Under the leadership of Prithvi Bahadur Pandey, Nepal Investment Bank Ltd (NIBL) has made a lot of progress in the last one decade. The bank has set record after record in many areas establishing itself as one of the efficient and competent banks in Nepal.

This year, Nepal Investment Bank Limited became the number one taxpayer --at Rs. 790 million -- among the Nepali banks and is ranked fifth amongst all the taxpayers throughout the country.

In addition to establishing itself as the number one taxpayer, the bank also actively engaged in protection of cultural heritage, social and sports activities.

“We successfully conducted NIBL Heritage Marathon 2009, a gesture towards the conservation of our cultural heritage. Our second Nepal Investment Bank (NIBL) Heritage Marathon 2009, whose main objective was to help preserve heritage and architecture of Kathmandu Valley, raised over 70 lakhs rupees, far exceeding our target of fifty lakhs rupees. The bank donated this fund to help build cremation pyres at Bhasmeshwor, Aryaghat Pashupatinath and for restoration work at the Bhaidegal Temple at Patan Durbar Square,” said Prithvi Bahadur Pandey, chairman of the bank.

The bank also gave away twenty-five lakhs for Extreme Everest Expedition, the cleanup campaign that cleared out 1800 kilos of garbage from above 8,000 meters, often referred to as the death zone. The event aroused wide international concern, and was extensively reported by all local media as well as renowned international media like BBC, Reuters and AFP. Apart from cleaning up the death zone, the campaign also successfully rescued the body of two mountaineers - Swiss climber Gianni Goltz, who died last year, and Russian climber Sergey Duganov. The visual documentation of the same is due for premier at December.

The bank also gave away five lakhs rupees to support the second Microfinance Summit 2010. The summit focused on converging the role of varied stakeholders from policymakers, regulators, to commercial banks and other microfinance practitioners, to reach to the broader spectrum of rural demography. The summit also worked on providing financial services to 3 million people, especially women, by 2010.

Highest Growth
NIBL achieved the highest industry growth in terms of deposits, assets and capital base. Its deposit base grew from Rs 46.69 billion to RS 50.09 billion making it the largest private sector bank in deposits, adding 83,000 new clients, the highest addition of customers in Nepal. It has the highest net profit among all commercial banks of Rs. 1.26 billion. NIBL is also the highest loan provider of Rs 40.95 billion. Similarly, its Tier 1 capital is also the largest of any bank in Nepal at Rs 4.55 billion.

“Our Assets grew from Rs 53.01 billion to Rs 57.30 Billion, the highest volume growth and highest level in Nepal. Our Loans and Advances grew from Rs 36.8 billion to Rs 40.94 billion, making NIBL the largest lender in Nepal,” said Pandey addressing the bank’s AGM last week.

“We have ventured aggressively into the remittance space with exclusive partnerships with Maybank in Malaysia and Bank Al Bilad in Saudi Arabia. We have a substantial presence in the Middle East making NIBL one of the largest players in the remittance industry.”

He said NIBL capital base was significantly higher than that of its nearest competitors and the bank was in a position to grow the assets at a higher rate. NIBL has maintained a consistent rating from Indian Credit Rating Agency, ICRA, an affiliate of Moody’s Investor Group, receiving a rating of Nepal [A], reflecting its strong creditworthiness and its position as the first and only bank in Nepal to have a credit rating adding extra transparency to the shareholders.

This year alone the bank added 10 more branches with (18) new ATM kiosks alongside. At present the bank has a sum total of 40 branches and (70) ATMs throughout the country. For the FY 2067/68, the main strategy relating to branches will be the consolidation and to increase profitability of branches.

The bank has also introduced three new products: NIBL Special Fixed Deposit with interest rate of 11% and Saving Bonanza with 7.5% and Karmachari Bachat Khata with 6% interest rate.

NIBL added a record of 110,954 customers in the past 15 months.  The Bank added (300) domestic remittance disbursement agents during this period.  NIBL now has 14,000 new users in the e-banking platform giving the highest base of e-banking customers in Nepal at 28,000.  There have been new and innovative added features in the e-banking products, such as online airline ticket booking and payments, alongside enabled Online and ATM pre/post paid bill payments for Telecom companies including PSTN landline payments throughout Nepal.  NIBL also tied up with Nepal Derivatives Exchange allowing the e-banking users to conduct derivative transactions.

NIBL released an electronic payment gateway, enabling secure VISA, MasterCard and PayPal transactions and e-commerce on the internet for the e-banking customers. The bank has also expanded its remittance business into the Saudi market. Bank Albilad has awarded NIBL the  Best Remittance Partner Award 2010.  The award was given on the basis of NIBL’s steady performance level, outstanding support and excellent customer relations.

American Life Insurance Company, ALICO has also tied up with NIBL to offer its life Insurance Products through NIBL’s Bancansurance program.

NIBL also qualified to join the Global Trade Finance Program offered by the International Finance Corporation IFC, enabling the bank to conduct international finance arrangements with a wider range of correspondent banks greatly benefitting our corporate clients. NIBL has received a trade finance facility of $5million, the largest extended to any Nepali bank which will enhance our support for local enterprises and boost international trade opportunities.

NIBL has entered into an arrangement with China Development Bank CDB to promote project relationships in infrastructure finance in terms of project cooperation, financial consultancy, credit grants and currency swaps. This arrangement will enable NIBL to finance Hydro-Power projects in Nepal and enable the bank’s corporate client’s access to international debt markets.

“We recognize the important role of human resources to successfully meet our business goals. The Bank is committed to provide quality learning and working environment for our staff and help them develop their knowledge, skills & attitude required to perform well in their career,” he Pandey said.

With the increase in the number of branch representation and customer base, the bank is committed to prompt and reliable customer service. The Bank’s total workforce has reached 877 compared to 766 in the previous year. Of the total staff strength, 41% are female staffers and 80 staff members have completed more than 10 years of service in the institution.

“We continue to place great value in quality and service and our development objectives ensure that our staffers are motivated with high levels of productivity and loyalty. During the year, 533 participants attended 75 training courses/ workshops on various areas like SME Lending, Risk Management, Anti Money Laundering, Signature verification & counterfeit notes, Customer Service, Operations and NRB guidelines.  Six staff members attended workshops in India and abroad. The Bank also supports team-building activities like sports, yoga, meditation focusing on job satisfaction and personal growth.”
NIBL also qualified to join the Global Trade Finance Program offered by the International Finance Corporation IFC, enabling the bank to conduct international finance arrangements with a wider range of correspondent banks greatly benefitting our corporate clients. NIBL has received a trade finance facility of $5million, the largest extended to any Nepali bank which will enhance our support for local enterprises and boost international trade opportunities.

NIBL has entered into an arrangement with China Development Bank CDB to promote project relationships in infrastructure finance in terms of project cooperation, financial consultancy, credit grants and currency swaps. This arrangement will enable NIBL to finance Hydro-Power projects in Nepal and enable the bank’s corporate client’s access to international debt markets.

“We recognize the important role of human resources to successfully meet our business goals. The Bank is committed to provide quality learning and working environment for our staff and help them develop their knowledge, skills & attitude required to perform well in their career,” he Pandey said.

With the increase in the number of branch representation and customer base, the bank is committed to prompt and reliable customer service. The Bank’s total workforce has reached 877 compared to 766 in the previous year. Of the total staff strength, 41% are female staffers and 80 staff members have completed more than 10 years of service in the institution.

“We continue to place great value in quality and service and our development objectives ensure that our staffers are motivated with high levels of productivity and loyalty. During the year, 533 participants attended 75 training courses/ workshops on various areas like SME Lending, Risk Management, Anti Money Laundering, Signature verification & counterfeit notes, Customer Service, Operations and NRB guidelines.  Six staff members attended workshops in India and abroad. The Bank also supports team-building activities like sports, yoga, meditation focusing on job satisfaction and personal growth.”