Al Salam Bank holds its annual Town Hall

Manama, Bahrain: Al Salam Bank-Bahrain (Al Salam Bank), a leading regional Islamic bank and provider of a comprehensive range of innovative and unique Shari’a-compliant financial products and services, recently held its annual Town Hall event virtually in order to share the Bank’s key milestones and success stories with its employees, as well as to provide more insight into the Bank’s strategic initiatives and direction for 2021 and beyond. Inspired by the events that transpired in 2020 in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the theme of the Al Salam Bank Town Hall was ‘Self-Reflection & Mindfulness’ where employees were encouraged to bring their shared experiences to the present.

Attended by over 300 employees, Mr. Rafik Nayed, Group Chief Executive Officer of Al Salam Bank hosted the event, which included key briefings by Anwar Mohammed Murad, Deputy CEO, Banking Division, Muna Al Balooshi, Head of Human Resources and Administration, and Mahmood Qannati, Head of Marketing & Communications.

In his introduction, Mr. Nayed said, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your unwavering efforts and hard work, and to take a moment to appreciate how far we have come. We have been incredibly successful in implementing and rolling out our 2018 strategy for the past three years and, despite the impact of COVID-19, we have maintained steady progress achieving key milestones and success stories in 2020 alone.”

Encouraging the employees of the Bank to continue to build upon their combined efforts while highlighting key focus areas for 2021 and beyond, the Group CEO added, “We have successfully increased our capital allocation to core banking activities in addition to significantly improving our corporate governance systems and processes across the board, achieving both increased efficiency and streamlining our internal and external processes through the integration of strategic optimization initiatives.”

Mr. Anwar Mohammed Murad, Deputy CEO went on to highlight the Bank’s achievements in 2020, which included the introduction of digital banking channels such as WhatsApp Banking, the launch of digital account opening which eliminated the need to visit branches, the unveiling of the Bank’s first Virtual Branch, as well as the Al Salam Bank flagship Mobile application, commenting, “In 2021, our focus remains on serving our customers. The new normal in a post-COVID-19 world is contactless and seamless interactions, and our main strategy will be to expand our retail and corporate customer base by accelerating digital roll-outs.”

Wrapping up the event, Mr. Nayed announced more than 50 employee awards across multiple categories to honor employees who had gone over and above in their roles, stating, “2020 has been a year of challenges and a year of change. We have all had to learn quickly new ways of working, adapting to working from home with plenty of distractions. It has been a test of our levels of patience but also a chance for reflection and to learn more about ourselves. I would like to thank each and every one your relentless efforts, hard work and resilience during this year.” 

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For further information, please contact:
Shaikha Seyadi
Tel: +973 17 592008 Ext. 101
Email: shaikha.seyadi@traccs.net  

About ASBB:

Al Salam Bank is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. With its headquarters in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Bank offers a comprehensive range of innovative and unique Shari’a-compliant financial products and services through its extended network of branches and ATMs utilizing the state-of-art technology to meet various banking requirements. In addition to its retail banking services, the Bank also offers corporate banking, private banking, investment as well as treasury services.

About Al Salam Bank-Bahrain:

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain is a pioneering Shari’a-compliant Bank in Bahrain. It offers a comprehensive range of innovative and unique financial products and services through its extended network of branches and ATMs, which employ state-of-art technologies to meet its clients’ various banking needs. In addition to its Retail Banking services, the Bank offers Corporate Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management, International Transaction Banking as well as Treasury Services. The Bank’s high-calibre management team comprises of a highly qualified and internationally experienced professionals with proven expertise in key areas of banking, finance and related fields.

The Bank has received multiple awards, including:

• “Best Islamic Retail Bank in Bahrain” for the year 2020 awarded by Global Banking and Finance Review.
• “Best Islamic Bank in Bahrain” for the year 2020 and 2019 awarded by Global Finance
• “Best Islamic Retail Bank in Bahrain for the year 2019 and 2018”, “Best Shari’a Compliant Product in Bahrain for 2019” and “Most Innovative Shari’a Compliant Products in Bahrain for 2018” awarded by Global Business Outlook.
• The Enterprise Excellence award in the field of training and national manpower development at the 34th annual ceremony organized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development.
• The “Critics’ Choice award – The Best Islamic Retail Bank in Bahrain for 2017” by Cambridge IFA– a UK-based Islamic finance intelligence provider specialising in strategic advice in the field of financial services and professional academic research for financial institutions.

© Press Release 2021