April 4th, 2014 BIBD was yesterday conferred as the winner of the Best Retail Bank in Brunei for the year 2014, for the second year running, during The Asian Banker's (TAB) International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Award Ceremony. The awards ceremony took place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, and was also held in conjunction with the region's most prestigious retail banking event, the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention.

Present on hand to receive the momentous award on behalf of BIBD were Dr Gyorgy Ladics, Chief Operating Officer, Mr Imran Samee, Head of Consumer Banking, Hjh Nurul Akmar Binti Haji Mohd Jaafar, Deputy Head of Consumer Banking, who is also Head of BIBD's Corporate Social Responsibility, along with Ben Lin Chee Wei, Head of Marketing.
Mr Samee commented This represents another landmark milestone for BIBD, after being the first Islamic Bank to win last year, and to also successfully retain the Best Retail Banking honour from The Asian Banker in Brunei Darussalam, an achievement only equal to the fact that BIBD has successfully been recognised with the very same award against the presence of other multinational banks in Brunei Darussalam.

BIBD's Managing Director Javed Ahmad agreed, Alhamdulilah, another award for not only just BIBD, but also, a Brunei-born institution where we continue to instill a culture of excellence in all of BIBD's products and services, to live up to our Bruneian at Heart heritage.

He continued to comment, I am happy that BIBD has won this award for the second year running, and, InsyaAllah, we will continue to build and further support not only our own ambitions, but also the ambitions of Brunei Darussalam's industries and its growth, a commitment we strongly hold to help the country achieve its goals in line with the nation's aspirations under Wawasan 2035.

BIBD was commended on its Bruneian at Heart rebranding efforts into a bank that intrinsically understands the aspirations of its people and country. Also lauded was BIBD's ability to maintain strong robust profitability even in a more competitive market, while increasing its portfolios in previously declining sectors.

BIBD's Mobility and Digital Economy Engagement Programme was also praised, which introduced sophisticated banking and payment services via smartphones and tablets. In 2013, the volume and value of transactions of BIBD's mobile banking dramatically increased, where more than every two out of three bill payments made at BIBD were performed via its internet and mobile banking channels.

About 200 senior bankers from award-winning banks in 29 countries across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa attended the event that recognised their efforts in bringing superior products and services to their customers. The awards programme, administered by TAB and refereed by prominent global bankers, consultants and academics, is the most prestigious of its kind.

TAB is the region's most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The Singapore-based company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as representatives in London, New York and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services and forums.