W&F Issue 8 2018

www.wealthandfinance-news.com 6 Wealth & Finance International - Issue 8 - 2018 Azizi Bank embodies the spirit of the future of Afghani business; a technology-focused, future- centric institution, it acts as the country’s pace- setter, marking the path for others to follow. Today, Azizi Bank is the market leader in the country, and the largest commercial bank as a group. This is, by all regards, an impressive statement considering Azizi Bank’s almost humble beginnings twelve years ago, with 25 employees and five million US dollars in capital. From this start, they have thrived in a competitive, and ever-improving, market. As CEO and President, Dr. Mohammad Salem Omaid has played a substantial part in Azizi’s continual improvement and dominating presence in the industry. To start the interview, Dr. Omaid emphasises Azizi Bank’s mission and how they are moving to achieve it; “Our mission is to steadily evolve as a bank in the country which will be professionally managed, tech savvy and providing world class service experience to its customers. Our business philosophy to ensure fulfilment of our vision and mission is based on five core values – operational excellence, customer focus, product leadership, people management and sustainability. We are in the foray of the latest digitalisation in the bank. We are extremely focused on customer satisfaction and necessary initiatives are taken to ensure this commitment.” Today’s world is defined by a technological arms race that extends through all tiers, sectors, and fields of the international business arena. For banks, mobility and accessibility are two areas that are seeing a particular focus, as customer’s expectations for financial services undergoes a paradigm-shift. People want to be able to access their money on the move, seamlessly. Azizi Bank is no different, incorporating digitisation into every facet of their business; “Azizi Bank have migrated onto Flex Cube, which is one of the world’s best trusted solutions for core banking. We have introduced the first mobile based wallet solution for banking and nonbanking transactions which is getting rolled out shortly. This will enable customers to transact and pay utility bills from mobile phones.” “Here at Azizi Bank, we have introduced payment gateway solutions for merchants to do their business transactions in the country. We have our own in-house card production facility for the issuance of master debit cards. In addition, we have introduced branchless banking initiatives with the introduction of POS devices for payments at the remote locations. We are the only bank in Afghanistan to have the PCI DSS compliant switch for digital banking. Lastly, we have the highest number of ATMs in the country presently.” “Going forward, we have plans for more branchless banking initiatives like tab banking, E-Lobby etc. The banks around the world are turning into digitalized mode, and customers nowadays are looking for more convenient banking options and we are committed to launch more such initiatives in the future.” Azizi Bank was established with the goal to become the best quality bank in Afghanistan. For the last ten years, Azizi Bank has championed a professionally-managed, technologically-developed approach to financial services. Last month, Azizi Bank was named in Wealth & Finance International’s esteemed 2018 Global Excellence Awards with the title of ‘Bank of the Year – Afghanistan’. On the back of this achievement we spoke with President and CEO, Dr. Mohammad Salem Omaid, to find out how Azizi Bank has forged its remarkable position on the international finance landscape. Afghanistan’s World-Leading Banking Institution 1808WF16 “I would like to dedicate these felicitations to all my employees and customers at large, who I feel are the strong contributors towards these recognitions and I am thankful to each and every one of them.”