Bahrain’s BBK Became 1st Bank in Kingdom to Join Metaverse

Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) has announced the launch of BBK Virtual, a captivating banking experience in the metaverse.

Through this move, BBK is the first Bahraini bank to join the virtual space and be part of the Web3 world. In BBK Virtual, users create their avatars from their homes and get their desired banking services done without going to the branches, the bank said in a press release.

Residents in the Kingdom can enter BBK Virtual via their smartphones, tablets, and other devices to finish their banking transactions. Those who are entering the bank’s virtual space can do so on the bank’s website or through its social media platforms.

Commenting on the launch of BBK Virtual, BBK’s Group Chief Executive AbdulRahman Saif said the bank is one of the first banks in the Gulf and Arab regions to launch such a virtual platform to serve its clients.

According to Saif, BBK aims to be at the forefront of technological innovation and utilize exciting new technologies such as Virtual Reality and as such. BBK Virtual introduces a new and exciting way to interact with the bank as we believe that this will be especially appealing to the younger generation who are already immersed in the digital and technological world.

He pointed out that BBK Virtual will not be only limited to offering banking services in the metaverse, but the bank targets providing an exciting, gamified, immersive product that will entertain as well as educate its customers.

The metaverse is expected to contribute $15 billion to the economies of the Gulf countries by 2030 given that their governments are tapping into the virtual space, according to a study by Strategy&. Bahrain is expected to account for about $400 million of the total.