Faysal Bank Limited is a leading Financial Institution in Pakistan with a legacy of service and innovation which spans over three decades.

The Bank is engaged in Retail, Corporate and Commercial banking activities and over the past few years has become one of the fastest growing banks in the country due to its significant growth from a size and scale perspective. Additionally, Faysal Bank has also doubled its branch network footprint in four years through the addition of 275+ new Islamic Banking Branches and now has a branch network which exceeds 550 branches and spans more than 200 cities across the country.

The Bank is currently in the process of converting into a full-fledged Islamic Bank – the largest such conversion of any conventional bank into an Islamic bank ever to have been initiated anywhere in the world. This is driven by the belief of the Shareholders and Management in the fundamental superiority of Islamic Banking as a business proposition given the wide range of products and services already available as well as the overall preference of customers for Shariah compliant banking solutions. To manage this complex conversion prudently, Faysal Bank has setup various internal governance mechanisms and as a principle is growing most new businesses organically under Islamic modes while slowly converting its conventional branches and operations to minimize risk and disruption.

Over the years, in addition to its brick and mortar related growth, Faysal Bank has also been investing in its people as well as its technology platforms to increase its customer-centricity and efficiency – the focus is to ensure that while growing and converting, Faysal Bank remains true to its heritage and culture of efficiency, customer-centricity and simplicity. The idea is to ensure that customers have options which are aligned with their preferences – if they want to do transactions from the comfort of their home, they should have convenient alternates, if however, they want the high touch branch experience, they should be assisted through trained staff who understand their needs well.

This current Pandemic has resulted in difficult and challenging times for everyone however due to the exemplary guidance of the regulatory authority, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and its own strong technology platforms and SOP's as well as its culture of customer-centricity and innovation, Faysal Bank was well positioned to effectively cater to its customers and their banking needs and Alhamdulillah has been able to provide a high-quality experience for all its customers both over online channels as well as through branches.

Customers were kept informed regularly about branch timings and facilities as well as best practices in terms of social distancing and other preventive measures. All 550+ Faysal Bank ATM's were monitored around the clock to ensure that they remained fully operational and available to customers at all times. Hand sanitizers were provided for the use of customers within the branches and the use of masks and gloves was also strongly encouraged.

Staff was well prepared in terms of the use of technology and work from home rules were implemented seamlessly for non- critical staff without impacting day to day operations. For critical staff who had to work from within bank premises, safety was paramount, constant on-going communication and education on best practices was initiated and supported by temperature and symptomatic checks. Furthermore, staff was provided with safety equipment such as masks and sanitizers to ensure that they could work in a safe environment during these difficult times.

Cheque deposits were made simpler and easier through the introduction of drop boxes and a direct credit facility which allows customers immediate fund transfers of their Faysal Bank cheques into other banks as well as deposit of cheques without any human interaction.

The call-center was also augmented and social distancing rules as well as staggered shifts were introduced to ensure that customers who wanted to connect with Faysal Bank were able to do so without delays anytime at their convenience.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan