Khaleeji Bank (formerly Khaleeji Commercial Bank)

Overview

Khaleeji Bank B.S.C. is a Bahraini Islamic retail bank, incorporated on 24 November 2004 and listed on the Bahrain Bourse [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf). Until June 2023 it was called Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), the name this page's address still carries [3](https://bahrainbourse.com/en/NEWS%20AND%20EVENTS/MarketMessages/Pages/MarketMsg432.aspx). GFH Financial Group held 82.95% of its shares at the end of 2025 [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).

Khaleeji is a bank, not a wallet. Its customers pay through the bank's own app and internet bank, with Khaleeji cards in Apple Pay, and through the national BenefitPay wallet, where a Khaleeji Visa debit card can send money across the GCC with Visa+ [7](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/khaleeji-mobile-app/) [12](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/apple-pay/) [10](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/visa/).

History

• 2004: incorporation. The bank was incorporated on 24 November 2004 under commercial registration 55133 [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf). Its own overview says "We started business in 2004" [1](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/bank-overview/).
• 2021: GFH takes a larger stake and a new app. GFH's holding rose from 55.41% to 69.05% after it bought 121,726,795 shares from Shuaa Capital and its Goldilocks Fund for BD 8,764,329.240, disclosed in a filing on 7 June 2021 [4](https://salaamgateway.com/story/bahrains-gfh-financial-increases-stake-in-khaleeji-commercial-bank-as-shuaa-exits). In September 2021 GFH told the bourse it intended "to make an open offer to acquire the entire public shareholding" of KHCB, subject to pre-conditions [5](https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/977473/GFH-plans-open-offer-to-acquire-public-shareholding-of-KHCB). The bank's 2021 report records the launch of "Khaleeji 360", which lets clients link accounts at other banks and see them together, and of a new version of the Khaleeji Mobile App [6](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AnnualReport21-Eng.pdf).
• 2023: new name. The Bahrain Bourse announced on 22 June 2023 that Khaleeji Commercial Bank B.S.C. would become Khaleeji Bank B.S.C., and its symbol KHCB would become KHALEEJI, from 25 June 2023 [3](https://bahrainbourse.com/en/NEWS%20AND%20EVENTS/MarketMessages/Pages/MarketMsg432.aspx).
• 2024: Hafeez. The business app, Hafeez, was first released on the App Store on 20 March 2024 [17](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/hafeez-khaleeji-business/id6478110396).
• 2025: Visa+ and GCC onboarding. On 17 April 2025 the bank launched Visa+, which sends money to Visa cardholders in the GCC using only the recipient's mobile number [11](https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1350650). Its 2025 report adds that GCC nationals can now open digital accounts through the mobile app [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).
• 2026: AI assistant and a new app listing. In June 2026 the bank launched "Sheikha", an AI voice assistant that answers customers by phone around the clock [15](https://www.gccbusinessnews.com/?p=146671). The current retail app listing, "Khaleeji Bank", was first released on the App Store on 17 September 2026 [8](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/khaleeji-bank/id6758911541).

No source we found gives the date of the bank's first mobile app, so launch_date is left empty.

Ownership & operator

Khaleeji Bank B.S.C. is a public shareholding company operating under an Islamic retail licence from the Central Bank of Bahrain [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf). GFH Financial Group B.S.C. held 82.95% of its ordinary shares at 31 December 2025, unchanged from a year earlier. GFH is itself a Bahraini Islamic wholesale bank, listed in Bahrain, Kuwait, Dubai and Abu Dhabi [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf). The bank's own shares remain listed on the Bahrain Bourse [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf). GFH has no page of its own on this site.

The bank's headquarters is at Bahrain Financial Harbour. The overview names Hidd, Sanad and Riffa as its other locations [1](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/bank-overview/). Total assets were BD 1,725.1 million at the end of 2025, against BD 1,496.1 million a year earlier [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).

Technical integration

The retail app. The bank's app page lists opening accounts, managing debit and credit cards, paying bills, domestic and international transfers, and the Khaleeji 360 open-banking view [7](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/khaleeji-mobile-app/). The App Store description of the September 2026 app adds signing up, opening an account and getting a debit card "in a few minutes", Mudarabah deposits and targeted savings, and freezing or blocking cards [8](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/khaleeji-bank/id6758911541).

Local transfers. Khaleeji's tariff of September 2026 prices both local transfer services that run on Bahrain's EFTS [13](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Khaleeji-Service-Charges-SEP26.pdf):

Service	Fee
Fawri+, up to BD 100	free
Fawri+, more than BD 100 to BD 3,000	110 fils
Fawri, salary transfer	6 fils
Fawri, other transfer	110 fils
Fawateer bill payment	free
Transfer in a GCC currency	BD 5.500

Visa+ through BenefitPay. Visa+ is offered by Visa with BENEFIT, and the transfer is made in the BenefitPay app. Both sender and receiver must hold a Visa debit card. The sender enters the recipient's mobile number with its country code, their last name as on their ID, a purpose and the amount, then approves with the card's PIN [10](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/visa/).

Card wallets. "All our Debit & Credit Cards are compatible with Apple Pay", on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac [12](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/apple-pay/). The tariff also names GarminPay, Fitbit Pay and Samsung Wallet among the wallets whose ATM withdrawals and balance enquiries are charged [13](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Khaleeji-Service-Charges-SEP26.pdf).

Users & growth

Khaleeji publishes no customer or app-user numbers in the sources we found. Visa named it the bank with the fastest growth in active cards in Bahrain in 2025, without a figure [16](https://khaleeji.bank/visa-honours-khaleeji-bank-for-outstanding-performance/). Because the retail app listing is new, its store counts are small: 7 App Store ratings, averaging 5.0, and more than 100 Android downloads when read on 21 October 2026 [8](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/khaleeji-bank/id6758911541) [9](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.khbretail).

Use cases

• Domestic transfers and bills in the app, over Fawri+, Fawri and Fawateer [7](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/khaleeji-mobile-app/) [13](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Khaleeji-Service-Charges-SEP26.pdf).
• GCC transfers by mobile number with Visa+ in BenefitPay [10](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/visa/) [11](https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1350650).
• Contactless and online card payments with Apple Pay [12](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/apple-pay/).
• Salaries and bulk payments for businesses. Fawri salary transfers cost 6 fils each [13](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Khaleeji-Service-Charges-SEP26.pdf), and the Hafeez platform gained instant registration with digital ID and biometric checks in 2025 [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).
• Accounts for Gulf nationals opened in the app without a branch visit [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).

Implementations & partners

• GFH Financial Group, the majority shareholder [2](https://khaleeji.bank/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khaleeji-AR-English-2025.pdf).
• Visa and BENEFIT for Visa+ [10](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/visa/). Visa honoured the bank in July 2026 for its 2025 card growth [16](https://khaleeji.bank/visa-honours-khaleeji-bank-for-outstanding-performance/).
• Apple Pay for all its cards [12](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/apple-pay/).

Fun facts

• "Sheikha", launched in June 2026, made Khaleeji, by its own account, "the first bank in Bahrain to enable customers to conduct natural voice conversations over the phone" [15](https://www.gccbusinessnews.com/?p=146671).

Comparison

Bahrainis mostly move money through BenefitPay, not their banks' apps. BenefitPay sent 455.3 million of the 467.9 million Fawri+ transfers made in 2025 [18](https://www.tradearabia.com/News/389437/BENEFIT-records-nearly-%24100bn-in-e-transactions-across-all-transfer-services). Among Islamic banks, Khaleeji's app competes with those of Bahrain Islamic Bank and Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain; the conventional National Bank of Bahrain has the largest App Store following of the four. Rating counts read on 21 October 2026 are a rough guide to reach, not user numbers. Khaleeji's is low partly because its listing dates only from September 2026:

App	First released	iOS ratings
Khaleeji Bank [8](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/khaleeji-bank/id6758911541)	17 Sep 2026	7
BisB Mobile [19](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/bisb-mobile/id1296859186)	21 Nov 2017	2,461
KFH Bahrain [20](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/kfh-bahrain/id771724261)	30 Dec 2013	1,962
NBB [21](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/nbb/id1529224397)	12 Jan 2021	10,683

Status

Active. The retail app was last updated on 6 October 2026 [8](https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/khaleeji-bank/id6758911541), and the bank's latest published statements are for the second quarter of 2026 [14](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/financial-reports/). The bank's app page still linked an older App Store listing (id1565430380) that no longer opened on 21 October 2026 [7](https://khaleeji.bank/pages-sidebar-nav/khaleeji-mobile-app/).

Sources

Source

Biography extracted from khaleeji-bank.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.