November 2016 97 www.bahrainthismonth.com financing&insurance The Facts About Finance BTM highlights some of the best insurance and promotional financing schemes available from established and locally accountable institutions in Bahrain. Many people living and working in Bahrain are here for a specific reason – to make money for the benefit of their long-term future and to protect their families against any untoward eventualities. Combined with financing, investments, retirement and estate planning, life insurance is a fundamental part of a sound financial plan. The Kingdom’s financial services industry has long been a mainstay of the economy, with the island recognised as a substantial regional hub for both banking and insurance. The industry continues to grow, with many of the major banks establishing innovative services for both private and corporate clients. The Supreme Council of Women (SCW), Tamkeen and Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) signed a memorandum of understanding intended to launch the Bahraini Women Development Portfolio Fund worth a total of USD100 million. SCW’s secretary-general Hala Al Ansari presented a concise overview about the portfolio for development of Bahraini businesswomen’s activities aka, Riyadat, earmarked to boost women’s business activities in small and medium enterprises with support from Tamkeen and the bank’s management. She said the portfolio has been created to support women interested in delving into entrepreneurship to begin their own new commercial start-ups or develop existing ones, emanating from the council’s strategic partnership with the bank and Tamkeen. Aims of this have been to support and develop Bahraini women’s projects and contribute to smoothing out any difficulties facing women investors or hampering their participation in the comprehensive national development. Weak economic trends and financial market volatility continued during the second quarter of 2016, being intensified by the persistent low oil prices and the bulk credit ratings downgrade of financial institutions in oil exporting countries. Global financial markets were also affected by the UK’s Brexit referendum, of which the overall consequences are yet to crystalise. However, the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), reported a net profit of BD31.3 million for INSURANCE INDUSTRY Despite a challenging global economy, pundits say the insurance industry in the GCC has experienced steady growth. This remarkable achievement is on the back of an improved regulatory environment, population expansion, economic development and increased product awareness. The latest report published by Alpen Capital on the GCC insurance industry sees the bigger players growing with increased opportunities, but leading to the marginalisation of smaller organisations. Low insurance penetration has also attracted several foreign concerns which are now looking at establishing their footprint in the GCC. The region’s insurance sector is also expected to structurally mature, in line with positive regulatory developments and efforts by some players towards attaining greater operational scale and efficiency. Alpen Capital estimates that the insurance industry in the Gulf is projected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 18.1 per cent between 2012 and 2017 to reach a size of USD37.5 billion, split between life (USD2.4 billion) and non-life (USD35.1 billion) segments. Meanwhile, the insurance industry is also seeing remarkable innovation, especially in the Kingdom. Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company, for example, has made further improvements to its website, giving the online platform a new look and adding services to provide customers with fast-track facilities. The company also announced a promotional offer on all personal insurance products to its online customers. The offer will provide an additional 10 per cent reduction, providing customers purchase any new policy or renew an existing policy through the website. the first half of 2016, compared to BD29.4 million reported during the same period of last year reflecting an increase of 6.5 per cent. Operating expenses increased by 6.8 per cent during the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year as a result of expansion and enhancements of the bank’s operations and distribution networks. Nevertheless, the cost-toincome ratio improved from 40.2 per cent to 38.5 per cent reflecting the bank’s ability to generate healthy growth in its income stream and at the same time exert effective cost management. Citi Bahrain has been making progress and was recently named winner of the Best Corporate/Institutional Digital Bank award in the first round of Global Finance magazine’s 2016 World’s Best Digital Banks Awards in the Middle East & Africa. This is the fourth year in a row that the bank has won the award. Al Salam Bank - Bahrain, one of the pioneering Sharia-compliant banks in the Kingdom, signed a strategic agreement with one of the leading insurers, Takaful International. This agreement paves the way for the bank to offer both Al Salam Bank and BMI Bank customers a suite of Sharia-compliant insurance products through its extended branch network within Bahrain. Customers will now get access to Shariacompliant motor, property and travel insurance products at preferential pricing when applying at any of Al Salam Bank - Bahrain and BMI Bank branches. With Arab Bank’s new Balance Transfer Service, customers in Bahrain can now enjoy a very convenient repayment period at zero per cent interest rate. The bank’s new feature enables customers to transfer the outstanding balances of their other banks’ credit cards to their Arab Bank credit card at a zero-per-cent interest rate for the first three months, whereby the minimum due payment option is five per cent of the transferred balance during that period. Meanwhile, a first-of-its-kind collaboration to initiate a renewed understanding of the latest industry insights and developments for professionals in banking as well as other related financial sectors has been announced. The Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance’s Payments Academy and Mastercard will develop an engaging academic and training module designed to enhance technical performance and leadership qualities for professionals in the financial sector.
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