July 19: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) has won the award of ‘Nepal’s Best Bank’ under Euromoney magazine’s Awards for Excellence 2018, one of the most significant accolades in financial services.

Euromoney, first published in 1969, is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance.

According to NIBL, the Euromoney awards evaluate levels of service, financial performance and other achievements across the banking industry. This year, the organizers received almost 1,500 submissions from banks around the world competing for global, regional and national titles, NIBL said in a statement.

Bhuwaneshwar Prasad Shah, director of NIBL, received the award on behalf of NIBL amidst a special gala dinner at JW Marriott, Pacific Place, Hong Kong. There were almost 500 leading banks from around Asia, according to NIBL. “This award is a very fulfilling testimonial of NIBL’s strategic achievements,” said Director Shah.

With the acquisition of Ace Development Bank, NIBL said its paid-up capital reached Rs 10.65 billion with Rs 20.94 billion core capital and assets worth more than USD 1.5 billion.

“The bank delivered a 3rd quarter net profit of Rs 2.84 billion with a deposit base of Rs 130.2 billion and a lending base of Rs 118.8 billion - the highest lending base among private sector banks. It also has 57 branchless banking counters across remote parts of Nepal. The bank disbursed Rs 3.7 billion micro credit loans to deprived sector that has helped in the sustainable development of rural communities,” the statement said.

The bank has more than 870,000 customer base catered from its 77 branches and seven extension counters across the country. NIBL has a network of 104 ATMs and leads a consortium 14 Visa Associate banks and seven NPN member banks. There are almost 1.5 million cards issued by its network, along with 790 ATMs and 2,597 POS terminals.

NIBL claimed that it is the only bank in the country to have received the “Bank of the Year Award” five times from Financial Times Group’s The Banker, a UK based bank magazine and has received a credit rating [ICRANP-IR] A+ from ICRA Nepal (International Credit Rating Agency- Nepal).