QIB CEO gets ‘Best Bank CEO Response to COVID-19 in Qatar’ award from Asian Banker

QATAR Islamic Bank (QIB) on Saturday announced the recognition of QIB Group Chief Executive Officer Bassel Gamal as the ‘Best Bank CEO Response to COVID-19 in Qatar’ by The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards 2020. QIB was also named the ‘Best Managed Bank during COVID-19 in Qatar’.

This top recognition came following QIB’s outstanding response to the COVID-19 pandemic delivered through the guidance of QIB’s board of directors and Bassel’s leadership in navigating the bank to deliver the safest, most trusted, and effective banking services to both retail and corporate customers since March this year.

Attended by top executives and senior bankers from across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Bassel Gamal received the two prestigious awards via a virtual awards ceremony held on October 15.

During the ceremony, Bassel spoke about QIB’s vision and successful approach to handling the challenges related to the pandemic and discussed the steps and measures QIB has taken to guarantee the safety of its employees and customers, while continuing to offer the best banking experience to all its customers.

Commenting on winning the two prestigious awards, Gamal said, “I am honoured to receive those awards today on behalf of QIB’s board of directors and all my colleagues. From the outbreak of the pandemic, the safety of both our employees and customers was and still is our absolute number one priority. Within the framework of our business continuity plans and thanks to our recent investments in digital transformation, we have succeeded to impeccably continue offering the fastest, safest and most convenient banking services to all our retail and corporate customers, allowing them to fulfil all their banking needs safely and remotely.”

“We have further accelerated the introduction of new digital products and services to our mobile and online platforms. We have added more features that allow retail and corporate customers to manage holistically their accounts and relationship with the bank. We have also introduced new functionality to allow previously ‘unbanked’ segments of the society, such as domestic workers to open a bank account digitally and fulfil all their banking needs, such as fast remittances and payments through the mobile app. We have also increased the capabilities of our call centre to ensure that we are able to meet the needs of our customers under any circumstances,” Gamal said.

“We have extended support to our corporate and individual customers in this time of financial uncertainty by deferring financial instalments for the sectors most hit by the crisis, in line with the governmental and Qatar Central Bank’s directives. We are actively participating in the COVID-19 response programmes initiated by the government and the Qatar Central Bank. These two awards are also a recognition of QIB’s contribution to the nation-wide efforts led by the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, the Ministry of Public Health and other entities that continue to play a key role in keeping the community safe. We are sincerely thankful to all of them for their great efforts,” Bassel said.

QIB was able to implement a comprehensive “Bank Safely from Home” campaign at the onset of the pandemic, which saw an unprecedented increase in reliance on digital channels by QIB existing and new customers.

Relying on its advanced digital channels, QIB was able to ensure business continuity and offer all its banking products and services to retail and corporate customers while only 20 percent of its branches remained open and less than 20 percent of its employees were working from their offices between April and June this year.

The bank took a proactive response to the economic implications of the pandemic especially on SMEs, immediately postponing financial instalments for SMEs and then taking part in the COVID-19 National Response Guarantee Programme.