The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has been awarded ‘Best Mobile Banking Application’ in the Banking and Finance category of the Business Tabloid (BT) Awards 2021. The win comes as part of NBB’s efforts to enhance their digital offering in line with the Bank’s ongoing transformation agenda.

Evaluation for the BT Awards was conducted by an awards committee consisting of the publisher, research team and the editorial team, whereby BT recognised companies on an international level, purely based on their merits and the expertise each company holds in its respective industry. Nominations were evaluated based on various criterion such as innovations, accomplishments, and the contributions of each organisation.

NBB’s digital application launched earlier in the year, was evaluated based on three parts. The first part consisted of describing the challenges the bank potentially faced prior to the launch, as the second part went on to explain NBB’s approach to the challenges, while the third part highlighted the outcome, which resulted in the successful launch of the NBB Digital Banking App, with a main key differentiator being digital customer on boarding anywhere, anytime.

The App was developed by the bank’s team of internal professionals in collaboration with leading technology partners, including a local Fintech company, and represents a breakthrough in digital banking. The developers worked to create a smooth migration journey from the existing app into the new one, consolidating all digitally available services offered via NBB’s branches into a one-stop-digital-shop, with dynamic features and options designed to simplify the customer banking journey.

Commenting on the win, Jean Christophe Durand, NBB’s Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are always pleased to be recognised for our hard work, and being awarded the ‘Best Mobile Banking Application’ in the Banking and Finance Category of the Business Tabloid Awards for 2021 is yet another step in the right direction for the bank, as we continue to focus on our digital transformation, reaping the benefits of our efforts, and aligning ourselves with the Kingdom’s ongoing digitalisation agenda.”

“The digital app has been carefully designed as part of our aim to continuously improve and enhance our Digital service portfolio. At NBB, we are constantly looking towards the future of financial services and the sector’s rapid digital migration, and as such, we make every effort to incorporate the latest technological upgrades to our products and services, offering our customers a cutting-edge alternative to conventional banking and enriching their lives,” he added.

Director of Strategy & Operations at BT, Mr. Ashok Shetty, said: “Business Tabloid Magazine congratulates the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) on winning the prestigious, coveted ‘Best Mobile Banking Application’ Award in the Banking and Finance category of Business Tabloid (BT) Award, 2021. NBB is doing exceptional work bridging the gap in banking industry through their digital services and technological innovation that truly stand out in the market.

“As a digital news platform for the current evolutionary business world, we bring global news from across industries to guide business leaders in their strategy framing, whether it’s technology or other aspects. Deep research goes into everything we do. We have a strong digital presence with a vast network of dedicated journalists worldwide. We analyze global economy to bring you the best of the entire business world. We believe in appreciating and awarding the most innovative companies from sectors like BFSI, Brokerage, Healthcare, Energy, Logistics, Technology, Telecom, Education & Real Estate,” he added.

“BT Awards is a path-breaking initiative aimed at recognizing the outstanding and upcoming industry excellence across the globe. We relentlessly work towards supporting and promoting individuals and industries that constantly innovate and invent with perseverance and determination. Our award committee constitutes of Industry Experts, Publisher, Research Team, and Editorial Board together they scrutinized various aspects in the category and chose NBB for their digital banking app. The key differentiator includes, but not limited to, bringing digital customers onboarding anywhere, anytime. We wish them the very best with their digital innovation journey,” he concluded.

NBB continues to broaden the bank’s range of services and practical solutions to serve customers more comprehensively and embrace digitilisation as a core pillar of NBB’s transformation strategy, to make clients’ interaction with the Bank simpler and more efficient. The bank has recently worked to digitise its current retail banking products and services in the most convenient way, as it continues to introduce new digital-only products, launch a new digital rewards platform and reshape its customer’s banking experience.