CONSUMERS SHAPING NEXT GENERATION DIGITAL BANKING
In the digital age, consumers dictate the digital banking agenda. As digital-first, app-based
experiences become increasingly ubiquitous across most, if not all, industries including food, health,
transportation, music and retail, modern day consumers have become accustomed to effortless,
seamless and instantly accessible services and solutions. Yet, despite this rapid global
transformation, traditional banks have been held back by sunk costs, expensive legacy systems and
large physical operations. From the outset, Bank ABC saw digital disruption as a catalyst for positive
change. As customer centricity and innovation have always been at the heart of its strategy, it
embarked on a digitization journey early on to design banking around the consumer’s world.
In November 2019, Bank ABC launched ila Bank, the region’s first fully cloud based digital, mobile
only bank. With a promise to deliver “Banking that reflects you”, ila offers consumers an unparalleled
personalized banking experience that reflects their everyday needs, addresses their financial pain
points and fulfills their short-and-long-term financial aspirations. Merging cutting edge technologies,
including AI and Data Analytics, with a deep human understanding, ila delivers tailored banking
solutions while continuously co-creating new features alongside its consumers. Its innovative offering
includes an unmatched digital onboarding service requiring only one ID and a selfie; unique saving
solutions such as “Hassala” and “Jamiyah” that encourage savings and financial stability. ila Bank has
also launched two unique Credit Cards, ila Blue designed to cater to today’s discerning customers
and enrich their lifestyle experiences with a world of exclusive benefits, rewards and offers, and ila
Switch, that allows customers to transfer their balances from other banks to ila in a seamless way and
at competitive rates “Transfer by mobile number” feature enabling seamless payments; a donations
feature promoting prosperity among many other market-first solutions.
Although ila was faced with an unprecedented global health crisis within two months of its launch, it
continued to thrive and capitalize on greater demand for touchless banking solutions, leveraging its
agile digital infrastructure to rapidly respond to changing consumer needs and accelerate financial
inclusion. Since its inception, ila released 24 app upgrades, including user interface and functionality
enhancements as well as unique banking products and solutions, and maintained outstanding app
ratings of 4.4/5 in Apple Store and 4.5 in Google Play. It was also named “Best Consumer Digital
Bank” and “Best Mobile Banking App” in Bahrain as part of Global Finance’s 2021 World’s Best
Consumer Digital Banks Awards in the Middle East.
The digital mobile-only bank continues to demonstrate exceptional growth. In 2021, it witnessed a
163% growth in ila customer base and an increase in debit card spending by 10 fold. It has also
cemented Bank ABC’s footing as a leading digital banking player in MENA and is set to expand
across the Bank’s core regional markets, starting with Jordan in 2022.