Manama, May 28: The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has been named Best Bank in Bahrain at the 2025 Euromoney Awards for Excellence for its standout financial performance, digital transformation initiatives and customer centric approach throughout the past year. The Bank was also honoured as Best Bank for ESG and Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility, reaffirming its role as a national leader in responsible banking and meaningful community investments.
Commenting on the occasion, Usman Ahmed, Group Chief Executive Officer of NBB said, “The recognition as Bahrain’s Best Bank is the result of a focused strategy, with execution rooted in robust governance, innovation-led banking, and a pledge to contribute to national development. We continue to build on our legacy by enhancing client offerings through digitalisation, integrating sustainability into our business at every level and expanding regionally. These awards reflect the collective efforts of our team, who remain passionate about pursuing excellence across all aspects of the NBB Group’s operations.”
On his part, Ben Naylor, Global Head of Research at Euromoney, said, “NBB achieved strong growth with a 7% rise in assets and 11% increase in profits. The Bank advanced its digital transformation agenda, expanded sustainably, and launched Bahrain’s first Bitcoin-linked investment product. Strategic execution boosted lending by 16%, while its continued emphasis on sustainability and innovation is helping reshape Bahrain’s banking sector. NBB’s diverse initiatives encompass CSR, employee engagement, and community support. In 2024, the Bank backed vulnerable groups, supported youth sports and education, launched a donations fund for urgent needs, and led notable environmental efforts. They also inaugurated a LEED Platinum-certified branch, launched a new Sustainable Management Committee, and recorded major energy and emissions reductions, demonstrating a firm commitment to ESG principles. These efforts were complemented with the financing of key social infrastructure, leading Bahrain’s first sustainability-linked interest rate swap, advancing sustainable finance and governance standards.”
The Bank’s innovation-driven ethos remained a defining strength throughout the year, with an 84% increase in newly onboarded retail customers via digital channels and a 23% increase in digitally registered users. NBB launched a host of solutions that serve the dynamic needs of its business as well as consumer banking segments.
Further expanding its consumer banking proposition to cater to younger customer demographics, the Bank introduced the Yalla Family Account. The product is offered as part of the NBB Digital Banking app to instil responsible spending habits among the youth, while allowing parents to onboard their children and manage their accounts directly through the digital experience.
Staying ahead of the trends shaping global financial markets, NBB also introduced the GCC’s first Bitcoin-linked structured investment product. The offering is designed for accredited investors and provides them with capital-protected exposure to Bitcoin’s performance, thereby marking a pioneering investment solution that combines innovation with risk management.
For its business clientele, the Bank delivered DigiCorp, a revamped corporate banking platform that offers secure and efficient financial management. Complementing DigiCorp were DigiConnect, a new host-to-host integration solution designed to streamline payment and reconciliation processes for large corporates, and the Enterprise Liquidity Management Solution (eLMS), which helps clients optimise balances, pool funds from different accounts, and manage daily liquidity. Additionally, NBB Go, Bahrain’s first SoftPOS (Software Point-of-Sale) solution, enabled small merchants to use their NFC-enabled Android smartphones to securely accept payments.