Boubyan Bank of Kuwait aims to become a leading Islamic bank in its domestic market and globally. Adel Al-Majed, Boubyan Group Vice Chairman and Group CEO, explains how the bank plans to achieve this goal through new financial products, digital services and strategic partnerships.
Global Finance: What are the bank’s strategic priorities for the next five years?
Adel Al-Majed: The bank’s aspiration is to become a leading Islamic bank for high net worth individuals and businesses, focused on innovation and digital excellence. As part of our Boubyan 2028 plan, we will continue to develop our core businesses and products, in addition to exploring strategic partnerships with the aim of delivering significant shareholder value and growth.
GF: What are the bank’s commercial activity segments showing the strongest growth?
AM: The PRIME (youth) and Premium (rich) segments have seen the strongest growth in recent years. Within PRIME, Boubyan has been a pioneer in new products and services and now has a significant market share among Kuwaiti youth. The Premium segment is a relatively new subgroup of the affluent segment that offers customers dedicated relationship managers, access to special hubs within each branch and global concierge services.
GF: Which retail business segments of the bank are the most active?
AM: The Mass segment is the largest group and drives the use of all banking products. PRIME is the most engaged in terms of social networks and discount offers with partner merchants. The Platinum segment customer (mass affluent) is an experienced user of credit card services, with above-average spending per transaction, while the Premium segment (mass affluent) is the overall leader for deposits and assets in current and savings accounts (CASA).
GF: What are the main developments within Islamic finance?
AM: A major development is the global growth of sukuk (Islamic bonds), driven by demand for Sharia-compliant investment options, particularly in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. Islamic banks are increasingly focusing on financial inclusion, particularly in underbanked markets in Southeast Asia and Africa. Shariah-compliant microfinance solutions aim to provide ethical financing to individuals and small businesses without relying on interest rate loans. These products often rely on asset-based structures such as Ijarah (leasing) or murabaha (cost-plus financing). At the local level, many countries have refined their legal and regulatory frameworks to support Islamic finance. The United Kingdom, for example, has introduced regulations to support Islamic banking, while countries like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia continue to strengthen their Islamic finance laws.
GF: What steps has the bank taken to promote the growth of FinTech?
AM: Boubyan has taken a very structured and active approach to FinTech that covers community engagement, including hackathons, accelerators and other types of challenges aimed at internal and external audiences. Our financial services range from traditional offerings, such as escrow accounts, bulk transfers and payment infrastructure, to newer offerings, such as ATMs as a Service, BIN sponsorship, wallet acceptance and integrated banking services. We are also active in FinTech mentoring, including strategic, implementation and operational advice and support, including sponsoring 80% of FinTech applicants to the Regulatory Sandbox of the Central Bank of Kuwait. Boubyan is also strategic in FinTech venture capital, from the earliest to late-stage investments that align with our core business and long-term strategic goals.
