Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Egypt for the School Bank Initiative, Arab Bank recently held a workshop for GEMS British School Al Rehab students to introduce them to the bank’s children and teens’ savings program “Arabi Junior” in line with Arab Bank’s constant efforts to contribute to fostering a financial culture among school students in Egypt.

The initiative aimed at introducing students to “Arabi Junior” savings program for children and teens, which offers a host of banking and non-banking benefits, specially designed to create a fun and rewarding savings experience, fostering a financial culture among kids at an early age. This is in addition to enhancing the students’ financial knowledge on topics such as savings and making sound financial decisions. The initiative was welcomed by the skills development program at GEMS British School Al Rehab, owned by the Egypt learning platform, as part of the school’s comprehensive strategy for professional and personal character development of students to prepare them for a promising future and equip them with 21st century required skills.

Commenting on the event, Mohamed Elhalawane, Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank – Egypt, said: “We continuously seek to implement value-added initiatives for different age groups through understanding their requirements and responding to their needs.” He added: “This initiative is part of “Arabi Junior” program for children and teens up to the age of 16 years, which offers a host of banking and non-banking benefits specially designed to promote financial literacy, a pre-requisite to achieving financial inclusion in the society.”

It is worth noting that the “Arabi Junior” program is part of Arab Bank’s comprehensive banking programs offering, supported by fully integrated digital channels designed to meet the evolving banking needs of the whole family throughout its life cycle. The bank’s array of programs respond to the needs of children, youth, employees, and professionals, in addition to providing banking and wealth management programs for middle to high-net-worth groups, as well as bancassurance services.

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank’s presence in Egypt started in 1944. Currently, the bank owns 44 branches located in main cities and governorates across Egypt. Arab Bank has one of the largest global Arab banking networks with over 600 branches spanning five continents. The bank was also named “Best Bank in the Middle East 2021” for the sixth consecutive year and “Best Consumer Digital Bank in Egypt 2021” by New York-based Global Finance Magazine.

New York-based Global Finance magazine has recently named Arab Bank the “Best Consumer Digital Bank in Egypt” for 2021. The bank was selected by a world-class panel of judges, which included global experts in consulting, technology, and outsourcing, in addition to the magazine’s team of editors.

This global recognition is a manifestation of Arab Bank’s leading role in deploying the latest digital banking solutions in line with the latest digital advancements in the banking industry. It also reflects the strength of the bank’s business model and its agility in keeping pace with the digital transformation to continuously upgrade its digital banking solutions to meet the customers’ evolving needs.

Arab Bank was selected for these awards based on several factors including: strength of strategy for attracting and servicing digital customers, success in getting clients to use digital offerings, growth of digital customers, breadth of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from digital initiatives and web/mobile site design and functionality.

Commenting on this achievement, Ahmed Ismail Hasan, Country Manager at Arab Bank – Egypt, said: “We are proud to receive such a prestigious recognition which reflects the bank’s leadership and its constant efforts to deploy the latest digital banking solutions to serve its customers.” He added: “This award reaffirms Arab Bank’s solid performance and its commitment to provide our customers with comprehensive banking solutions that meet their needs and expectations through our specialized teams.”

Arab Bank also received several international recognitions from prestigious organizations, most notably “Best Bank in the Middle East 2021” by Global Finance for the sixth consecutive year.

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank’s presence in Egypt started in 1944. Currently, the bank owns 44 branches located in main cities and governorates across Egypt. Arab Bank has one of the largest global Arab banking networks with over 600 branches spanning five continents.

Arab Bank has recently launched the “Super November” promotional campaign for its Visa credit cardholders, as part of the bank’s continuous efforts to reward its customers and provide them with value-added offers that meet their needs and expectations.

The campaign, which will run until November 30th 2021, offers Arab Bank Visa credit cardholders 20% cashback of the value of their purchases on all the online transactions, in addition to reward points on each transaction within “Arabi Points” program.

Commenting on the launch of this campaign, Mahmoud El Ghatrefy, Cards Business Manager at Arab Bank – Egypt, said: “We continuously seek to provide our customers with unique campaigns and offers that fit their lifestyle and diverse needs in line with our approach to encourage customers to conduct their transactions digitally as an easy and secure alternative to cash.” He added: “This campaign offers added value to our customers through cashback and reward points when using any of their Arab Bank Visa credit cards to shop online.”

Arab Bank’s credit card products provide a wide range of benefits to their cardholders, including worldwide acceptance, easy and secure access to credit card accounts anytime through both “Arabi Mobile” and the bank’s internet banking service “Arabi Online” in addition to the Easy Payment Plan service and many more.

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank recently received several international recognitions from prestigious organizations, most notably the “Best Bank in the Middle East 2021” award for the sixth consecutive year and “Best Consumer Digital Bank in Egypt 2021” from Global Finance.

Arab Bank Group reported net income after tax of $271.7 million as compared to $215.2 million for the same period last year, recording a growth of 26%. Arab Bank consolidated the financial statements of Oman Arab Bank under its Group accounts increasing total assets by $8.4 billion to reach $63.7 billion compared to $52.5 billion for the same period last year.

Customer deposits grew by 24% to reach $46.6 billion, while loans grew by 28%, to reach $34.1 billion. The consolidation of Oman Arab Bank has materially increased customer deposits and loans by $7 billion and $7.5 billion, respectively.

Mr. Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors remarked that the solid results demonstrate the bank’s strategic directive to maintain sustainable growth despite the challenging environment and highlighted that the bank continued focus on its digital transformation strategy.

Mr. Nemeh Sabbagh, Chief Executive Officer, commented that the Bank robust performance confirms its effectiveness in operating in a challenging economic environment with net operating income increasing by 6% to reach $856.9 Million. He added that the Group enjoys high liquidity and a strong capital base with a loan to deposit ratio of 73.1%, equity of $10.4 billion, and a capital adequacy ratio of 16.8%. The Group continues to hold credit provisions against non-performing loans in excess of 100%.

Mr. Sabbagh also noted that the bank has launched Reflect, the first Neobank in Jordan, which provides a branchless experience to millennials and facilitates their daily lifestyle activities from one banking app.

Mr. Masri highlighted Arab Bank's capacity to successfully overcome challenges and achieve strong results and stressed Arab Bank's commitment to its customers and shareholders.

As part of its constant efforts to enhance its services and banking programs, and in line with its leading role in supporting the Central Bank of Egypt’s initiatives for financial inclusion, Arab Bank has recently revamped its children’s savings program and relaunched it under the name “Arabi Junior”, offering an array of new benefits for children and teens up to the age of 16 years.

The new “Arabi Junior” program offers a host of banking and non-banking benefits, specially designed to encourage parents to save for their children’s future and to create a fun and rewarding savings experience, fostering a financial culture among kids at an early age. The benefits of the new program entail: digital savings account “e-Tawfeer” via “Arabi Mobile” app which offers loyalty points on the account’s balance as well as many other benefits and rewards, savings account with various options of deposits at preferential interest rates, Visa Debit Card with a special design at no monthly fees, and the contactless payment bracelet “BandPay” exempted from issuance fees and available in different colors and sizes that are suitable for children. “BandPay” allows payment from the Visa debit card by waving the bracelet over the POS device at merchants that accept Contactless payments without using cards. This is in addition to the “Instant Saver” feature, which allows parents to save for their children upon every purchase they make using their debit or credit cards, through deducting a pre-set percentage or a rounded-up amount from each transaction value to be automatically transferred to the child’s “Arabi Junior” account. The “Arabi Junior” program also offers a special gift upon account opening, discounts and exclusive offers at a list of retailers, toy stores, entertainment centers and many more.

Commenting on the new program’s launch, Mohamed Elhalawane, Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank – Egypt, said: “We continuously seek to enhance our programs to provide our customers with a unique banking experience that meets their current and future banking needs.” He added: “The new Arabi Junior program provides an ideal savings tool for parents and their children – up to 16 years old – as it offers a host of unique banking privileges designed specially to support parents in ensuring their children’s future while fostering a financial culture among them.”

It is worth noting that the “Arabi Junior” program is part of Arab Bank’s comprehensive banking programs offering, supported by fully integrated digital channels designed to meet the evolving banking needs of the whole family throughout its life cycle. The bank’s array of programs respond to the needs of children, youth, employees, and professionals, in addition to providing banking and wealth management programs for middle to high-net-worth groups, as well as bancassurance services. 

Arab Bank Group reported net income after tax of $182.4 million as compared to $152.1 million for the same period last year, recording a growth of 20%. During the first quarter of 2021, Arab Bank consolidated the financial statements of Oman Arab Bank under its Group accounts increasing total assets by $8.2 billion to reach $63 billion compared to $51.6 billion for the same period last year. Oman Arab Bank has also recently finalized the acquisition of Al Izz Islamic Bank, a full-fledged Islamic bank, strengthening its presence in the Sultanate of Oman.


Customer deposits grew by 28% to reach $46 billion, while loans grew by 27%, to reach $33.8 billion. The consolidation of Oman Arab Bank has materially increased customer deposits and loans by $7 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively.


Mr. Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors remarked that the solid results demonstrate the strength of the Bank’s diversified business model and the Bank’s resilient performance in this challenging economic environment.


Mr. Nemeh Sabbagh, Chief Executive Officer, commented that despite the negative economic consequences of the pandemic, the Bank's robust performance confirms its effectiveness in operating in a challenging economic environment as net operating income increased by 6% to reach $579.8 million. He added that the Group enjoys high liquidity and a strong capital base with a loan to deposit ratio of 73.5%, equity of $10.3 billion, and a capital adequacy ratio of 16.7%. Mr. Sabbagh also noted that the Group continues to hold credit provisions against non-performing loans in excess of 100%.


Mr. Masri expressed his confidence in the Group’s ability to maintain its solid financial indicators. He also concluded by remarking that the Group will remain committed to sustainable community development, and to fostering the interests of its customers, shareholders and communities.


Arab Bank has recently issued its eleventh annual sustainability report, which provides a summary of the Bank's performance and achievements in the social, environmental and economic fields for the year 2020.


During the Board meeting which took place on 29th July 2021, the Board approved the appointment of Mr. Mahmoud Malhas as board member and he was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Board.


Mr. Nemeh Sabbagh, the Chief Executive Officer of Arab Bank also informed the Board during the meeting of his desire to retire at the end of the year. Mr. Sabbagh has had a distinguished 47 year international career in banking and finance and has been the CEO of Arab Bank for the past 12 years.


Mr. Sabbagh recommended to the Board the appointment of Ms. Randa Sadik as his successor. Ms. Sadik has been holding the position of Deputy Chief  Executive Officer since 2010. The recommendation was welcomed by the Board of Directors.

Arab Bank launched a new bill payment service available through the bank’s online banking service “Arabi Online” and “Arabi Mobile” app, in collaboration with “Fawry”, the leading digital transformation and e-payments platform in Egypt The launch of this new service comes as part of Arab Bank’s strategic efforts to expand its digital offerings and deploy innovative digital solutions in line with its customers’ evolving needs and lifestyle.

The new “Fawry” service offers Arab Bank’s customers the ability to inquire about their bills and pay their due bills instantly within the highest levels of security and ease to a wide range billers and service utilities including telecommunication, tourism and airline tickets, online payments, utilities, insurance, university fees, donations, subscriptions and advertisements.

Commenting on the service launch, Mr. Mohamed Elhalawane, Head of Consumer Banking at Arab Bank – Egypt, stated: “We continuously seek to provide our customers with the latest digital banking services within the highest levels of flexibility and security.” He added: “The new service is yet another value-added addition to the comprehensive banking services that the bank offers through “Arabi Mobile” and “Arabi Online”, providing customers with a simultaneous and seamless bill payment experience.”

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank provides its customers with a comprehensive range of digital banking solutions, such as the “Arabi Mobile” app, the “Arabi Online” service, and an extensive network of advanced Arab Bank ATMs including drive-thru ATMs. This is in addition to offering customers a range of innovative digital banking service around the clock through its first self-service Branch in Egypt – CityStars Mall and its self-service area at the New Cairo Branch.

Arab Bank has recently launched the “Travel Mate” credit card exclusively for its “Elite” program customers in collaboration with Visa, the leading global payments technology corporation.

The new credit card offers a host of integrated banking and non-banking privileges and services that are exclusively in line with “Elite” customers' lifestyle while travelling abroad. This comes as part of the bank’s strategy to continuously deploy the latest banking solutions and services that meet its customers’ evolving needs and expectations.

Arab Bank’s “Travel Mate” credit card offers “Elite” customers a range of special features including, 0% foreign exchange commission on a wide range of currencies, flexible repayment options for minimum monthly payments starting from 5% of the balance, higher cash withdrawal limit, convenient Easy Payment Plan starting from 1.5%, grace period of interest-free credit up to 57 days, complimentary airport lounge access, optional credit shield insurance which covers 100% of the outstanding balance.

Commenting on the card launch, Ahmed Ismail, Country Manager at Arab Bank – Egypt, said: “We continuously seek to provide our customers of all ages with value-added products and services that meet their diverse needs and expectations.” He added: “The “Travel Mate” credit card is yet another valuable addition to our “Elite” program which offers exclusive benefits with greater luxury to its unique customer segment.”

For her part, Ms. Malak Al Baba, Country Manager at Visa - Egypt, said that Visa is delighted to collaborate with Arab Bank on launching the “Travel Mate” credit card from Visa, the first of its kind in Egypt, providing cardholders with many privileges and benefits tailored to cater to the “Elite” segment’s needs.  Al Baba added: “With the resume of travel around the world, cardholders are able to utilize the new Visa card within Visa’s worldwide network of 70 million merchants. We look forward to growing our collaboration with Arab Bank to provide cardholders with a convenient and secure digital payment experience in line with their expectations.”

Arab Bank’s credit card products provide a wide range of benefits to their cardholders, including worldwide acceptance, easy and secure access to credit card accounts anytime through both “Arabi Mobile” and the bank’s internet banking service “Arabi Online” in addition to the Easy Payment Plan service.