GCL - International Recommends Maintaining PIB’s ISO 9001:2015 Certification for the Third Consecutive Year
GCL - International has recommended maintaining the ISO 9001:2015 certification of the Palestine Islamic Bank after it has successfully passed its third surveillance audit, which covered the bank’s various operations, departments, and branches.
The recommendation followed a meeting held at the bank’s headquarters in Ramallah, attended by PIB’s executive management and the management of GCL - Palestine. During the meeting, audit results were presented and discussed, along with the bank’s progress in implementing global quality standards across its operations and activities.
Dr. Imad Al-Sadi, General Manager of PIB, stated that the bank’s full commitment to all clauses and principles of the ISO 9001:2015 international standard is what made this achievement possible. He noted that this aligns with the bank’s strategic objective to meet the growing expectations and needs of its client base in advanced Islamic banking services and products.
Al-Sadi added: “These ongoing achievements, despite all the difficult circumstances and challenges, are the result of forward planning, the stable guidance of the Board of Directors, its adherence to best practices in good governance and institutional excellence, as well as the outstanding efforts of the bank’s employees and the constant oversight of the Sharia Supervisory Board, which ensures that all the bank’s activities comply with Islamic Sharia principles.”
Al-Sadi confirmed that with the completion of the third surveillance audit, the bank looks forward to continuing its commitment to upcoming updates to the global quality standard to be released soon by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Engineer Shereen Al-Sayyed, Lead External Auditor, thanked the management and staff of PIB for their cooperation, transparency, and support displayed in the audit process, which allowed for the successful execution of the external audit according to plan.
During the presentation of the third audit results, Al-Sayyed explained that the positive performance indicators reflect the maturity of the bank’s quality management system and the efficiency of its quality and digital transformation practices. The results showed senior leadership commitment to instilling a culture of quality and the high level of employee awareness regarding system standards and requirements, which has led to improved performance and continuous development, despite the ongoing challenges in Palestine.
The audit findings also highlighted the bank’s ability to manage risks with resilience and efficiency, as well as the integration of its management systems in support of strategic objectives and business sustainability. The report recommended continued development of key performance indicators and strengthening of the corporate governance framework to ensure alignment between quality goals and stakeholder expectations.
Al-Sayyed also emphasized that these high-quality achievements, ongoing implementation and performance improvement, are a pillar of the bank’s resilience and a testament to its capacity for innovation and effective responsiveness. She stated that the essence of this progress lies in improving performance indicators and maturing the governance structure to be more comprehensive, which contributes to business sustainability and maximizes the positive impact of a quality-driven culture both internally and across all stakeholders.
The meeting was attended by Engineer Shereen Al-Sayyed, General Manager of GCL - Palestine, along with PIB Assistant General Managers—Hatem Arinat, Rami Taha, Zayed Shuqair, and Asem Masri—as well as several department heads from the bank.
It is worth noting that the bank obtained its ISO 9001:2015 International Quality Certification in 2022 after fulfilling all required criteria. GCL - International subsequently recommended maintaining the certification in both 2023 and 2024 following the first and second audits.