Arab Bank has recently concluded its FinTech bootcamp for entrepreneurs, which was launched in October 2019 to attract and support entrepreneurial ideas and startups in the field of financial technology “FinTech” in Palestine. 

The two-month initiative offered an ideal window for entrepreneurs and startups to transform their FinTech ideas into innovative banking products and solutions. Six shortlisted startups were selected to be part of the bootcamp based on eligibility and the potential of their ideas, following a prudent evaluation of 69 submitted applications by Arab Bank’s team of experts. As part of the bootcamp, the shortlisted entrepreneurs undertook a three-day intensive workshop, during December 2019, at AB iHub Innovation Center located at Arab Bank’s Head Office in Jordan, where each entrepreneur received a specialized training delivered by a group of industry mentors, influential entrepreneurs and experts from the bank. 

The bootcamp concluded with the selection of three startups with the most potential, as entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to a judging panel of experts comprised of: Mr. Mohammed Masri – Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking at Arab Bank, Mr. Naim Al Hussaini – Executive Vice President – Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank, Mr. Jamal Hurani – Country Manager at Arab Bank - Palestine, and Ms. Jenny Ahlzén, Managing Partner at Amam Ventures. “Lend Leader” was announced as the winning startup, followed by “Lertech and “Uome” successively. All three winners received cash rewards from Arab Bank to continue evolving their innovative projects into fintech enterprises.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Jamal Hurani, said: “We are proud of the success of Arab Bank’s Fintech bootcamp in Palestine. This success is manifested in the quality and quantity of ideas received which reflect the level of creativity and the outstanding entrepreneurial capabilities of our Palestinian youth, especially in the field of financial technology.  We were also impressed by the solid commitment that they demonstrated by exerting their full potential and efforts towards developing their ideas, refining their skills and leveraging the resources that were available to them during the intensive workshop at the AB iHub Innovation Center in Jordan.” Hurani added: “This initiative was a valuable opportunity for our Palestinian youth, through which, they were able to unleash their potential and boost their journey towards transforming their FinTech ideas into actual banking products and solutions capitalizing on the knowledge and know how they acquired  from this initiative working closely with FinTech specialists and Arab Bank’s team of experts.”

It is worth noting here that Arab Bank is among the leading financial institutions in the region that support the youth through contributing to building their capacities and providing them with the needed advice and guidance to help materialize their ideas and ambitions. The bank’s direction in this respect stems from its genuine belief in the youth’s potential and capabilities as well as their pivotal role in driving the entrepreneurship movement. 

Arab Bank has recently opened its new branch at Lacasa Mall, Al Reehan, under the patronage of the Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority and the Chairman of Ramallah and Al Bireh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and in the presence of a number of the governorate’s prominent businessmen. The new branch opening comes as part of the bank’s strategy to reinforce its branch network across key areas and provide the highest levels of service to its customers.

Country Manager at Arab Bank – Palestine, Mr. Jamal Hurnai, welcomed the guests at the branch opening ceremony which marked the opening of the bank’s 32nd branch in Palestine and 8th in Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorates. He stated that this move is in line with the bank’s ongoing commitment to offer the seamless and convenient banking experience to its customers through constantly expanding its presence and deploying the latest banking solutions and highest service standards.   

Hurani expressed his appreciation to the Palestine Monetary Authority, represented by H.E Mr. Azzam Shawwa for its vital role in fostering financial stability and safeguarding the banking sector and promoting sustainable growth of the national economy. 

EMEA Finance Magazine, headquartered in London, has recently awarded Arab Bank “Middle East’s Best Corporate Social Responsibility program 2019”. The award was presented in recognition of the bank’s remarkable achievements and commitment to its sustainability strategy.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award recognizes a single bank in the region that demonstrates a sustainable and consistent CSR program, which provides a real and quantifiable impact on the community it operates in. Arab Bank was selected for this award based on a number of important factors, including: a clear strategic vision and achievable objectives for the CSR program, and the presence of external reference points in the development and execution of the program such as the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), one of the most widely recognized guidelines for reporting.

Commenting on this prestigious award, Mr. Christopher Moore, CEO and publisher at EMEA Finance Magazine, said: “For the second time, we are recognizing Arab Bank's impressive work with our ‘Corporate Social Responsibility award’, which is one of our limited number of awards in the Middle East. Arab Bank has fully embraced its role supporting communities and there is no doubt that the bank understands how to run an impactful CSR program by having a dedicated team who oversee these activities on a full-time basis.” Moore added: “The debate about the role of financial institutions in society is less pronounced as we head into 2020, however, Arab Bank has and for many years already understood and acted positively to impact and change lives and create sustainable platforms.”

It is worth noting here that Arab Bank has been issuing its sustainability report annually since 2010 in accordance with the latest guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards, one of the most recognized standards for reporting worldwide, reflecting the highest levels of transparency and disclosure.

Arab Bank recently announced the winner of the “Shabab” program’s quarterly grand prize draw. The lucky winner, Ms. Dania Medhat Ahmad Ibrahim from Al Khader branch won USD 10,000 as part of the program’s quarterly draw. Mr. Marwan Saqer -Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank – Palestine handed the grand prize to the winner and congratulated her in the presence of senior management and employees.

Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Marwan Saqer stated: “Congratulations to Ms. Dania Medhat Ahmad Ibrahim, who won the first quarterly grand prize as part of the quarterly draw of “Shabab” program, which is specially designed to meet the evolving banking needs of youth, and fit their lifestyle.” Saqer added: “We will continue to provide our ‘Shabab’ program customers with special monthly and quarterly prizes. The next grand prize draw will be held in December along with our monthly draws consisting of USD 750, iPhone XS phones, all-expenses-paid trips and many more.”

It is worth mentioning that “Shabab” program provides a host of comprehensive banking and non-banking services designed specially for youth between the ages of 18-25 years, which include USD 10,000 quarterly grand prizes, USD 750 monthly prizes, exemption from several banking service commissions, Visa Credit Card issued with an exclusive design and no monthly fees, free internet shopping card, personal loan up to USD 15,000 with no fees and many other offers and benefits.

As part of its constant efforts to provide comprehensive financial solutions to various sectors and segments, Arab Bank reinforced its personal banking offering to the physicians sector by introducing an integrated package tailored to meet doctors’ banking requirements, built around their needs and lifestyle.

Through the “Tabeeb Plus” package, Arab Bank offers a full range of banking services and preferential benefits to physicians, whether employees or clinic owners, which provide them with a comprehensive banking experience supported by utmost personal attention and preferential banking benefits.

The benefits of the “Tabeeb Plus” package include the provision of a wide range of accounts and deposits to meet the personal and operational needs of physicians locally and abroad complemented by the “Arabi Cross Border” program, which offers a wide range of banking services across Arab Bank's regional network.

The package also offers financing solutions with preferential benefits and competitive interest rates including but not limited to pre-approved personal loans for doctors running their own clinics up to USD 100,000, mortgages up to USD 750,000 for repayment periods reaching 25 years along with auto loans with preferential features.  
 
The “Tabeeb Plus” package allows doctors to take advantage of Arab Bank’s Elite and Arabi Premium programs, as well as the bank's credit cards offerings, which provides many privileges such as automatic enrollment in “Arabi Rewards” program that allows customers to earn points whenever they use their credit cards for purchases and redeem their points for cash or airline tickets, free access to airport lounges around the world, savings plans for doctors and their families, in addition to other exclusive benefits. Through this program, doctors also receive a Visa debit card with a special design which gives them priority to receive the service when using this card on the queuing machines at any of Arab Bank branches. This is in addition to higher limits for cash withdrawals through ATMs and for purchases through various selling points as well as many other features.

Commenting on the services offered by the “Tabeeb Plus” package, Mr. Naim Al Hussaini – Executive Vice President – Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank said: “We continue to offer responsive and relevant banking services to various sectors and segments across the region in order to meet their diverse banking needs.  Doctors represent one of the vital sectors recognized and respected for its great community mission and humanitarian role.”  He added: “By offering the “Tabeeb Plus” package, we aim to meet the evolving banking needs of physicians in line with the nature of their profession and lifestyle allowing them to benefit from the comprehensive and flexible banking solutions offered by Arab Bank locally and regionally.” 

It is worth mentioning that the 'Tabeeb Plus' package also allows doctors to benefit from an advanced range of digital banking services provided by the bank to help them conduct their banking transactions around the clock with ease and security, saving them time and effort. The services include: “Arabi Mobile” services, instant cash and cheque deposit through Arab Bank ATMs and the options to open savings or current accounts and book fixed deposits online with preferential interest rates via “Arabi Online”.

Arab Bank Group reported net income after tax for the nine month period ended 30 September 2019 of $668.9 million compared to $643.2 million in the prior period, recording a growth of 4%. The Group’s net income before tax grew by 6% to reach $912 million with net operating income reaching $ 1,040 million and recording a growth of 5%.

Mr. Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors stated that the strong operating performance of Arab Bank Group confirms the strength of its franchise locally and abroad with its wide geographical diversification. He added that Arab Bank has recently opened a new branch in Shanghai in a move designed to strengthen its footprint in the Chinese market within its global network which includes about 600 branches across five continents.

Mr. Nemeh Sabbagh, Chief Executive Officer, stated that the underlying performance of the Group continues on its growth path with nine month period results recording a healthy increase of 5% in net operating income. He added that the strong performance was driven by growth in core banking income with net interest income increasing by 5%. Total loans increased by 3% to reach $26.1, and deposits increased by 4% to reach $34.7 billion.

Mr. Sabbagh remarked that Arab Bank Group enjoys high liquidity and strong and robust capitalization. Group’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.1% and loan to deposit ratio at %75.4 as of 30 September 2019. He added that the asset quality of the Group remains high and that credit provisions held against non-performing loans exceed 100%.

Mr. Sabih Masri expressed his confidence in the Group’s ability to maintain its leading position and to continue delivering strong results and sustainable growth.

Arab Bank was named “The Middle East’s Best Bank 2019”, by Euromoney – London in addition to “Best Bank in the Middle East” for the 4th consecutive year by Global Finance, New York.

Arab Bank has recently launched a new FinTech bootcamp in Palestine, targeting innovative Palestinian entrepreneurs who have a Fintech idea or startup. Through this initiative, FinTech entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to present their ideas and value propositions, and transform them into actual FinTech solutions that would have a positive impact on the FinTech industry.

The launch of this bootcamp is part of Arab Bank’s continuous efforts to support young entrepreneurs’ ideas, building on their entrepreneurial ambitions by investing the resources necessary to boost their abilities, expand their knowledge and prepare them to cope with ongoing technological developments in light of the digital revolution.  

The shortlisted entrepreneurs will be given the opportunity to attend an intensive all-expenses-paid workshop at Arab Bank’s innovation center, AB iHub – Jordan between the 8th – 10th of December, 2019, where they will be able to validate their ideas with domain experts in the FinTech industry to help them reach enterprise readiness. They will also attend mentorship sessions with influential entrepreneurs and speakers in this field, along with the opportunity to meet a network of investors and accelerators. Cash rewards will be presented to the top three ideas. 

The initiative’s platform is available online through: "www.ABFinTechCamp.com" which was launched specifically to receive inquiries and application forms.
Arab Bank launched this initiative in Palestine after successfully concluding its first bootcamp in Jordan last August, through which Jordanian entrepreneurs presented their FinTech startup ideas and projects that were evaluated by Arab Bank’s team of experts. 
Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Jamal Hurani, Country Manager at Arab Bank – Palestine, said: “Arab Bank endeavors to foster and drive innovation among the youth, whereby their creative ideas are refined through receiving necessary support in an incubating environment that will contribute to the advancement of entrepreneurship, particularly in the FinTech field.” He added: “This golden opportunity represents an ideal platform for Palestinian entrepreneurs to develop their innovative ideas benefiting from the many resources available through AB iHub innovation center which are dedicated to fostering FinTech entrepreneurs in order to widen their technological and strategic horizons.”

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank is among the leading financial institutions in the region that support youth through contributing to building their capacities and providing them with the needed advice and guidance to help materialize their ideas and ambitions. The bank’s direction in this respect stems from its genuine belief in the youth’s potential and capabilities as well as their pivotal role in building the future.  

Arab Bank was the exclusive sponsor of Qalqilya’s fourth Guava Festival as part of the bank's continuous efforts to support activities and initiatives that aim at reinforcing local economy through promoting local industries and products.

Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Jamal Hurani, Country Manager at Arab Bank – Palestine, said: “We are pleased to support the activities of the Fourth Guava Festival. Our participation comes in line with Arab Bank’s corporate social responsibility and its constant commitment towards supporting the local community towards achieving sustainable economic and social development”. Hurani also thanked Qalqilya’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for their outstanding role in organizing this festival, which significantly contributes to the marketing efforts of the guava harvest and supports guava farmers. 

Qalqilya’s fourth Guava Festival, which witnessed a huge public turnout from different regions, is considered one of the most significant events organized annually to support local agricultural products that the governorate is famous for, particularly the guava crop. The festival also included a large selection of distinct local products such as embroideries, antiques, homemade food and many others. 

It is worth mentioning that “Together”, Arab Bank’s corporate social responsibility program, is a multi-faceted program that works on improving and developing different aspects of the community. Through a variety of initiatives and activities, the program aims to serve the community in the areas of health, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, education and orphan support.

As part of Arab Bank’s corporate social responsibility program “Together” and in cooperation with the Higher Traffic Council, H.E Asem Salem, Minister of Transportation and Director of the Higher Traffic Council, and Country Manager at Arab Bank – Palestine, Mr. Jamal Hurani signed an agreement to implement road safety standards in a number of schools across Palestinian governorates. The agreement also includes the launch of a traffic awareness campaign for all road users, particularly school students. 

H.E Asem Salem expressed his deep thanks and appreciation for Arab Bank’s social responsibility initiative and for the bank’s continuous efforts towards promoting road safety and in creating a safe traffic environment for all road users in Palestine. 

In turn, Hurani praised the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Transport and the Higher Traffic Council in improving the level of road safety for all users in Palestine through implementing several awareness campaigns annually. Mr. Jamal Hurani also stated that Arab Bank’s collaboration with the council will result in a safer environment for all community members, especially school students, and will help reduce traffic accidents around those schools. 

It is noteworthy that a similar initiative took place back in 2015 when Arab Bank and the Higher Traffic Council worked jointly to promote road safety across five schools in a manner that significantly reduced road accidents around these schools.

Arab Bank Group announced its results for the first half of 2019 reporting a growth of 4% with net profit after tax reaching $453 million as compared to $436 million in 2018. Total loans increased by 3% to reach $26.2, and deposits increased by 3% to reach $34.1 billion. Group equity stood at $ 8.7 billion.

Mr. Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented that despite the continued slowdown of economic growth in the region, the Group continues to deliver strong financial performance, which affirms the Bank’s effective management of risks and its ability to deal with the challenging environment.

Mr. Nemeh Sabbagh, Chief Executive Officer, stated that the underlying performance of the Group continues on its growth path with first half results recording a healthy increase of 5% in net operating income. He added that the strong performance was driven by growth in core banking income with net interest income increasing by 5%.

Mr. Sabbagh remarked that Arab Bank Group enjoys high liquidity and strong and robust capitalization. Group’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.8% and loan to deposit ratio at 76.9% as of 30 June 2019. He added that the asset quality of the Group remains high and that credit provisions held against non-performing loans exceed 100%.

Mr. Sabih Masri expressed his confidence in the Group’s ability to maintain its leading position and to continue delivering strong results and sustainable growth.

Arab Bank was recently named “The Middle East’s Best Bank 2019”, by Euromoney – London in addition to “Best Bank in the Middle East” for the 4th consecutive year by Global Finance, New York.

Arab Bank has recently launched a summer promotional campaign that offers its existing and new credit cardholders the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to any destination, as well as many more benefits when using their cards during the campaign period. 

The campaign, which will run until September 30th, 2019, targets Arab Bank VISA credit cardholders who use their cards to make payments at a wide range of merchants or when shopping online. The campaign also offers cardholders the opportunity to win one of two paid trips to any chosen destination along with number of accompanying travelers worth USD 5000, as well as up to 15000 extra free bonus points through “Arabi Rewards” program when using the following cards: Visa Gold, Visa Shabab, Visa Black, Visa Platinum and Visa Signature. Online purchases with a minimum amount of USD 150 can also be repaid at 0% interest for 3 months through the Easy Payment Plan program. 

Commenting on the campaign, Mr. Marwan Saqer, Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank – Palestine, said: “At Arab Bank, we always seek to provide our customers with value-added benefits and offers throughout the year, in recognition of their loyalty and relationship with us.” He added: “This special campaign aims at encouraging our customers to use credit cards as a flexible mean of payment and take advantage of the associated benefits, while shopping at any merchant included in the campaign.”

Arab Bank credit cards provide their holders with a wide range of benefits, including worldwide acceptance and easy access to credit card accounts through “Arabi Mobile” and the bank’s internet banking service “Arabi Online”.