Al Rayan Bank’s Knightsbridge branch stimulates unprecedented growth in private client business

Just fifteen months after it opened its exclusive private banking branch in Knightsbridge, Al Rayan Bank (UK) has revealed that its private client business has experienced unprecedented growth. Since being officially opened on 15 May 2015 by His Excellency Mr Yousef Ali Al-Khater, Ambassador for the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom, the flagship branch has opened more than 600 new accounts and helped to grow the value of the Bank’s private client real estate business by 173%, whilst the value of its private client liabilities has increased by more than 140%.

From its strategic location in Hans Crescent*, immediately opposite Harrods department store, Al Rayan Bank’s Knightsbridge branch provides its private banking customers with a high quality, personalised and bespoke banking service and a comprehensive range of Sharia compliant financial solutions including residential and commercial real estate finance as well as ‘over the counter’ banking services. The product range offered by the Branch continues to evolve with the launch, last month, of the Bank’s state-of-the-art safe deposit boxes as well as commission free foreign exchange services.

Ahmed Rawaf, Head of Private Banking, Al Rayan Bank (UK) said: “As expected, our Knightsbridge branch has become an important hub from where our clients, who are mainly from the GCC region, are choosing to carry out their banking requirements. In just fifteen months since it opened the branch has welcomed many hundreds of new high net worth customers and has been an engine behind the rapid growth in the Bank’s private client business. The branch will continue to quickly respond to the changing needs of our private banking customers and we anticipate that the next year will be equally successful.”

The Knightsbridge branch was officially opened last year by the Ambassador for the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom in an event attended by the Boards of Directors of Masraf Al Rayan and Al Rayan Bank, including, Masraf Al Rayan Chairman and Managing Director, His Excellency Dr Hussain Al Abdulla, Group CEO, Adel Mustafawi, Al Rayan Bank Chairman Robert Sharpe, Al Rayan Bank CEO, Sultan Choudhury and Al Rayan Bank CCO, Keith Leach.

The Knightsbridge branch is the pinnacle of Al Rayan Bank’s national branch and office network. Customers can also access branches in London Edgware Road, London Whitechapel, Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester, as well as offices in Luton, Tooting, Bradford and Blackburn.

Al Rayan Bank is an Islamic Bank, founded on faith-based, ethical principles that are derived from trade, entrepreneurship and risk-sharing, in which the customer and bank work together as partners towards a mutually profitable end. These principles prohibit Al Rayan Bank from investing savers’ deposits in unethical activities such as gambling, pornography, speculation, tobacco, arms and other commodities not in keeping with the values of Islam.

Al Rayan Bank’s overall approach has earned it recognition as an ethical alternative to conventional banking by the Move Your Money campaign. The Bank can also be found in the top ten of ethical current account providers, according to ratings compiled by Ethical Consumer magazine.

Al Rayan Bank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and is a member of Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

* The Knightsbridge branch of Al Rayan Bank (UK) is located at 44 Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 0LZ