Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has won "Best Islamic Bank in Middle East" and "Best Islamic Bank in Kuwait" 2021 Awards from the prestigious "The Banker Magazine" owned by The Financial Times.

The Banker` jury named KFH best Islamic bank in the Middle East and Kuwait due to the bank’s leading role in adopting digital technologies in areas like cross-border remittances and cardless withdraws.

The Magazine said that this year’s awards recognize Islamic lenders that have managed to keep pace with the growing sophistication and increasing demands of Islamic banking customers around the world, particularly within the digital realm.

Acting Group Chief Executive Officer at Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Abdulwahab Al-Roshood, said: "We are proud of this recognition because it confirms our efficient performance and excellence in delivering high-quality innovative products through developed digital infrastructure. It also reflects KFH`s successful digital transformation strategy which has been a milestone during Covid-19 crisis".

He confirmed that KFH Group is keen on maintaining its proactive approach in embracing technology and innovation and focusing on reshaping customer experience by delivering best developed banking solutions.

Al-Roshood said that winning the two awards added to the previous prestigious well-deserved awards KFH won this year, thanks to the continuous improvement in products and services offered by the bank and its keenness to keep up with innovations and developments in the global banking sector and to boost the banking industry in Kuwait.

He added that the digital services offered recently by KFH witnessed big boom through launching a series of innovative digital banking solutions. These solutions include, for example and not limited to, opening bank account online service for citizens and residents, digital signature service in personal financing products that includes the electronic handling of all paper documents, Baiti Online that allows viewing and managing children's accounts through the father's account via KFHonline, and ProgressSoft’s Electronic Forms solution which fully transforms traditional banking forms into electronic, secured and automatically validated forms. Moreover, KFH was the first bank in the world to launch the service of instant card issuance without a prior request through over 100 ATMs.

In addition to its high reputation in offering innovative banking solutions, KFH harnesses all its capabilities and long-standing banking experience in providing the best banking services. This complements its leading role in supporting the economy and enhancing the vital role of the Kuwaiti banking sector as well as improving customer experience. KFH focuses on making customers` life easier by enabling them to carry out their transactions in a safe and secure way without visiting a branch, achieving their aspirations and enriching their lifestyle.

The Banker Magazine said that in 2019 KFH became the first Kuwaiti Islamic bank to offer zero-fee instant cross-border remittance services using Ripple’s blockchain technology, extending the service to KFH-Turkey in January 2021.

It added that KFH enabled full digital onboarding for new-to-bank customers in 2020, with clients also able to take advantage of 24/7 card issuance to print bank cards instantly using self-service kiosks.

KFH launched its first fully automated self-banking branch in 2018. It now has 10 of these “KFH Go” e-branches across Kuwait, which provide more than 80% of the services supplied by traditional branches. The bank has invested in technology upgrades and investments since the start of 2020.

Furthermore, the Magazine pointed out that KFH continues to leverage its strong presence in areas like private banking to reach and attract new customers across the region and beyond.

This year’s awards highlighted the solid and accelerated growth of the Islamic financial industry in 2021. At the same time, the majority of winners in 2021 have also demonstrated a strong philanthropic side in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with initiatives put in place to support individuals, families and students, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises struggling with the effects of the pandemic. 

Thanks to the efforts it exerts to keep up with the latest developments in FinTech and digitization by using AI, KFH has achieved significant and well-deserved leaps in the digital banking services that would enable the bank to experience the digital banking future, maintain its leading position in digital solutions and deliver exclusive and developed service offerings that meet customer aspirations.