NBK receives two awards
KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has been recognized by Global Finance with two awards, with Group Digital Office being awarded as the “Best Financial Innovation Lab in Kuwait for 2023”and the banks’ innovative solutions being awarded the “Top Innovations in Finance for 2023”at the magazine’s prestigious annual event, The Innovators.
Mohammed Al-Othman, CEO of Consumer & Digital Banking Group in the middle of Group Digital Office (GDC) Team.
This acknowledgment is determined based on feedback from a distinguished panel of experts, analysts, consultants, and global corporate executives.
The awards highlight the leading players and emerging trends in banking innovation and have become one of the premier awards in the field. This year marks the third year in a row of claiming the “Best Financial Innovation Lab in Kuwait for 2023”award, demonstrating its pioneering role as the first Kuwaiti bank to champion innovation, both domestically and regionally. NBK’s commitment to digital is a central tenet and adopts a holistic approach, from expanding their product line-up to guaranteeing the best user experience for customers.
Thus, NBK established Group Digital Office (GDO), as an internal digital transformation agency and innovation lab. GDO supports and fosters digital change in close collaboration with business units and other stakeholders. This is achieved through accelerating digital initiatives, consolidating talent, and bringing new ideas through Fintech partnerships. The unit accomplishes this by combining the Digital Products & Services Team, the Design Center, and the Innovation Team into one cohesive team, by utilizing agile workflow, design thinking, and global research mechanisms, NBK facilitates the acceleration of the comprehensive digital roadmap.
NBK continues to engage with numerous startups and FinTech companies worldwide, enabling the bank to source new innovations to deliver to customers, expanding NBK’s digital offering. Moreover, the constant analysis and circulation of global trends is a key responsibility of GDO, informing the organization about upcoming innovations and facilitating knowledge transfer. On the other hand, NBK received “Top Innovations in Finance for 2023” award for its novel digital solutions, Digital Investment Engagement, and the New NBK Mobile Banking Application which was recently launched this year to provide customers a user-friendly, personalized, and more convenient banking experience.
As the NBK Mobile Application is the most essential tool for customers and their most intimate connection with NBK day-to-day, the new application was created to put NBK customers at the central part of the innovation process. Customer feedback was taken into account across all journeys, meaning several experiences throughout the app required changes. Employing Design Thinking allowed NBK to empathize with the end user’s experiences, and using Agile Methodology enabled the growth of the project week-by-week.
With customers at the heart, we are excited to build upon this foundation with many new features to come. Global Finance’s Innovators Awards honor innovative institutions—exceptional labs, banks and FinTechfrom seven global regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and Western Europe). This annual awards program recognizes entities that regularly identify new paths and design new tools in finance. Global Finance, founded in 1987, is one of the most reputable magazines specializing in finance and economics.
It has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 193 countries, including senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. The magazine conducts various surveys annually about innovation and profitability for banks and financial institutions all over the world, based on which it selects top performers on the regional and international levels. For more information about Global Finance World’s Best Financial Innovation Labs Award for 2023and “Top Innovations in Finance for 2023”, you can visit their website: https://www.gfmag.com/media/press-releases/global-finance-names-worlds-best-financial-innovation-labs.
