Bank of Palestine celebrated the inauguration of its new sub-branch in Beit Sahour, north of Bethlehem governorate. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Rushdi Ghalayini, the Bank’s Deputy General Manager, Mr. Hani Naser, the Bank’s Assistant General Manager, Mr. George Ghattas, Beit Sahour’s Deputy Mayor, Dr. Samir Hazboun, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bethlehem, Mr. Fuad Salem, General Manager of Bethlehem Governorate, and Engineer Ziad Bandak, the President’s Advisor for Christian relations, with the participation of the city’s residents, and representatives of official institutions and the private sector, in addition to media and officials from the Bank.
With the inauguration of its new sub-branch in Beit Sahour, Bank of Palestine maintains the largest banking network in Palestine that includes 66 branches and sub-branches distributed across the country, and equipped with full financial and banking services, to reach the public and customers with high quality and outstanding performance.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Rushdi Ghalayini welcomed the attendees. He expressed his contentment for this occasion and his pride in the presence of the Bank in Beit Sahour to serve the city’s residents and its national and economic institutions, with high quality services and distinctive performance, depending on active youth within the Bank’s staff to serve the customers.
Mr. Ghalayini presented an overview of Bank of Palestine’s journey, which was founded in 1960, indicating that despite all the challenges that our country went through, the Bank continued to operate as a developmental economic institution that seeks to develop distinctive banking services and programs that meet the public’s needs. The Bank continued to advance its business by enhancing its various services and programs, which contributes to the development of the Palestinian banking sector. He indicated that the Bank established an exclusive unit to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, due to their effective role in strengthening our national economy and creating new job opportunities for recent graduates, in which the Bank allocated USD200 million to finance these enterprises.
Mr. Ghalayini added that the Bank continued to enhance its electronic services, as the Bank launched various electronic programs to facilitate the banking transactions for customers through their smart phones, in an easy and secure manner, including “My Mobile” application that allows customers to complete their transactions and monitor their various accounts. Additionally, the Bank launched a package of electronic services through its website, which enables customers to pay their bills and add credit to their cell phone balance. Such developments are under the framework of advancing the facilitation services for customers to conduct their daily transactions in an easy and secure manner.
Regarding financial statements, Mr. Ghalayini indicated that the development of services at the Bank was accompanied by a development in the financial results, which indicated an increase in the volume of assets to reach around USD4 billion. The net profit amounted to USD24.4 million at the end of the first half of this year. In addition, the volume of facilitations increased to reach more than USD1.9 billion, the customers’ deposits amounted to around USD3 billion, and the shareholder’s equity reached around USD350 million.
Mr. George Ghattas, Beit Sahour’s Deputy Mayor, expressed his hope that this branch will contribute to alleviate the people’s burdens and facilitate their transactions. He indicated that the opening of this branch contributes to strengthening the local economy in Beit Sahour and contributes to creating new job opportunities for recent graduates.
Other speakers commended Bank of Palestine’s developments, and welcomed the inauguration of the new sub-branch, which will actively contribute in the development of the provided services in Beit Sahour, and enhance the presence of official economic institutions that serve the residents of the city, as well as supporting economic projects.