Following a sustained period of double-digit growth, ABK-Egypt is consolidating its leading position with a range of technological and infrastructure investments
ABK’s journey since acquiring Piraeus Bank of Egypt (PBE) in 2015 has been characterised by dynamism, resilience and agility in an ever-changing economic landscape. Over a period of five years, ABK-Egypt has more than quadrupled its balance sheet through investing heavily in customer-centricity, digitisation and human capital development – all the while contributing to the growth of the Egyptian economy.
From a loss of EGP103m ($6.56m) in 2015, net profit has grown steadily to reach EGP666m in 2020. Further to this, the bank’s ratio of non-performing loans is low, and the customer base has grown considerably across corporate and retail banking segments.
However, these positive numbers are only part of the story. ABK-Egypt has undergone a cultural and digital transformation, defined by the repositioning, optimisation and opening of branches, the instigation of new business lines, extensive brand building campaigns and a concerted campaign to raise consumer awareness of ABK brand and offerings.
ABK-Egypt has focused on balanced growth in all market segments with a tailored offering to corporate, SMEs, and retail banking customers, with a broad range of products suiting their growing needs.
The bank considers a comprehensive and modern branch network vital to its success in Egypt and continually upgrades and expands its presence in most of the Egyptian Governorates through its network of 44 branches.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the unprecedented challenges faced, ABK-Egypt has performed exceptionally well and continued to establish a strong presence in the Egyptian market, with timely responses to the changing environment, ensuring full support to customers and staff. The bank’s strategy shifted towards safeguarding liquidity, rationalising costs and mitigating risks. Strategic initiatives were launched to create customer value by providing an extensive range of tailored products and relief initiatives for individuals, corporates, and SME clients.
Embracing technology
ABK-Egypt has made significant investments in digital banking, enabling customers to execute a broad range of transactions without having to visit a branch. These investments have ensured that, during the pandemic, customers were able to effectively manage all their banking remotely. ABK-Egypt was the first bank in the country to spearhead the introduction of a mobile sticker, an innovative payment tool that allows customers to pay through an electronic sticker that supplements their card. The bank was also first to be licensed under the Central Bank’s Regulatory Sandbox to avail an electronic platform (E-KYC) to authenticate the identities of customers and validate their information when registering to ABK Mobile Wallet.
ABK-Egypt is dedicated to cementing its leading position as a responsible corporate citizen. Its CSR programmes are having a wide impact, and include a number of initiatives, which range from extending scholarship support to high-achieving students in public schools, to supporting a number of medical institutions through supply of medical equipment including ventilators, and financially supporting women who run small businesses and are the family’s primary earner.
Ali Marafi, Chairman of ABK-Egypt 
CEO & Managing Director, Khaled El Salawy
The bank has won numerous awards from a variety of financial magazines over the past five years including: “Fastest Growing Bank”, “Best New Brand”, and “Most Innovative Bank”. Khaled El Salawy, ABK-Egypt’s CEO was awarded “Banker of the Year 2019” by International Finance Magazine, and in 2020, ABK-Egypt was recognised by Global Finance Magazine for Outstanding Leadership during COVID-19.
After five years of double-digit growth and measurable progress, ABK-Egypt looks forward with great optimism and enthusiasm to many more years of success.
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