Kuwait - 28 March 2011: Gulf Bank today announced that it has been awarded the ?2010 Deutsche Bank EUR STP Excellence Award? for its exceptional quality of payment messages. The Bank is the first and only bank in the Middle East and North Africa to receive this prestigious award.

Presenting the award were senior executives from Deutsche bank, including Wolfgang Wagner, Managing Director, Head of CMFIEEMEA, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, CIB Global Transaction Banking, along with Sumit Roy, Director, Head of GCC region, Cash Management Financial Institutions, Global Transaction Banking, and Sorab Khan, Director, Cash Management Transaction Banking who presented the award to Khalid Al-Mutawa, General Manager, International Banking and Acting General Manager-Investments, Carlos Ribeiro, Chief Financial Officer and General Manager, Finance and Support, Mona Mansour, Deputy General Manager, Operations and Faisal Al-Marzouq, Assistant General Manager, International Banking at Gulf Bank?s Head Office.

Khalid Al-Mutawa, General Manager, International Banking and Investment at Gulf Bank said: ?We are very honored to receive this award and are proud to be recognized by such a renowned financial institution as Deutsche Bank. Receiving this award is an acknowledgment for being one of the top correspondent banks and by achieving 100% accuracy. It reinforces our reputation as a market leader in operations, service and quality.?

Today?s award comes on top of a number of other major awards which Gulf Bank has recently received. These include the recent ?International Excellence in Retail Financial Services? Award from The Asian Banker, ?Best Retail Bank? award for superior customer service and innovation in retail banking, ?Best Contact & Service Center?, ?Best Public Relations Campaign for Corporate Social Responsibility?, ?Best New Product? for the innovative Al Danah account, ?Best Employer? Award in the GCC at the GCC Human Resource Excellence Awards, Localization Award from the GCC Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs for the 6th consecutive year and ?Best Loyalty Program? award and ?Best Customer Interactivity? award at the Second Annual Competition for ?Banking Web? awards.