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ONE of Bahrain’s well-established Islamic banks has signed a momentous partnership agreement with a fintech giant and global leader in online payment and taken a significant step to help expand e-commerce in the kingdom.
Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) and PayPal outlined new services that customers and merchants can access exclusively through BisB’s online banking and mobile banking app to conduct commercial transactions electronically on the Internet.
“We are excited to team up with PayPal and to show our commitment to constantly improving services for our valued customers. Moreover, the integration with PayPal means our customers can benefit from convenient access to e-commerce on a global scale, all from their mobile device,” said Hassan Jarrar, BisB CEO, at a signing ceremony and media launch on Sunday at the bank’s boardroom in the Diplomatic Area.
“Through this integration with PayPal, customers in Bahrain gain increased and more convenient access to the millions of businesses that accept PayPal in more than 200 markets and countries worldwide. With this new exclusive offering by BisB, customers now have a choice about the easiest way to use PayPal.”
Located in San Jose, California, PayPal was founded in 1998 and has become a global leader in online payment solutions with more than 203 million accounts worldwide. Available in 202 countries and 25 currencies around the world, it enables global ecommerce by making payments possible across different locations, currencies and languages.
To connect to PayPal through BisB digital services, users with a qualified BisB account need to link it to an existing PayPal account or open one through the app or eBisB.com. Customers can then top up their PayPal accounts using funds from their BisB bank account, introducing a new way to fund a PayPal transaction in addition to cards, and withdraw funds received into their PayPal account to their BisB bank account.
Hassan believes the bank’s executives can ‘learn enormously’ from the partnership ‘on the journey’ the bank is taking to expand its fintech operations and he described the deal as a ‘major milestone’. “They can help a bank like us to think like a technology company.” he added, “and make us a better bank.”
This could be particularly good news for Bahrain’s growing number of fledgling start-up companies looking to expand their operations internationally.
The bank has signed a number of agreements and MOUs with strategic partners inside and outside the region, for example, launching its ‘Tamweel Plus’ programme in collaboration with Tamkeen with a BD20 million financial portfolio to support medium and large corporations in the kingdom and its signing of an MOU with Flat6 Labs to introduce acceleration programmes to attract start-ups vested in innovation in the financial services sector.
Technology is playing a much larger role for the bank and its application for smart phones, ‘BisB Digital’, is regarded as one of the best banking applications.
Incorporated in 1979 as the first Islamic bank in the kingdom, and only the fourth in the GCC, BisB has played a pivotal role in the development of the Islamic banking industry and the kingdom’s economy. At the end of 2016, the bank’s paid up capital was BD101 million. Its has five branches, four financial malls and 56 ATMs located throughout the island.
The PayPal partnership adds to its momentum as many consider it to be the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online, without sharing financial information.
“We are excited to be working with BisB to give customers the comfort and security of transactions that PayPal offers globally,” said Efi Dahan, PayPal general manager in Russia, Middle East and Africa.
His colleague, Tahir Emrah Tuzun, market development, Middle East & North Africa at PayPal flew to Bahrain for the launch and added: “Small business owners and freelancers can also benefit as this service provides them with new capabilities toward digital exports by selling cross-border and withdrawing their PayPal funds into their BisB accounts.”
