Al Hazeem, talking to the reporters on the sidelines of the opening of the 10th Branch of the BMI Bank, said the bank had managed to reduce its losses to BD 3.5 million at end of September.
“We are looking at the 2012 when the bank will start making profits as result of a sustained improvement over past one year and so,” he added.
Referring to a question about the expansion plans he said for 2012 the bank has so far earmarked two more full-fledged branches.
Talking about the most promising SMEs segment he said that bank had set a new benchmark in Bahrain by utilising the $10 million facility with Tamkeen in less than six months. “We again signed up for another $20 million with Tamkeen and we hope this would be covered soon,” he added.
BMI Bank announced the expansion of its local retail branch network with the launch of two new full-service branches, at Airport Avenue in Muharraq and Bahrain World Trade Centre. The branch at Airport Avenue, conveniently located within the Kingdom’s former capital, was officially inaugurated by Yousif Hassan Yousif, Director Banking Supervision Directorate, Central Bank of Bahrain along with the Bank’s CEO Jamal Al-Hazeem and top officials of the bank.
“BMI Bank is committed to ensuring customers are offered wider choice of banking products and services to address their evolving financial needs. We congratulate BMI Bank on the launch of their new full-service branch at Airport Avenue and will continue to extend our full support in their future endeavours,” Yousif Hassan Yousif, Director at Retail Banking Supervision Directorate, Central Bank of Bahrain, said.
“Besides being one of our oldest towns, Muharraq is also the third largest city within Bahrain and with the launch of our latest branch here, we strengthen the Bank’s presence taking the total number of branches we operate within the catchment area of Muharraq to three. Our Airport Avenue branch is one of the many strategic locations to be added to BMI Bank’s growing network to leverage our relationship with existing and potential customers while offering them easy access to convenient banking,” Al Hazeem, said.
“We remain committed to the Bahraini market and will continue to expand our local presence to make it easier and convenient for our customers to access our wide range of retail products and services while catering to their diverse financial requirements. We would like to sincerely thank the Central Bank of Bahrain and all our stakeholders for their continued support.”
In addition to the Airport Avenue branch, BMI Bank launched a special VIP branch at Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC), located on the 16th floor and open Sunday to Thursday from 8 am until 3.30 pm. The BTWC branch will provide unparalleled service to its high net worth clientele offering a host of exclusive banking services, including private banking, investment Banking and other privileges in addition to retail banking.
The range of retail products and services on offer at the Airport Avenue branch will include its bouquet of Salaf loans, overdraft facilities, a diverse selection of la carte of credit cards including Diners Club cards, deposit products, savings accounts including the Ayadi Savings Scheme with a prize pool of $1.66 million, net banking, and remittance services amongst others.