"Ahli Bank" Consolidates Its Excellence in Governance and Customer Service

Kuwait National Bank (KNB) has continued to solidify its position in the field of governance excellence and customer service, by 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.

The two awards were presented to Dr. Ayman Al-Balushi, Head of Group Governance at KNB; Ammar Khajah, Assistant General Manager of Retail Banking Services; and Hussein Shamouh, Head of the Call Center, during the ceremony hosted by the magazine in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, attended by a number of senior officials from regional banks and companies.

On this occasion, Dr. Al-Balushi stated that the award for Best Bank in Applying Governance Standards reflects the excellence of KNB’s organizational and administrative approach, 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 bank departments, thereby enhancing the confidence of global circles and institutions in the bank’s 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 daily decision-making mechanism. We will strive diligently 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 divisions to build solid trust with partners and all bank stakeholders, and to ensure business sustainability and the 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.

Dr. Al-Balushi said, “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 based on the Board of Directors’ conviction that governance is the true guarantee for protecting the bank’s assets and consolidating trust with all our stakeholders.”

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

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

She noted that the contact center is one of the key 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, stating, “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.”

Concluding, Ma’arfi said, “Being awarded this title again places a greater responsibility on us to maintain high levels of service quality, thereby strengthening Al Ahli’s position and leadership in customer experience within the Kuwaiti banking sector.”

These two awards add to a series of accolades received by Al Ahli 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 has contributed to earning the trust of global experts and solidifying its strong competitiveness and ability to meet the aspirations of all its customer segments.