved into its new LEED GOLD HQ building and used 2021 as its new environmental performance baseline, to which we will compare our improvements in the coming years. We also shared our continued long-standing practice of annually assessing and reporting our environmental performance, including our energy and water consumption, waste and resource use, and greenhouse gas GHG emissions. Moreover, NBK highlighted how climate change presents risk and opportunities for the organization by examining in detail the best role for the bank to play in supporting our environmental and societal efforts to overcome this challenge and to grow the bank in the wisest pursuit of specific opportunities. NBK’s primary role will be its financing efforts to effectively respond to this challenge and increase its focus on climate change in our risk management processes. Additionally, in its disclosure, NBK transparently covered environmental commitments as a result of its publicly available Sustainable Financing Framework. These assurances included developing internal targets to reduce our gross operational emissions by 25% by the year 2025 and NBK’s ambition to integrate critical ESG issues into the business, culture and operations, thereby advancing the transition to a sustainable and low carbon economy and contributing to achieve Kuwait’s sustainability vision.

On this occasion, Mr. Isam Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice-Chairman and CEO Group, said: “Today, we are witnessing a new milestone in embracing sustainability that we started years back by being listed among the institutions disclosing the environmental impact of their operations through CDP, the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform.”

“This listing furthers NBK’s commitment to adopting greater transparency in disclosing the environmental impact of all its operations. This comes in line with focusing on embedding ESG standards into all its activities and reinforcing its contribution to supporting the transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy,” he indicated.

Al-Sager added: “Our listing in the CDP, coupled with the recent launch of our Sustainable Financing Framework, will further strengthen NBK’s accessibility to global capital markets, where it is already highly trusted and respected.”

“We are adamant to continue progressing towards advancing sustainable finance and responsible banking practices at the core of our operations and currently exploring technologies to support our aspiration to become net zero operationally by 2035,” Al-Sager continued.

“We continue to be committed to playing a responsible role in supporting global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change risks. To this end, we have set specific measurable and reportable targets, in line with our endeavors to integrate climate-related considerations in our future business model,” he noted.

On his part, Dexter Galvin, Global Director of Corporations and Supply Chains at CDP, commented, “Another year of extreme weather, including floods, droughts and record temperatures, has shown us that climate change is already posing a real and increasing risk to companies and their supply chains. Companies have a fundamental role to play in securing a sustainable net-zero, deforestation-free and water-secure world. It is only through measuring their environmental impact, risks and opportunities that they can manage them and prepare for the future. By disclosing through CDP, National Bank of Kuwait has taken a vital first step. I look forward to their continued dedication to transparency and action for the benefit of all people and the planet.”

It is worth mentioning that National Bank of Kuwait is one of the leading financial institutions in the region in terms of embracing sustainability practices, with major contributions appreciated by international institutions. This includes receiving the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certificate for its new Headquarters, recognizing the improvement achieved in all measured and reported environmental metrics including reducing GHG emissions, and increasing recycled paper and plastic. NBK was also listed on Refinitiv AFE Low Carbon Select Index in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Furthermore, National Bank of Kuwait is the largest financial institution in Kuwait and has actual predominance in the commercial banking sector. The bank enjoys one of the highest credit ratings among all banks in the region, collectively from global rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch.

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with more than 680 financial institutions with over $130 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Nearly 20,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2022, including more than 18,700 companies worth half of global market capitalization, and over 1,100 cities, states and regions.

The full list of companies disclosing through CDP can be accessed here:

https://www.cdp.net/en/responses

Kuwait: NBK Introduces New Designs for All Its Cards

NBK is always keen to extend its commitment in providing customers with solutions that meets their needs and preferences. In this context, the bank is working on the redesign of its cards design based on extensive yearlong customer research.

NBK has embedded the Japanese concept of poka-yoke (fool-proofing) to card design, with design themes provide clear differentiation between Credit, Debit and Prepaid cards.

As part of social responsibility, the bank is introducing many new features especially designed for visually impaired.

Customers can distinguish the card they want to use even in the dark, customers with special needs will be able to distinguish the card by touch and feel through a special card feature.

In addition, customers will be able to choose and pull the card they want to use out of the wallet without the need for the card to be fully visible, through a special feature. Ergonomically designed for ease of use on ATM, POS, and e-wallet, the customer will not enter the card in a wrong way on the ATM anymore. The new cards also include better security features to prevent card fraud.

The bank also carried out a semiotic research on the card color preference to identify color schemes as per customer life styles. This new design will help customers choose the card they want to use and reduce mistakes which makes customers satisfied and reduce complaints.

On this occasion, Mr. Mohamed Al-Othman, GM - Consumer Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait said: “The redesign of the cards with new colors and features aims to meet customers’ needs, the new card design is based on research on customers preference, as we always work on providing customers with the best products and services.”

The new design also demonstrates NBK’s responsibility towards all segments of society, as Al-Othman commented: “In NBK, we always dedicated services and features for special needs customers whom we always think about tailor services and products to meet their needs. Today we wanted to give the visually impaired customers the easiness and accessibility of differentiating the cards they want to use, underscoring our unwavering social responsibility commitments.”

“The new card design is based on extensive research on customers’ preference and within the constant communication with them in line with NBK’s keenness to be always closer to its customers,” he noted.

“As NBK is always pioneering the introduction of all-new banking solutions in the market, we are setting new designs standards for card in Kuwait. The new design comes with many new enhancement and features that will make selecting the card to use much easier for customers,” he added.

On his part, Majed Ghorbal, Head of Insight at National Bank of Kuwait said: “The voice of our customers was injected at the different stages of the design of the new cards. In fact, extensive researches were conducted by NBK Research Team using advanced research techniques in order to understand each segment’s needs and preferences in terms of card’s features, colors, look and feel.”

“In total, more than 1,000 customers participated to the Qualitative Research that took place prior to the design phase and to the User Testing that was conducted once the design options were ready. Therefore, we are strongly confident that the final design is fully in line with our customers inclinations,” he mentioned.

Kuwait: NBK Concludes Its Participation in the Largest Private Sector Career Fair in Kuwait

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) concluded its participation in the Watheefti Career Fair, the largest career fair organized by the private sector in Kuwait, which was held over 3 days from 5 to 7 January 2023 at The Arena - 360 Mall.

This participation underscores NBK’s consistent commitment to support young national cadres and its endeavors to acquire high-caliber Kuwaiti talent in the banking sector.

The Watheefti Career Fair organized by Kuwait Zones aimed to provide a meeting point between private sector companies and potential candidates looking for a career. It will also help graduates navigate their way into the labor market and connect directly with companies and institutions to secure job opportunities.

NBK’s booth at the Fair witnessed a noticeable turnout from the visitors, as Group Human Resources staff responded to all inquiries raised by the visitors who filled out the job applications for available vacancies. This comes in line with the bank’s endeavors to encourage those graduates to join the banking sector, which plays an instrumental role in developing the Kuwaiti economy.

On this occasion, Mr. Emad Al-Ablani, GM – Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “We are pleased with our participation in this fair, which reflects NBK’s keenness to be an active participant in the different professional and career fairs. By this, we seek to promote sustainability, especially in terms of social responsibility, by increasing the job nationalization “Kuwaitization” in the banking sector.”

“Reflecting its role as one of the biggest supporters of young national talent and qualifying them for the labor market, NBK provides educational and awareness services during career fairs to help the youth looking for job opportunities in the private sector make the right decision about their career,” Al-Ablani noted.

“NBK firmly believes that talent acquisition and retention is one of the key drivers of achieving responsible growth, starting from our approach to hiring new recruits, to the many ways through which we support their professional development and career growth,” he added.

Al-Ablani explained that NBK not only provides job opportunities in the largest financial institution in Kuwait and the region, but also promising career path and prospects, thanks to its world-class professional training resources and programs, which help upskill the youth and increase their efficiency.

“NBK follows a unique approach to ensure equal opportunities, by offering equal opportunities to all employees, with no exception, to keep them dedicated and motivated to innovate. We are also committed to provide job opportunities to special needs nationals, regarding this as part of our national duties and social responsibility, as workforce diversity gives a special edge to NBK’s business spanning 4 continents and 15 countries worldwide,” he emphasized.

It is worth mentioning that during 2022, NBK hired 369 new recruits, 80% of them are Kuwaitis, making up 75.2% of total workforce by end of Q3 2022.

Recognizing its efforts in this regard, NBK was awarded “The Job Replacement and Nationalization Award” on GCC level by the Committee of the GCC Ministers of Social Affairs of GCC Countries.

On this occasion, Gadeer Al-Kooheji, Talent Acquisition Manager - Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK’s constant participation and presence at the different annual professional and career fairs organized by many entities reflects its strategy to promote sustainability practices, especially in the CSR area. This also aligns with serving the goals of the New Kuwait Vision 2035, increasing national labor ratio in the banking sector and supporting the national economy. ”

“NBK regards career fairs as important platforms to select and acquire national talent, while, at the same time, offering fresh graduates an opportunity to explore the job and training opportunities available at the bank. In addition, this supports the bank’s endeavors to promote the culture of private sector employment among the Kuwaiti youth, and acquire well-qualified candidates to join the banking sector. ” she noted.

NBK’s recruitment strategy is based on acquiring, training and developing the young national cadres through the best-in-class programs to help them build a successful career that qualifies them to taking on future leadership positions in the bank. This makes NBK the private sector employer of choice for the Kuwaiti fresh graduates as it boasts the highest Kuwaiti employee retention rate.

The bank’s endeavors to acquire national talent go in line with its development and training plans to invest in national cadres and prepare a promising banking generation. The bank also offers a wide range of training courses and professional academic programs, being one of the leading banking institutions in Kuwait in organizing training programs for the youth.
 

Kuwait: NBK Organizes a Lecture Titled “Conditions for Success” for Its Employees

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) makes consistent endeavors to increase employees’ efficiency through the best-in-class training and development programs and workshops to keep pace with the latest changes in the banking industry. In this context, the bank organized a lecture titled “Conditions for Success” by Professor Mark Fritz, the prominent leadership speaker, author and international consultant on personal and leadership effectiveness, and professor at IE University - Business School Madrid.

The lecture, which was attended by 50 managers from different groups and departments across the bank, discussed ways to manage long-term success and enable work teams to make greater achievement on their own.
The lecture aimed to define the conditions for success for managers and companies at various job levels by adopting a set of important factors including: Clarity, Business Judgment by trusting judgment to keep delegating decisions, as well as Influencing Skills through more effective cooperation among team members.

The lecture shed light on the conditions for a successful teamwork environment, as well as the cooperation skills that are the main characteristics that successful managers look for in their employees.

Commenting on this intervention, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said: “NBK believes that leaders are the critical factor to create the environment and culture we strive for, a culture that allows our employees to unlock their full potential and thrive.”

“The Talent Management Department’s offerings are constantly evolving, by introducing new educational opportunities that promote an open work culture. This includes an offering designed to empower leaders to create an environment driving employees’ innovation and creativity,” Al-Sager added.

“NBK provides the training programs and the essentials required for future leaders to be able to adapt, as well as stimulate and empower others, and be decisive in the times of uncertainty,” she mentioned.

Al-Sager noted that managers development programs have always been a key focus for NBK, stemming from a consistent vision of how we understand leadership and what we expect from leaders. It also reflects the unique needs of leaders and is supported by rigorous scientific research to identify the knowledge and skills that form the core of effective and comprehensive leadership to meet staff training needs.

It is worth mentioning that organizing such events comes in line with NBK’s commitment towards the continuous development of its employees. The bank regards training and development as valuable essential investments for the mutual benefit of employees and the bank, which are ultimately translated into better customer service.