BisB Hosts Its Annual Event Virtually in Celebration of the Spirit of Innovation & Collaboration’

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) hosted its annual tech-driven event, #BisB, virtually under the theme of ‘Celebrating the Spirit of Innovation and Collaboration’ on Sunday December 6th, 2020 event. The event was broadcast via the Bank’s YouTube channel, witnessing an unrivaled turnout by officials in the banking and finance sector in Bahrain, in addition to media, social media influencers, and customers. 

‘Dana’, Head of Simplification and the first virtual employee at Bahrain Islamic Bank, moderated the discussion sessions during the event. #BisB 2020 featured a welcome note from Hassan Amin Jarrar, Chief Executive Officer at BisB, followed by a speech from Dr. Esam Abdulla Fakhro, Chairman of BisB, addressing the challenges that spawned radical changes across the banking sector. Dr. Fakhro highlighted BisB’s acquisition under the NBB Group, affirming that the integration process is proceeding smoothly, and together the two Banks will provide a unified force, further leading to stronger economic growth. 

Hassan Amin Jarrar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BisB, shed light on BisB’s key achievements, success stories, and key innovations launched during the year. This included being the first bank in the Kingdom to usher in electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) technology, which results in a more efficient, entirely paperless procedure producing an effortless customer experience, the installation of state-of-the-art, self-service kiosks across all of our branches and Financial Malls by the IT team - available for use 24/7, which enables customers to complete a number of daily transactions without the need for human intervention. The CEO also addressed the Bank’s further achievements, which included the launch of several solutions, such as Tejoori Instant Finance in 5 minutes, Tap & Go, contactless cards, as well as Open Banking services in collaboration with Tarabut Gateway, which allows customers to easily view and manage multiple bank accounts through a single mobile application, ‘BisB Digital’. 

Thereafter, Mr. Ali Hasan Duaij, Head of Corporate Communications at BisB, highlighted key milestones and achievements that were achieved in the realm of communications and digital marketing, such as refreshing the Bank's DNA, including its values and guiding principles, launching the Bank's YouTube channel through ‘Suwalif Al Islami’ series moderated by the Bahraini entrepreneur and YouTuber Khalil Alqahiri, the success of the Bank’s LinkedIn platform, the Bank’s partnership with Polytechnic, the Bank’s innovations with its brand Ambassador Omar Farooq, the Bank's partnership with Benefit pay, and the Bank’s partnership with CBB to launch FinHub 973- the CBB Digital lab.

The event also included two panel discussions. The first panel featured HE Khalid Al Rumaihi, CEO of Mumtalakat, Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief of Planning and Monitoring at Tamkeen, and Mr. Hassan Amin Jarrar, where they discussed the new face of innovation in a post COVID-19 landscape. The second panel featured Abdulla AlMoayed, CEO of Tarabut Gateway, and Mr. Jarrar to discuss the topic of paving newfound ways of collaboration through working seamlessly with multiple industry leaders, as well as an overview on the latest updates in the realm of Open Banking. 

The CEO of BisB concluded the session by highlighting the Bank’s latest collaboration with MasterCard ‘Future Leaders’, a cashless ecosystem for students, comprised of a set of cards and wearable devices to encourage youth and future generations to save and spend smartly with rewards, under their guardian’s reassurance and control.

Mr. Jarrar thanked all those in attendance from the banking sector in addition to customers who tuned in to watch the event. He also announced the launch of the Bank’s revamped branch in Riffa, which followed a competition launched by the Bank to select a local coffee shop to operate inside the Riffa Innovation Hub, wherein the finalist benefitted from a once in a life time opportunity of a rental amount of BD1 and free access to facilities.  

This marks the second edition of the #BisB event. Last year’s edition was held in celebration of the Bank’s 40th year anniversary, highlighting key milestones and success stories of the Bank’s 40-year journey. This year, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank hosted the event digitally, to ensure implementation of public health measures and safety precautions.