BOB is proud to be the innovative and progressive Bahamian bank of choice for business, personal and institutional banking needs, to act responsibly and with compassion, to lend the strength of enduring partnership and financial muscle to the growth and development of this nation. Most of all, at all 13 branches of BOB, we take meeting your individual needs to heart, answering them with products and services to enhance the quality of your life at rates and fees you feel are fair and affordable, delivered by genuinely friendly staff. We take pride in the fact that no other bank in The Bahamas has been so decorated for excellence by major international financial publications.

BOB has been named the country's best bank four times in the last decade by Euromoney and three times by The Banker, part of the Financial Times Group. We strive to continue to earn such recognition with every transaction

It was only a quarter of a century ago that Bank of The Bahamas was carved out of what had been the Bank of Montreal's local book of business. In that short timespan, the bank has emerged as an innovative Bahamian institution and pacesetter. We were first to introduce private banking and trust services for Bahamians in B dollars, first to introduce VISA pre-paid and gift cards, first to offer BOB MEDLINE to supplement health insurance or provide a means of payment for those who either do not have health insurance or whose coverage does not extend to certain services. Most recently, we were first to introduce bi-lingual, fast-speed ATM Express machines with instructions in English as well as Creole.

During that same time, we have created a blueprint for banking success. Total assets have grown nearly tenfold from $90 million in 1988 to almost $900 million today. Since going public in late 1994, we have paid out some $50 million in dividends, sharing our profits with 4,000 individual and institutional shareholders. We have grown from one location to 13, from a staff of a few dozen to almost 400. We have expanded our outreach to almost every Family Island, assisting at every level from festivals and celebrations like graduation ceremonies to providing relief after natural disasters, from funding care for youngsters living in children's homes to providing food for more than 2,000 enrolled in the Royal Bahamas Police summer camps.

It is not only our growth that matters; in the final analysis it is how you feel about us that counts. If we have been able to provide personal service, if we have been able to respond to your applications in a timely fashion, if our rates and fees are equitable and our hours of operation and locations convenient, if we answer every question with a smile and handle every transaction with appreciation, then we have succeeded in the most important way of all -- satisfying you.

I do not believe that any amount of electronic sophistication will ever displace the desire for human contact. As the world of banking changes and more routine transactions are handled online and in electronic wallets, on smart phones, or iPads and other tablets, there will be a parallel need for even greater personal service when customers like you choose to be face-to-face with a professional who knows you and wants to help. The future is not a contest between electronic business and bricks and mortar any more than flour competes with sugar in a recipe or lime competes with sand in pouring concrete. It takes all ingredients to make the combination work and we at BOB pledge to bring you the best whether online or in line, whether you are opening a junior savings account with a few dollars or entrusting your life's earnings to our asset managers in private banking.

In a changing world, BOB remains the Bahamian constant, your financial partner earning the title “Bank of Solutions”.