Kuwait Finance House appoints ITS to provide integrated ‘Ethical Banking’ solution

Kuwait Finance House appoints ITS to provide integrated ‘Ethical Banking’ solution

Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) announced today that it has appointed the computer group International Turnkey Systems (ITS) to provide an integrated ‘Ethical Banking’ solution to support the Bank’s expansion plans.

The one year contract includes upgrading the Bank’s core banking system, integrating the branch automation system, trade finance, Islamic finance, internet banking, in addition to services related to human resources and treasury. The combined solutions will benefit the customer by providing greatly enhanced services from the Bank.

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Islamic Finance "a window of opportunity" for IT professionals

The Hindu Business Line: Islamic Finance “a window of opportunity” for IT professionals

When the going gets tough, the smart ones look for alternatives.

A clutch of IT companies are bullish on an ‘under-penetrated financial services domain’, which they claim will not be negatively impacted by the US credit crunch. What’s more, even global banks that have burnt their fingers in the U S sub-prime crisis are keen on action in this space, making the demand environment even more vibrant for Indian IT companies, they say. There are projections of this market reaching the $1-trillion mark in the near future.

Welcome to the world of Islamic banking.

What is this all about?

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Tagged: Islamic Finance, Islamic Banking, Sukuk

Dubai Islamic Bank launches new virtual training centre

Dubai Islamic Bank launches new virtual training centre

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced today the launch of the DIB Retail Banking Services Virtual Training Centre in Dubai.

The initiative will provide bank staff with advance training, experience, skills and insights to better meet the needs of the bank’s clients in retail banking services. The DIB Retail Banking Services Virtual Training Centre is located at the DIB branch on Al Ittihad Road in Dubai.

The opening ceremony for the centre was attended by Khaled Kamda, DIB Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, and several other senior executives from the bank. The training centre is based on a partnership with SnapShot, a leading human resources consultancy and training firm.

The training centre is one of the most sophisticated centres in the country. The centre is seen as a means for DIB to develop and improve the level of service for the banking sector throughout the region. “This initiative is a reflection of our commitment to being a financial services institution that delivers the highest level of service to its customers,” said Kamda.

“The emphasis we place on training has benefited not only our customers and employees, it has also benefited the emirate’s economy. In line with our efforts to lead the banking industry in the area of Emiratisation, we have produced a National workforce that is highly educated, motivated and well trained.”

Kamda added: “We have received many accolades due to our position as the pre-eminent Islamic financial institution in the country and the region. This has been achieved by our steadfast dedication to providing employees with the expertise necessary to work across the entire spectrum of the banking industry. On behalf of everyone at Dubai Islamic Bank, I am extremely pleased to announce the launch of this new training centre.”

Along with theory, DIB employees attending the training centre can acquire hands-on experience, through such techniques as role playing. “We have created a facility that duplicates a bank branch,” said Mohammed Amiri, Retail and Business Banking chief of DIB.

“The centre gives employees the chance to hone their skills by placing them in a variety of banking scenarios. The courses we have created are 70 per cent practical and 30 per cent theoretical. The goal is to equip employees with the abilities required to take on nearly any issue that may confront a bank branch.”

SnapShot helps to empower the institutions it works with by providing key information that will enable them to conduct and pursue solutions comprised of three elements: reliability, effectiveness and measurability. “Our partnership with DIB is a long-term partnership that is based on a clear understanding of requirements and mutual cooperation,” said Dr. Fuad Jassim, Executive director of SnapShot.

The training centre is just one of several facilities DIB has created in recent years for its employees. In 2007, DIB created the DIB Training Academy for both management and staff. Like this training centre, the academy’s purpose is to increase the skill sets of its employees, and maintain the highest quality of service possible for the bank’s customer base.

Path Solutions wins “Best Islamic Finance Technology Award”

Path Solutions wins “Best Islamic Finance Technology Award”

Path Solutions, the leading provider of ethically-aware software solutions to Islamic financial institutions today announced that it has been recognized as the “Best Islamic Finance Technology” at the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2007, which took place on 12th December at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai.

The Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2007 have been designed to recognize and reward excellence throughout the global Islamic finance community. They honor Islamic financial institutions from around the world and emphasize the importance and increasing attraction of Islamic finance.

Winners of the award were decided by the readers of Islamic Business & Finance Magazine who have completed casting their votes for contestants from a shortlist created by a judging panel of rating and consulting firms and were judged with greater transparency by their peers based on their performance over the last twelve months.

“We’re obviously very pleased to be selected by the readers of Islamic Business & Finance Magazine for this highly exclusive award”, noted Ahmad Al Sager, Chairman of Path Solutions. “It is an honor to be recognized for efforts and achievements and the value we have added to Islamic banking. Over the past year, we have invested heavily in our Sharia-compliant software and we have consistently demonstrated our ability to deliver low-risk, cost effective implementations in record time, as we are committed to offer our customers significant business advantages and maximum ROI”.

Mr. Al Sager added: “This is an exciting phase in Path Solutions’ growth. Having carved a niche for ourselves in the Islamic banking domain, we will strengthen our footprint in the Gulf, Middle East, UK, South East Asia and Africa. Islamic financial products are fast becoming the favorites of the global banking industry, and we have the most cutting-edge and cost-effective solution in the IT market, a robust and proven solution that has been implemented so far in over 40 major financial institutions”.

And he concluded: “In our business, we know only one direction—forward. More precisely, we have got some exciting plans for the coming years which I cannot share in huge detail yet, but will include further developing of innovative products, and we are looking forward to even more collaboration to create greater customer satisfaction”.

The Islamic Business & Finance Awards were launched in 2005 in response to the phenomenal growth of the Islamic finance industry, currently estimated at $500 billion in value. They are currently the recognized industry awards across the globe with multiple award categories.

Commenting on the victory, Naji Moukadam, Path Solutions’ President said: “We are thrilled to have won one more prestigious contest. It is with no doubt a point of pride for us to be the finalist in the “Islamic Finance Technology” category. We feel it is an investment that has yielded rich returns. Hopefully we are taking a step towards a brighter future”.

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2007 were presented to winners of the different categories in the presence of Arab and foreign dignitaries and senior representatives of major Islamic financial institutions.