Bank Nizwa achieves operational break-even

Muscat: Bank Nizwa, Oman’s first dedicated Islamic bank, achieved operational break-even point between revenue and expenses, reporting a total revenue growth of 11 per cent in the last quarter of 2015.
A special team building event was organised to celebrate the bank’s third anniversary.
During the ceremony, Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of the bank, said, “We are committed to lead from the front and continue nurturing the development of Islamic finance in the Sultanate. From the onset, we aspired to provide people with an alternative to conventional banking and empower them with Sharia-compliant products and services that would allow them to lead financially secure lives. Three years to the day, we are proud to see that our vision has become a reality thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team and trust our customers have given us.”
Since opening its doors as Oman’s first Islamic bank in 2013, Bank Nizwa has cemented its position as the country’s leading Islamic banking partner of choice, contributing to the growth and development of core industries including real estate and energy.
The bank’s total assets stood at OMR347 million in December 2015. The bank now is serving around 52,000 retail and corporate accounts, while total financing and deposit reached OMR273 million and OMR189 million respectively showing 100 per cent growth over the previous year of 2014.
Beginning with only three branches, the bank today has 11 fully fledged branches across the country. This success has been underpinned by Bank Nizwa’s unceasing efforts to raise awareness on Islamic banking through its pioneering educational platform entitled, the ‘Islamic Finance Knowledge Series’.
Over the years, the bank also focused on developing the Islamic banking leaders of tomorrow, conducting more than 700 training programmes in 2015 alone to help fulfil the career aspirations of its team. In fact, its investment in human capital has been lauded by industry stakeholders, earning it the ‘Best Employee Retention & Motivation Programme’ award at the annual Middle East Call Centre Awards.
Bank Nizwa received critical acclaim for its remarkable role in growing Islamic finance in Oman. The bank was named the ‘Strongest Islamic Retail Bank in Oman’ at the 7th Islamic Retail Banking Awards, ‘Best Online Banking for an Islamic Bank’ from the World Union of Arab Bankers, as well as the title of ‘Best Islamic Bank in Oman’ at the 6th annual Islamic Finance Awards.