ABA Bank, a member of the National Bank of Canada Group, is on the “right track” after winning the ‘Best Bank in Cambodia’ award for the fifth time in a row, said CEO Askhat Azhikhanov.
The prestigious award is given by the influential financial publication Euromoney. This year’s awards ceremony was held at the JW Marriott hotel in Hong Kong on July 18.
“We are grateful to receive such top honour from a respected publication in the financial world.
“As this is the fifth time we were named the best bank in Cambodia, it certainly signifies that ABA is on the right track when it comes to providing modern and customer-centric products to Cambodian people and businesses as well as in improving financial inclusion in the country,” Mr Azhikhanov said.
“I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to our staff who focus every day on delivering the best banking experience to customers. Great thanks also to our customers for their continued support and trust in ABA.”
Founded in 1996, ABA’s assets now surpass $2 billion, which makes it the fourth largest bank in Cambodia.
Clive Horwood, editor of Euromoney magazine said: “ABA continues to be the leader in Cambodian banking and was rewarded with a 59 percent year-on-year increase in profit in 2017, reaching $46.19 million. Moreover, its return on equity stands at 28.1 percent.
“Backing from the major shareholder National Bank of Canada continues to bear fruit in guiding best practice.
“ABA pushes digitisation as far as practical in Cambodia, launching its PayWay online payment gateway during our review period,” he said, adding that the bank issued almost 100,000 new Visa, Mastercard and UPI cards last year and signed a 15-year partnership agreement with Manulife to offer life insurance products.
Euromoney’s selects the world’s best banks using quantitative and qualitative data collected over the previous 12 months.
It includes information submitted by participating banks, surveys to Euromoney’s network, as well as in-depth interviews with independent analysts in the banking and financial industry of each country.
