Doha’s banking dependence

Doha Bank is one of the largest private commercial banks in the State of Qatar. It was founded in Doha, Qatar on March 15, 1979.

As one of Qatar’s leading financial services company, Doha Bank is committed to making financial services work for customers and clients like it never has before. Through innovative technologies and the ingenuity of its people, Doha Bank provides individuals, commercial, corporate and institutional clients within Qatar and across the globe with new and better ways to manage their financial affairs. The company enables customers to do their banking and investing whenever, wherever and however they choose through an extensive network and multiple access channels.

Qatar’s economy has outperformed the rest of the region with an 18 percent growth in 2010. Qatar’s hydrocarbon exports are expanding at a far more rapid pace than its regional peers that will significantly boost the government’s revenues over the coming years. Qatar has achieved the milestone of 77 million tonnes annual liquefied natural gas production capacity. The country’s strong fiscal performance and ongoing reforms have also been acknowledged by Standard & Poor’s which lifted Qatar’s sovereign rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA–’ during the year. Qatar has also won the bid for hosting the FIFA 2022 World Cup. This development is going to create immense opportunities for infrastructure development nationwide. Doha Bank has developed its business model to take advantage of this underlying growth of Qatar. Doha Bank has also consistently achieved one of the best returns on average equity and return on average assets among the banks in the Middle East region over the last seven years.

Mr.R.Seetharaman, Group Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, said, “Doha Bank has been recognised as a dynamic, modern bank with enduring age-old values. The bank has achieved very impressive results over the last seven years of its history. This has been a combined result of the board’s vision, management and employee dedication and a tremendous customer response. The bank has carved a niche for itself in the GCC focused activities by embarking upon a dynamic growth strategy”.

He also added, “Doha Bank is one of the most renowned banks in the State of Qatar; with a dominant position in the GCC banking landscape with 30 state-of-the-art conventional branches, seven Islamic branches, five e-branches, 14 pay offices, three mobile units and more than 100 ATMs. Doha Bank has been consistently registering a strong performance during the last seven years with a participative leadership philosophy. The Bank has maintained a strong growth trajectory, including total asset growth, loan growth, deposit growth and shareholder equity growth year-on-year”.

The Wholesale Banking Group of Doha Bank is a significant contributor to the asset base of Doha Bank and comprises of six divisions, namely Corporate & Commercial banking, Project Finance, Government & Public Finance, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mortgage and Real Estate finance, Private Banking encompassing service units like Cash Management and Trade Finance. Tatweer, Doha Bank’s ground breaking solution for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) financing in Doha, doubled its clientele base in 2010 from that of 2009. In April 2010, Tatweer launched a “supply chain financing” product as the latest offering serving Qatar’s SME segment.

The Retail Banking Group of Doha Bank provides the most comprehensive product portfolio in terms of product and services range and convenience. It has been the prime mover in the market by the way of opening new opportunities and at the same time ensuring the security of customers. The major emphasis will be to focus on improving its E-channels by adding improved functionality.  Furthermore, an increase and improvement of the bank’s self-service banking initiatives especially in upgrading  its ATM network and increased use of mobile phone technologies are the current priorities of the group.

The International Banking Group integrates the Bank’s international operations, facilitates cross border trade and is responsible for the relationship management with financial institutions globally. Doha Bank has correspondent relationships with more than 300 financial institutions worldwide. The international presence of the bank comprises of branches in USA, UAE and Kuwait and representative offices in China, Japan, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey and the UK The Group also participates in syndicated loans to financial institutions and corporate entities mainly in the GCC and Asian regions. Internationally, Doha Bank is looking to expand in GCC, Central Europe and India.

Continued recognition of the bank’s strength can be gauged from the high ratings, given by international rating agencies, Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, Capital Intelligence and Fitch Ratings, who assigned a stable outlook for Doha Bank due to its strong financial fundamentals, asset quality, and robust liquidity.
Doha Islamic, the Islamic Banking arm of Doha Bank, offers over 13 products covering all the financial needs of retail and corporate customers. In 2010, Doha Islamic expanded its outreach to customers by opening two new branches. In continuation of its commitment to customer services, it introduced a young saver scheme called ‘Ajyal’, a savings product with features to suit the young generation of Qatar, as well as a new credit card product named ‘Tawarruq’. A number of special promotions were launched for the bank’s retail customers during the year and two new ATMs were installed in mosques.

Doha Bank was the first bank in the Middle East to establish a 100 percent owned subsidiary insurance company, Doha Bank Assurance Company (DBAC), in line with its strategic vision to become as a one stop financial provider. Licensed by Qatar Financial Centre Authority to underwrite general insurance business, DBAC provides all lines of general insurance including fire, engineering, marine and motor insurance to corporate customers. DBAC, effectively showcasing its business potential, strong capitalisation and liquidity, has achieved a Standard and Poor’s rating of “BBB/Stable” in September 2010. The Company earlier achieved the ISO: 9001: 2008 for “providing General Insurance Services under Regulatory Framework” in March 2010.

Further developments in the insurance sector are the merger of Bancassurance with retail banking. Since the merger, Doha Bank has been proactive in the market by launching various customer focused insurance products. There has been a steady increase in business across all product lines. The retail general insurance business has grown by 25 percent from 2009. Doha Bank also launched a tie-up with Allianz Takaful for Family Takaful Products, launched two new retail insurance products – Sayidaty and Manzilouka, and launched a series of Travel Insurance Plans from Al Khaleej. Formalities related to the tie-up with Zurich International Life for HNW and Al Riyada Clients were completed. Work is in progress to design and develop the new e-Insurance platform.  Retail banking also launched the online lead capture system for insurance products on the group website.

Doha Bank is the first bank in the GCC to launch the “Green Banking” concept whereby the bank’s ultimate goal is to make a long-term positive impact in preserving the environment. As an eco-conscious banking institution, it steers the promotion of the green culture among its citizens, customers and the society at large by continuously spreading the concept of Green Banking through various social and environment-friendly activities, worldwide seminars, and joint efforts like the “Eco-Schools” program with UNESCO, to address issues of environmental concern. The bank also raises funds to support the needy and generously donates to individuals in need as well as organisations. It also promotes art and culture aside from its charitable work and humanitarian activities. Doha Bank maintains its presence and influence in leading by example when it comes to promoting cultural, professional, educational and knowledge forums through generous sponsorships as well as through direct organisation of events.

The success of Doha Bank over the years has always been the vision of its board. Set amidst a fast paced work environment that nurtures a high performance culture, Doha Bank believes in creating an environment in which its employees look forward to work, and it leads its employees towards excellence in every aspect to make them future leaders in the Banking industry.

Doha Bank has been applauded by renowned financial sector analysts and branding strategists for its pioneering and leadership role in taking financial services experience in the GCC region to new heights. The fifth Global Conference on Social Responsibility in September 2010 declared the ‘Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability 2010’ to Doha Bank for its continuous growth in the competitive market. In recognition of Doha Bank’s effective branding building journey, the 17th Asia Brand Congress awarded Doha Bank with the ‘Brand Leadership Award 2008’, being the only financial institution to be recognised by the congress. Best Bank in Qatar, Most Innovative Bank, Bank of the Year, Best Trade Finance Provider Award, and Best Environmental Leadership Award are just some of the awards won in recent years by Doha Bank.

Mr. R. Seetharaman goes on to say, “Doha Banks’ signature is sustainable outperformance. We are the trendsetter in introducing many innovative products and services in Qatar. Our consumer-centric technology solutions are credited with being the first introduced in the Qatar market. Performance, innovation, quality and security are the supreme features of Doha Bank and we have been able to demonstrate these parameters consistently.”