INTRODUCTION
The Islamic Retail Banking Awards or IRBA for short is the first-of-its-kind Islamic banking awards programme based on the most academically rigorous analysis of global Islamic banking efficiency performance. IRBA highlight, acknowledge and honour success stories, both institutional and individual, in the Islamic retail banking sector. Winners are rigorously assessed by a panel of independent experts based on the efficiency model developed by Cambridge IFA. These prestigious awards honor individuals and institutions who have demonstrated great commitment and made significant contribution to the development, growth and success of Islamic retail banking.
Retail banking is the face of Islamic banking and finance, contributing to nearly two-third of Islamic financial assets world-wide. Islamic retail banking is undergoing an evolution and the pace of change is only expected to accelerate significantly over the next five to ten years. banking sector has seen significant regulatory and technological change alongside shifts in consumer behaviour in recent years. Over the last eight years, the global Islamic retail banks and financial institutions have actively participated in IRBA awards ceremony. Our winners have emerged from Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.
AWARDS CATEGORIES
IRBA celebrates excellence and best practices in Islamic retail banking in two awards classes:
Strongest Islamic Retail Banks are selected based on a path-breaking Islamic banking efficiency study conducted by Cambridge IFA, which ranks over 150 Islamic retail banks in terms of their efficiency. Critics’ Choice Awards winners are carefully selected by the Critic's Choice Committee, which comprises leading Islamic banking experts from around the world.
Strongest Islamic retail banks should be considered the safest Islamic banks in terms of doing business with, both by customers on the liabilities side and those seeking financing or doing business with these banks on the assets side. We believe that efficiency of operations and management should be the key factor in determining the safety level of a bank rather than its size. Unlike the Safest Bank Rankings by some other award giving bodies, we employ a robust methodology to measure efficiency of Islamic retail banks. Our ranking of Islamic retail banks has already become a benchmark in assessing the performance of Islamic retail banks all over the world.
Critics' Choice Awards, on the other hand side, take into account wider factors in determining winners in a number of categories.
IRBA PAST WINNERS
