International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) has won Commerzbank’s “Straight Through Processing Award” for the fourth consecutive year in recognition of the bank’s performance in the execution of commercial and financial payments in Euros.

The award was based on IBQ’s state-of-the-art, in-house payments architecture, and reflects the bank’s high SWIFT standards that facilitate automated processing throughout the payment process. Accuracy in transactions is one of the main criteria for Commerzbank when choosing winners of the award.

Commerzbank relationship manager Stefan Dattner said, “We awarded this year’s accolade to IBQ for the bank’s solid operational services and the international best practices the bank’s management and personnel have brought to the domestic market.”

“IBQ, with its strong presence in wholesale banking and trade finance, is one of only a few banks in the region to receive our recognition for operational excellence in this field. The award also reflects the special relationship and ongoing cooperation between IBQ and Commerzbank,” added Ertugrul Goezelel, relationship manager at Commerzbank.

IBQ head of Operations Jennifer Heffernan said, “We are delighted to be awarded by Commerzbank for the fourth year running, which is a testimony to our operational excellence and efficiency.”

She added, “We see STP as key to customer service, ensuring fast, accurate, and reliable execution of payment instructions. Significantly, this award also underlines our continued investment in technology and people, which has enabled us to provide both individual and institutional customers with superior payments services.”

Commerzbank is a leading international commercial bank with branches and offices in more than 50 countries. The core markets of Commerzbank are Germany and Poland.

Commerzbank finances more than 30% of Germany’s foreign trade and is the “unchallenged leader” in financing for SMEs. With its subsidiaries, comdirect and Poland’s mBank, it owns two of the world’s innovative online banks.

With 1,200 branches, Commerzbank has one of the densest branch networks among German private banks. In total, Commerzbank boasts of 15mn private customers, as well as 1mn business and corporate clients.

The bank, which was founded in 1870, is represented at all the world’s major stock exchanges. In 2013, it generated gross revenues of more than €9bn with 54,000 employees on average.