“Closer to You”: Subah Al Zayani on what retail banking means at NBB

Retail banking is where a bank and its customers meet most often. It represents the most personal arc of the financial services lifecycle, and it is the dimension with which most people form their perception of the institution they have chosen.

Subah Abdullatif Al Zayani is the person responsible for that dimension at the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB). As Chief Executive for Retail Banking, his remit covers everything from the digital platforms NBB's individual customers use daily to the physical branches that serve all five of the Kingdom's governorates. 

Before banking, Al Zayani built his career across a range of sectors, including technology and infrastructure – experience that informs how he talks about digital development today. The guiding principle he keeps returning to is this: every update, every new feature, every change to how the Bank operates at the retail level starts and ends with what the customer actually needs.

Digital reach, human presence

NBB’s retail banking story is built on two strengths that reinforce each other. The Bank operates the largest branch network in Bahrain, and more than 90% of its customers now open their accounts digitally. Al Zayani sees these two sides as a representation of the same commitment.

"Paying attention to and developing digital channels does not mean we lose contact with our valued customers," he says. The Bank's investment in its digital app and the depth of its branch presence are, in his account, two sides of the same commitment: NBB should be reachable by every customer, however they choose to bank.

That choice varies more than people assume. Many customers manage everything on a phone and have no reason to visit a branch. Others, even for services that are available digitally, will come in for the conversation. The chance to ask questions, sit across from someone who knows the product, and leave with a clear answer. "Some societies prefer human interaction while providing services," Al Zayani notes. The Bahraini market is one of them, and NBB's model is built with that in mind. The branch network exists because customers want it.

The inputs informing every decision

Behind every update to NBB's digital offering sits a structured process. Al Zayani describes three inputs: the customer's voice gathered through surveys, focus groups, and direct feedback; data analytics used to identify behavioural patterns and anticipate what customers will need next, and then benchmarking against international standards, shaped to fit the local market.

That last step is the one he returns to with most emphasis. "Our society is different from Western societies," he says. "We have characteristics that distinguish us and set us apart." A product designed around assumptions drawn from European or American markets may work better in those contexts. The Bank's job here is to use global benchmarks as a reference, and optimise every solution based on the realities of its own local customer base.

The account opening figure is the most visible expression of that approach paying off. More than 90% of NBB customers now open accounts digitally, a process that takes roughly three minutes. For a product that once required a branch visit, documentation, and waiting, that number marks a genuine shift. The Bank's “Closer to You” brand promise is, hence, the embodiment of its ethos to be there wherever a customer needs it, whether on a device or across a counter.

The stress test

The payment deferment periods arising from recent crises were, in Al Zayani's description, "a bit challenging." With regulators, customers, and conditions nobody had anticipated all pressing simultaneously, NBB moved to offer payment deferments through a digital channel.

"We were among the pioneers in offering the payment deferment option digitally," he says, "and the first bank to announce and provide the digital solution where customers could easily log in and apply for payment deferment." More than 30% of customers applied across two separate periods. The customer feedback was strongly positive, a reflection of the considerable efforts of the retail banking team.

"We worked day and night," Al Zayani says, "and the employees did not fall short." The Bank identified a need, built a solution quickly, and the team delivered. That, in his telling, is what a national bank is there to do: stay close to the customer and make essential services as seamless as possible.

A family account for a cashless generation

Innovation from Al Zayani's perspective comes from one of two sources: a need the customer already has, or an opportunity the Bank has spotted to offer something they had not thought to ask for. The Yalla Family Banking proposition belongs to the second kind.

The product was designed for children and teenagers, built for a Bahrain moving steadily toward a cashless society. NBB built, what Al Zayani calls, an “ecosystem” around this shift: parents can monitor transactions, transfer money, and access saving features designed to establish financial habits early. The aim was for the youth to feel the Bank is there to make their life easier. That relationship, which began with a pocket money transfer, is one the Bank intends to grow as the young customers grow older.

The transformation continues

NBB's recent transformation has been visible. "Many bear witness to the transformation they have recently seen at NBB, and this transformation is ongoing as we continue to invest heavily in our digital services and innovative products," Al Zayani emphasises.

Whether a customer visits a branch or opens the app, the intention remains the same: be with the customers “for the long haul” with every interaction. For the National Bank of Bahrain, that is both a description of what it has already delivered for decades, and a commitment to continue fulfilling its responsibility through whatever it builds next.