Ila Bank builds customer relations around app

Offering onboarding, payments, cards, savings and Islamic banking in one app, Ila Bank has moved mobile-only banking deeper into the retail relationship

Digital retail banking is moving past the download moment. Customers may open an account quickly, but the more valuable question for banks is how much of the relationship stays in the app after onboarding. Payments, cards, savings, deposits and services all have to work as part of the same routine banking experience.

Ila Bank, Bank ABC’s mobile-only consumer bank in Bahrain, has built its model around that broader use case. Launched in 2019 without branch dependence, the bank has been designed as a cloud-native retail proposition rather than a digital layer added to an existing branch network. Its app brings together onboarding, transfers, card controls, multi-currency accounts, digital wallets, savings tools and Islamic banking services.

Ease of access

The customer journey starts with biometric verification and e-KYC. Once inside the app, customers can manage one card across multiple currency accounts, move money locally or internationally, and freeze, block or order cards without leaving the mobile channel. The same environment also carries savings products, including Hassala savings pots, the Jamiyah community savings feature and the Al Kanz prize savings account, which are designed to support more structured saving behaviour.

Ila has also brought sharia-compliant banking into the digital model through alburaq, its mobile-only Islamic finance proposition. This includes Wakala-based fixed deposits, with Islamic products delivered through the same platform as the conventional retail offer. For a digital retail bank, that breadth matters because it gives the app a role beyond payments and account access.

Customer growth

In 2025, Ila reported customer growth of 15.6% and a 27% increase in deposits. Average monthly transaction volumes rose by 13.4%, while total transaction volume increased by 17.4%. Digital wallet usage reached 26% of customers and multi-currency account usage increased by 22%, showing activity across payments, deposits and account use.

The customer measures were also strong. Ila reported a net promoter score of 60 and an app rating of 4.8 out of 5. All accounts were onboarded digitally in 2025, with the average account opening time at 9.6 minutes, keeping the acquisition journey aligned with the bank’s branchless model.

Customer growth, deposit growth and higher transaction activity give Ila’s model a broader retail base. The app carries more of the account relationship itself, across spending, saving, cards, deposits, service and Islamic banking.

Bank ABC has positioned Ila as part of its wider retail digital expansion across the Mena region. The Bahrain model therefore has relevance beyond a single-market digital bank. It shows how a mobile-only proposition can build retail depth when the app is treated not as a channel, but as the operating model for the customer relationship.