KIB – More than a Bank: A Partner for Life with Customer Interests at its Heart

Change is necessary to ensure growth, development and sustainability — in individuals and organisations.

For KIB, life has always been a journey of continuous evolution, and for more than 40 years the bank has maintained a dynamic and forward-looking approach with a premier market segment of Boursa Kuwait.

The KIB journey began as a niche bank catering to Kuwait’s emerging real estate sector. It has undergone many strategic evolutions and transformations to stay ahead of the curve and remains a key player in the banking industry.

In 2019, KIB issued a $300m AT1 perpetual Sukuk to support its local expansion plans and enhance its capital base, which was oversubscribed 15 times.

KIB is proud to be the “bank for life” for its customers — retail and corporate, young and old, families and small businesses. Through a network of branches spread across Kuwait, with state-of-art alternative channels, KIB offers a full suite of Islamic banking services and solutions, as well as innovative technological solutions.

Established in May 1973, KIB set out to meet growing demand for a financial institution specialising in the real estate sector. Known originally as Kuwait Real Estate Bank, KIB swiftly established itself as one of the pillars of Kuwait’s banking industry.

By helping to finance one of the most important sectors in Kuwait, the bank contributed to the development of the country’s economic and architectural landscapes.

The major turning point came in July 2007, when the bank spearheaded the first transformation of its kind in the Middle East.

To address the changing economic climate and the evolving state of the industry in the region, KIB embarked on a strategic transformation from conventional real estate bank to a full-service bank operating in accordance with the principles of Islamic Shari’ah.

In 2018, KIB began a long-term programme to change the way it engaged with customers across every touch point and communication channel. This focused on offering a “next-level” customer experience to deliver more than just banking, in the traditional sense: to become a true “Bank for Life”.

Customer expectations, technological capabilities, and compliance requirements are continuously reshaping the landscape. Staying ahead of the curve but remaining committed its customer-centric focus, KIB exceeded expectations.

The bank’s retail offerings focus on innovative and flexible solutions tailored to customer needs. This includes credit card services, account packages, financing solutions, investment tools, and e-banking services.

It also provides business and corporate banking products, including project and company financing, treasury services, and real estate banking operations.

In 2020, KIB is rolling out fresh digital banking solutions to revolutionise customer experience by integrating omni-channel services. These enable access to accounts and perform banking transactions through interactive digital interfaces. The bank’s updated website offers customers an easier way to manage banking activities.

KIB has always participated in the economic development of Kuwait, first by catering to the needs of the real estate sector and then by serving the needs of the Islamic community. It has been involved in financing private sector and national development projects.

KIB has consistently assisted SMEs. It has also been committed to investing in the local labour market, nurturing, training and employing local talent. Over the past years, it has gone from strength-to-strength, delivering profitability due to its strategy entering the advanced implementation phase. Its growing finance portfolio and improved cross-sell capabilities, as well as its experienced senior management team, has a strong track record for delivering results.

A Robust Financing Portfolio

Historically, KIB has maintained a stable depositor base and proven to be resilient throughout the years. KIB has a solid credit rating. During the annual credit review in 2019 carried out by Fitch Ratings, KIB’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (LT-IDR) was affirmed at A+ with a Stable Outlook.