Prepare for changes in tech, services, experts urge banks
Manama : More than 400 delegates attended the second Middle East & Africa FinTech Forum in Manama, Bahrain, yesterday.
The forum, under the theme Beyond Disruption and under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain and hosted by Bank ABC and Arab Financial Services (AFS), was held at the Four Seasons, Bahrain Bay.
Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain inaugurated the conference discussions, while the opening address was presented by Sael Al Waary, Chairman of Arab Financial Services and Deputy Group CEO of Bank ABC.
Rasheed Al Maraj provided his own perspectives on FinTech related issues and the impact of the new financial technology on banking and finance, referring to Bahrain’s proactive role in supporting FinTech initiatives.
In his opening speech, Al Waary illustrated the elemental shift in the way financial services industry is now responding towards FinTech. “Banks have shifted their mind-set and are viewing FinTech and opportunity rather than a threat. More and more banks are embracing FinTech and are catching up very quickly,” he commented.
“Almost US$100 billion has been invested in FinTech globally since 2010. In 2017 alone US$ 27.4bn was invested, an 18 per cent increase from 2016, driven by the surge in USA, UK and India. Moreover, with 50pc of the Kingdom’s population being below the age of 25, there is a crucial need for collaboration between banks and FinTech start-ups, which would combine capital and innovation, economies of scale and agility, customer data and customer experience, regulatory and technical know-how,” Al Waary added.
B Chandrasekhar, CEO Arab Financial Services further told DT News, “This is the second edition of the conference, We believe that Bahrain regulatory is quite favourable towards Fintech. Along with our cloud-based wallet solution, we also launched the first domestic person to person for money transfer in Bahrain. We are working very closely with regulators to bring other firsts to the kingdom. Also, we are looking towards an era where mobile phones will replace plastic cards.”
The conference further hosted a dynamic panel of influential speakers that addressed various topics and tackled the biggest disruptors for banks in the near future which is from the emergence of challenger banks to the cutting-edge advances in Artificial Intelligence to the rise of cryptocurrencies and the drive for greater financial inclusion across the globe.
Justin Sykes, Founder and CEO of Innovest Advisory, provided interesting statistics and perspectives on financial inclusion, with around 2 billion people around the world with no bank accounts. He said FinTech can increase accessibility and affordability of financial services, and mobile money holds significant promise, particularly in developing economies. Globally only 2% of adults have a mobile money account, and more than 7.1 billion mobile connections exist globally, with 80% in the developing world.
AFS Chairman and Deputy Group CEO of Bank ABC, Sael Al Waary, and AFS CEO, B. Charndrasekhar, provided their views on how Arab Financial Services can play a greater role in the future as a FinTech enabler.
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