NBK-Egypt wins the BT100 award for 2020

National Bank of Kuwait - Egypt (NBK- Egypt) received the BT100 Award as  "Best bank providing digital Ecosystem” for 2020, during the ceremony hosted, for the fourth year in a row, by Business Today Magazine, one of the powerful media arms of Egyptian Media Group (EMG) in cooperation with POD Egypt, the leading public relations and media company as well as Youm7 media institution, to honor the 100 key influential entities and individuals in Egypt for 2020 under the patronage of HE Dr. Mostafa Madbouly – the Prime Minister. The event was held on Tuesday, 30 March 2021, at the Nile Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the presence of a large number of ministers, senior officials, businessmen and executives of banks and companies operating in the Egyptian market, as well as a group of public figures and community celebrities. The ceremony, themed “The Year of Inspiration” this year, was attended from NBK-Egypt’s side by Mr. Yasser El-Tayeb, NBK - Egypt Vice Chairman, Managing Director & CEO, Mr. Amr El Alfy, Head of Business Group at NBK – Egypt, Mrs. Salma Abou Hussein, Head of Consumer Banking at NBK-Egypt, and a number of the bank’s top management team.

The award winners are selected according to market studies based on the criteria for evaluating the performance of companies operating in the various sectors of the market, through a panel of economic experts and researchers.

The award presented to the bank was received by Mr. Amr El Alfy on behalf of Mr. Yasser El-Tayeb.

On this occasion, Mr. Yasser El-Tayeb said that honoring the bank in this ceremony and presenting it the award of "Best bank providing digital Ecosystem” for 2020 come in recognition of its instrumental role as one of the key players in the Egyptian economy, and in appreciation of its support for the digital transformation system, whether inside or outside the bank during 2020, in light of the COVID-19 crisis, which negatively impacted all economic sectors, not only in Egypt but worldwide. However, this crisis and the resulting repercussions gave the best testament to the readiness of the Egyptian economy and its economic institutions and their ability to overcome all challenges and aptly weather crises. This was clearly seen in NBK-Egypt’s financial indicators and business results for 2020, which showed its resilience to all the challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by continuing to achieve good performance ratios, and remaining one of the top banks continuing effective steps towards transition to a digital economy, which has become a more pressing need after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the recent past years, the bank adopted a clear strategy promoting digital transformation projects, whether inside or outside the bank, in line with the directions of the government and the Central Bank of Egypt for transformation into a society less dependent on cash and evolving into a digital economy, being one of the goals of the sustainable development strategy embedded in Egypt Vision 2030, the path on which the bank has taken remarkable steps over the recent past years,” added El-Tayeb.

On his part, Mr. Amr El Alfy said: “NBK - Egypt was one of the first banks operating in Egypt to embrace digital transformation projects, stemming from the belief in the key role of technological solutions and alternative channels in the banking sector, and realizing their importance to enhance the competitive advantage over other banks, and to establish “the one bank concept” for customers, especially, as we strive to acquire a larger share of the Egyptian market, both in corporate and retail sectors, in the coming period.”

El Alfy added that the bank’s corporate customers had an important share of the bank’s digital services, as the bank launched "NBK Online Corporate Banking", which enables them to easily and securely manage the business activities and banking transactions of their companies online, without the need to visit the branches, by following simple steps to view the company's accounts and balances and manage them in an easy and secure manner.

From her side, Mrs. Salma Abou Hussein expressed her pleasure with the bank’s winning of the award, which shows the appreciation of the awarding entity for the effective role played by NBK- Egypt in the areas of digital transformation and digital banking, which the bank has been keen to adopt since a while by launching “NBK -Egypt Online Banking” enabling customers to make a variety of banking transactions in a simple and secure way, without the need to visit the branch for every transaction. The bank also launched “NBK Mobile Banking App” allowing customers to avail various banking services that became at their fingertips, anytime, anywhere. The bank also launched its e-Wallet, offering customers a unique banking experience in terms of convenience and security.”

Abou Hussein pointed out that the bank also recently launched “Meeza” Prepaid Card, which is a new addition to NBK-Egypt’s array of cards, making the bank a main operator in the Egyptian market offering the smart payment card bearing the logo of Electronic Payment Network "Meeza", which is used by companies to pay employees’ salaries.

As a culmination of the bank's digital banking services, we have recently launched the digital transformation system for Heliopolis Sporting Club using HSC smart card, enabling the club members, at both Heliopolis and El Shorouk City branches, to enjoy various features and services inside and outside the club, as the membership card was revamped to double as an e-payment card, offering a locally unique experience based on cutting-edge technology that combine more than one use in one card, she added.

It is worth mentioning that NBK-Egypt has a network of 53 branches with strategic locations across the different governorates and cities of Egypt including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Delta, Sinai, Red Sea, Upper Egypt, and the industrial areas in the 6^th of October and the 10^th of Ramadan Cities. The bank is also privileged to be among the banks providing Islamic banking products, in addition to conventional products, through its dedicated Islamic banking branches. The bank also has a large network of ATMs across key locations of the country to service the bank’s customers around the clock.

NBK was founded in 1952 as the first home-grown bank and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Gulf Region, and is one of the leading and largest Arab banks. NBK has been consistently awarded one of the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region from Moody's (A1), Standard & Poor's (A), and Fitch (AA-), underscoring its strong financial ratios, high asset quality, strong capitalization, the management’s expertise, in addition to its clear strategic vision, and stable funding base. NBK was named among the 50 Safest Banks in the World for thirteen consecutive times. It also has the widest local and international banking presence, with over 150 branches and subsidiaries, spanning 15 countries worldwide including New York, Shanghai, Geneva, London, Paris, and Singapore, as well as its regional presence (aside from Egypt) in Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, and the UAE.

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© Press Release 2021