BIZ BAHRAIN JAN-FEB 2020_compressed

Highlights | Banking & Finance
NBB Open
Banking
solutions
National Bank of Bahrain
(NBB) became the first
Bank in Bahrain and the
Middle East and North Africa
to launch Open Banking
solutions.
NBB has spearheaded the
development of Open Banking
technologies following the
regulatory mandates set by
the CBB in November 2018
which urged all banks in
the Kingdom to adopt Open
Banking in line with its long
term vision for customer
transparency, efficiency and
an enhanced experience.
NBB has since taken the lead
and invested heavily in the
ASBB special
financing offer
with competitive
profit rates
Al Salam Bank-Bahrain
launched its 2020
financing offer, which
rewards customers applying
for personal or property
finance with the Bank.
Personal finance applicants
will stand a chance to win
back their financed amount,
while applicants for the
bank’s property financing
scheme could win complete
home furnishings in two
draws scheduled during the
promotion until 30 June
2020. The Bank will also offer
competitive annual profit
development of the necessary
systems to meet and exceed
the regulatory requirements,
fueled by its strategic focus
to transform and diversify
its business through digital
innovation that empowers the
customer and supports the
Kingdom’s national efforts to
progress as a digital economy
and solidify its standing as a
Fintech Hub.
Following NBB’s
partnership with Tarabut
Gateway - Bahrain’s first
licensed Open Banking
fintech provider - earlier
this year which paved the
way for the innovation of
technologies to enable the
Bank to deliver secure Open
Banking solutions to its
customers, NBB has activated
the first phase of its account
aggregation services through
its online App.
The Open Banking
services developed by Tarabut
Gateway will be rolled out
in phases, with Account
aggregation being the first.
Initially, NBB’s customers
rates on its financing facilities
during this period.
The campaign is open
to salaried Bahraini and
expatriate employees, Mazaya
social housing scheme
beneficiaries, and current and
non-current customers of Al
Salam Bank looking to top
up their existing financing
facilities by benefitting from
will be able to view and
track their finances across
all their accounts. Financial
transactions and fully-fledged
services will be enabled as a
follow up stage.
NBB’s new Aggregation
service will make banking
more accessible and
convenient for customers
by granting them a holistic
view of their finances and
eventually enabling them to
make instant transactions
and informed decisions on
competitive products and
services that best suit their
needs, with the click of a
button.
Open Banking is built on
CBB’s regulatory guidelines
which put the customer rights
and security as a primary
focus; no customer data can
be accessed by third parties
without proper licensing and
customer consent.
NBB customers wishing
to benefit from this service
can download the NBB Open
Banking App and registering
online, free of charge.
the competitive rates; reduce
their monthly installments;
get extra cash in hand;
or extend their financing
tenures.
Customers can apply
online at alsalambahrain.
com or by visiting any of Al
Salam Bank’s branches or its
Express Banking Business
Center in Seef District.
AUB update
its WhatsApp
Business service
Ahli United Bank (AUB)
launched a WhatsApp
transactional Business
service update as part of
growing AUB’s WhatsApp
based service range.
The update, according to
AUB, includes three distinct
features allowing customers
to inquire about their account
summaries and the last five
transactions made with their
accounts. Along with enabling
money transfers within their
AUB accounts including cross
currencies by contacting the
bank through WhatsApp,
AUB WhatsApp Business
is identified by a green badge
ensuring the security and
encryption of messages/
transactions.
Samih Abutaleb, Group
Head Digital Transformation
said, “With this we step into
the next phase of offering an
innovative and interactive
digital experience to our
customers, setting a base for
us to build on for additional
services in the future. AUB
is the first bank in Bahrain
to provide such a service
through WhatsApp. It is part
of our digital transformation
strategy.”
The service is currently
live, and customers can
firsthand experience the
features of this new digital
service.
30 January-February 2020