The AlBaraka Islamic Bank (AIB) has signed an agreement with GBM for the provision of Power Systems from IBM to support the core banking applications for its new venture in Pakistan.

This was announced in a statement. The GBM is an IBM business partner. AlBaraka, a Bahrian-based Islamic bank, chose IBM Power Systems, one of the IBM's fastest growing products, specifically for its performance, scalability and stability, as the bank seeks to implement a core banking platform in order to provide a cost-effective, resilient and scalable platform for its new operations in Pakistan.

Shafqaat Ahmed, Country Head Pakistan of AlBaraka Islamic Bank, welcomed this development saying, 'We have chosen IBM for its world class hardware solutions, since we wanted to acquire state-of-the-art IT solutions as part of our decision to acquire a new core banking system and to support our Bank's strategic growth objectives, involving conversion of our operations into a locally registered Islamic Bank in Pakistan over the next few weeks as per plans, paving the way for exponential growth in the network of our branches and customer outreach'.