'Ahli' Wins Two Best Bank Awards from Global Brands

Kuwait National Bank (KNB) has further solidified its position in the field of governance excellence and customer service, winning the “Best Bank for Excellence in Applying Governance Standards” award for the first time, and the “Best Call Center in the Banking Sector” award in Kuwait for the third consecutive year, for the years 2025 and 2026, as recognized by Global Brands magazine. This achievement reflects the success of its plans to deliver a faster and more efficient banking experience.

Dr. Ayman Al-Balushi, Head of Group Governance at KNB, Ammar Khajah, Assistant General Manager of Retail Banking, and Hussein Shamouh, Head of the Call Center, received the awards during the ceremony hosted by the magazine in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the presence of a number of regional banking and corporate executives.

The bank’s selection for the Best Call Center in the Banking Sector in Kuwait was based on a set of operational standards and service quality criteria, including speed of customer response, efficiency in handling inquiries and requests, activation of automated response systems, customer satisfaction levels, and continuous development of staff capabilities.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Ayman Al-Balushi stated that the Best Bank for Applying Governance Standards award reflects the excellence of the organizational and managerial approach adopted by Kuwait National Bank, translating the Board of Directors’ and executive management’s commitment to transparency and self-regulation to safeguard the rights of all stakeholders and continuously deliver added value.

He attributed this achievement in the bank’s record to the Board of Directors’ approach and directives, which are based on strict adherence to governance standards. This is evident through the adoption of a fully digital mechanism via the advanced “Geiom” system for approving policies and monitoring their implementation across various departments of the bank, thereby enhancing the confidence of global circles and institutions in its performance.

He added, “We have been keen to build a work system that goes beyond the traditional concept of compliance, making governance an integral part of our culture and our daily decision-making mechanism. We will strive to continue developing our standards and consolidating our leading position, supported by the Board of Directors, by enhancing innovation, transparency, and accuracy across all departments and sections to build solid trust with partners and all bank stakeholders, and to ensure business sustainability and successful achievement of our objectives.”

He noted that the bank continuously works on updating its internal policies by adopting modern digital systems and developing disclosure and control mechanisms, in line with relevant regulations, to adapt to economic changes, manage crises and challenges wisely, and provide a responsible business model at all levels.

He further stated, “This recognition from Global Brands marks a milestone toward establishing an accountability-based model to win the trust of global institutions, after we aligned our internal policies with global developments to ensure the efficiency of our adopted systems. This is driven by the Board of Directors’ conviction that governance is the true guarantee for protecting the bank’s assets and consolidating trust with all stakeholders.”

For her part, Juhair Maarefi, General Manager of Retail Banking at the bank, stated, “Winning the Best Call Center in the Banking Sector in Kuwait award for the third consecutive year confirms the success of our strategy in developing the customer experience. It reflects the significant continuous investment in technology and human resources, enabling us to provide banking services characterized by speed, efficiency, and quality.”

Ma’arfi added, “Over the past period, we have been keen to achieve a qualitative leap in the call center by integrating modern solutions and technologies, developing communication mechanisms with customers, and continuing to train and qualify our staff, ensuring professional and precise handling of customer needs around the clock.”

She noted that the call center is one of the main pillars of the customer experience ecosystem, rather than merely a channel for responding to inquiries. It now plays an integrated role in delivering services and executing numerous banking requests quickly and securely, thereby enhancing ease of interaction with the bank and boosting customer confidence in its services.

She emphasized that this achievement serves as a motivation to continue innovating and developing competencies, adding that “our ambition goes beyond winning awards; it is about building a banking model that places the customer at the heart of everything we do. We will continue to develop our channels and services to align with our customers’ aspirations.”

She stressed that “receiving this title again places greater responsibility on us to maintain high levels of service quality, thereby strengthening the position of Kuwait Finance House and its leadership in customer experience within the Kuwaiti banking sector.”

This comes as these two awards add to a series of accolades that Kuwait Finance House continues to receive from specialized institutions evaluating performance in the banking sector, reflecting its success in adopting the highest standards and keeping pace with the constant developments and changes in the banking industry. This contributes to earning the trust of global experts and solidifies its high competitiveness and ability to meet the aspirations of all its customer segments.