Since its inception in 2004, Boubyan Bank has carved out a specific niche in a Kuwaiti market dominated by bigger and more established players. As chief executive Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri puts it, three words serve as the guiding star for the bank’s strategy: “modern, attractive and digital.”
Today, Boubyan is on stage four of its vision to be Kuwait’s most innovative Islamic bank – the tech transformation phase. The first was pulling off what was in 2004 the biggest share sale – KD76 million ($247 million) – in Kuwait. The same year, Boubyan established both a holding company and the Islamic bank.
Stage two, from 2005 to 2009, saw Boubyan build up domestic and international investment teams. This included a tie-up with Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the incorporation of Boubyan Takaful Insurance Company, the opening of units in London and across the Middle East, and the expansion of its investment portfolios and fund offerings.
From 2009 to 2014, stage three, saw Al-Tuwaijri, a veteran of National Bank of Kuwait, join the executive team to expand Boubyan’s reach at home and abroad. During this time, efforts to clean up the balance sheet and recalibrate provisioning priorities resulted in a 50% increase in capital.
Also during this phase, Al-Tuwaijri’s team launched the Boubyan 2020 plan that paved the way to winning this year’s award for most transformed player in Kuwait. At its heart were moves to revamp retail offerings; to grow domestic market share by capitalizing on its growing brand value; and to become a bigger player in both the large corporate and medium-sized enterprise sectors with new and innovative Islamic banking services.
But it is stage four – the current digital transformation era – that really moved the needle. By raising its game as a modern, digitally driven Islamic bank, Boubyan is pressuring peers across the region to do the same.
By raising its game as a modern, digitally driven Islamic bank, Boubyan is pressuring peers across the region to do the same
Targeting the next generation has been a particular focus for Al-Tuwaijri’s executive team. When developing products and services, great attention goes to how digitally savvy young customers – especially affluent ones – might respond. To keep ideas fresh in this regard, Boubyan set up a digital innovation centre. It also continuously updates its methodologies for reaching and retaining young customers.
The bank even introduced the region’s first youth-focused app called Prime. It introduces youngsters to the mechanics of saving accounts and financial products.
In 2021, Boubyan launched Kuwait’s first mobile small and medium-sized enterprise banking application, available across Apple, Android and Huawei operating systems.
And 2022 saw Boubyan make a bigger push into social media. Given Kuwait’s young population, that helps extend its reach and build loyalty among millennial and ‘Gen Z’ clients. The bank’s artificial intelligence resources track customer trends (and even tweets) that can be analyzed to hone product offerings, engagement methods and improve chatbot capabilities.
