During its participation in the “Ring the Bell” Ceremony

Under the theme of “Innovation for Gender-Based Equality”, the National Bank took part in the “Ring the Bell” ceremony. The Ceremony was organized by the Palestine Exchange in partnership with UN Women, the International Finance Corporation, and the Palestinian Capital Market Authority. Discussions focused on bridging the gender gap through e-services and opting for innovation and digitization in terms of developing national policies and offering services. It also offered an overview of the contributions of the Palestinian private sector companies, namely TNB, in this respect.  

Reem Anani, Head of Public Relations at the National Bank, extended her best wishes to Palestinian women on International Women Day. On this occasion, she asserted that women are an essential partner for achieving sustainable social and economic development. 

Anani stated that TNB is among the first Palestinian banks and institutions that ratified and adopted the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The ratification took place in 2015 and coincided with the launch of “Hayati”, the Palestinian women-exclusive banking program. Through this program, the Bank financed women-led productive projects which interest and commission free funding amounted to USD 3.5 million. She also noted that the Bank’s number of women holders of savings accounts amounts to 64% of all holders of savings accounts to date, thus achieving the highest rate in the Palestinian banking system. 

She also discussed the Bank’s experience in launching responsive digital banking services. These services aim at promoting financial inclusion for Palestinian women and offering banking services to all community segments and in all regions of Palestine. She mentioned that the Bank launched many digital services, namely its onboarding service, allowing Palestinians to open accounts online, including current, savings, and the free financial inclusion accounts, launched by the Palestinian Monetary Authority for people with low income. 

Anani also tackled providing youth with innovation opportunities. In this respect, she discussed TNB’s experience in cooperating with Flow Accelerator in enabling Palestinian youth to propose innovative ideas aimed at developing Fintech in Palestine and supplementing the field with solutions for contributing to fostering the Palestinian digital economy. She stated that the first prize was awarded to a very deserving creative Palestinian woman, upon noting that the two-year program has now reached its final stages. The current programs are fed with data to begin with the execution of the testing phase for launching these solutions in the market. She also explained that the program will be a sustainable one: upon launching these ideas in the market, new applications will be received for new solutions and ideas to foster Fintech in Palestine.