Banking sector responds positively to COVID 19 tackling efforts

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s banking sector responded positively to COVID-19 tackling efforts, thanks to the Central Bank of Bahrain’s ‘open banking services’, said a top BAB official. Dr Waheed Al Qassim, CEO of The Bahrain Associations of Banks (BAB), said the ability of the banks and financial institutions here to activate electronic communication channels quickly, reflects the success of their long investments in building an effective and reliable electronic system.

Dr Al Qassim said that the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) had been proactive in issuing directives to activate “open banking services” implemented so far by a good number of retail banks in Bahrain.

He added: “With the coronavirus ordeal in Bahrain and the world, it became clear that these services have other great benefits, among them reducing human interaction as possible and limiting the circulation of cash that may carry the virus.”

“Today we harvest the fruits of the great efforts made by stakeholders in the government and e-government sectors in particular to provide advanced technical infrastructure, and the current virus situation represented a real test of those efforts that we managed to pass successfully,” Dr Al Qassim said, stressing the importance of studying best practices.

On this note, Dr Al Qassim renewed BAB’s admiration of the royal directives allocating 4.3 billion dinars to help citizens and businesses to overcome coronavirus inflicted difficulties, noting the wise management of His Highness the Crown Prince to the Bahrain team in this crisis. He said: “Everyone demonstrated his best ability to pass this difficult test, and everyone is an active member of the Bahrain team.”