Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has been recognized as the “Best Islamic Bank in Qatar” by Islamic Finance News (IFN), the world’s leading Islamic finance publication and news provider. The Bank has also received two distinguished recognitions, as “Most Innovative Bank in Qatar” and “Best Retail Bank in Qatar” during the IFN award ceremony held in Dubai in the presence of QIB’s senior management and the awards were received by Mr. Constantinos Constantinides, Chief Strategy & Digital Officer at QIB.

QIB achieved the recognition through record number of readers’ votes at the 18th annual edition of IFN’s Best Banks Poll; the unique barometer for Islamic banking performance in 35 countries and one of the most prestigious accolades in the world of Islamic finance.

Over 38,000 votes were cast by IFN readers this year, making the IFN Best Banks Poll 2022 the largest poll in its 18-year history. The latest edition introduced five new categories to better illustrate the vibrant Islamic banking landscape in each domestic market. The voting process has also been refined, allowing only local professionals to vote for banks in their respective domestic markets, thereby making the outcome a more accurate and representative reflection of the Islamic banking landscape.

QIB continued to showcase a year of excellence which contributed to maintaining its longstanding position as the largest Islamic bank in Qatar thanks to its exceptional approach to Islamic banking. This had led QIB to invest in award-winning technologies and implement innovation in its Shari’a-compliant offerings. QIB continued its journey in developing and streamlining its services and processes, with its acceleration of its bank-wide Digital transformation program, which has successfully translated into an increase of sales and revenue, a significant migration of branch transactions to digital channels, and a reduction in costs which helped the bank reach the best cost to income ratio in the MENA region.

QIB registered 12.7% of profit growth to reach QAR 4,005 Million for the fiscal year 2022 as it generated a return on equity (ROE) of 17.8%, a return on assets (ROA) of 2.1%, and the lowest efficiency (cost/income) ratio of 17.4% delivering to its shareholders the best ratios in the Qatari market.

Commenting on receiving the award, Mr. Bassel Gamal, QIB’s Group CEO said: “We are pleased to be voted by the IFN readers as the Best Islamic Bank in Qatar for the fourth year in a row as well as receiving two additional awards, Best Retail Bank in Qatar, and Most Innovative Bank in Qatar. This recognition is a testament to our efforts to focus on continuously improving and digitizing the Islamic banking experience we offer our customers. We will continue this customer-centric approach toward developing innovative services and features for each customer segment and enhancing our digital products and services for an even simpler, faster, and always secure banking experience. These achievements would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment from our team and the support of our Board of Directors as well as our customers’ trust and loyalty.”

Mr. Bassel added: “I extend my thanks to all the IFN readers who participated in the poll and reaffirm that QIB will continue to revolutionize Islamic banking. As a customer-centric bank, we aim to provide world class banking solutions to meet the personal and financial aspirations of our customers, and we will continue enhancing our offering to make it easier for them to bank with us.”