Manama: Mahmood Rafique, Editor: The rapidly growing FinTech instructions are posing stiff competition to the large financial institutions, thanks to their lower operational expenses and overall cost-effective business model.
“Banks are investing in their own technology, as well as collaborating with FinTechs, to gain new capabilities. Simultaneously, digital banks were noted to be emerging as a direct competitor to the large institutions, taking advantage of technology and low operating costs to potentially provide cheaper products than traditional banks while meeting growing consumer demand for digital services. Competition between banks and new entrants may give way to direct collaboration across the Fintech ecosystem,” Mazin Al-Nahedh, Group Chief Executive Officer, Kuwait Finance House, Winner of the Best Islamic Digital Bank told the WIBC 2019 during a panel discussion.
“However, several major impediments inhibit collaboration between banks and FinTechs. From the banks’ perspective, FinTechs need to have the proper IT security and regulatory certainty, while FinTechs believe banks can be hard to work with due to differences in management and culture as well as differences in operational processes.- One important point to add in general about the whole FinTech, BigTech, debate as it relates to the banking industry- which is that although there are technological demands from the customers who are increasingly becoming more tech savvy, it remains that banking is a “service” industry and there is a key factor that needs to be addressed which is the special relationship between the banking institution and the customer who is looking for financial services. It is a very intimate and complex relationship that requires human interaction across the lifetime of the banking customer to meet their needs, and this is the part that will dictate success or failure,” Mazin Al-Nahedh, added.
Under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the 26th anniversary edition of The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), the largest and longest-running gathering of Islamic banking and finance leaders in the world, saw over 1300 Industry leaders from various markets comprising the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and America. The Kingdom of Bahrain is hosting the WIBC for the past two decades and has emerged as a global leader in Islamic finance.
His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa deputised his advisor HH Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa to open the 26th World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC).
Convened by Middle East Global Advisors – a leading financial intelligence platform facilitating the development of knowledge-based economies in the MENASEA markets and in strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, the forum is spurred a series of discussions focusing on “Mega Trends in Banking and Finance”, a theme that resonates with the conference’s steady vision to serve as a definitive check point for the global Islamic finance and banking industry.
Another key highlight of the conference was the Regulator’s Power Table focusing on New Markets and Harmonization of Global Islamic Finance Standards with Panelists; Khalid Hamad Abdul–Rahman Hamad, Executive Director of Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB); Suhaeidi, Executive Director, Department of Islamic Economic and Finance, Bank Indonesia; Farah Jaafar-Crossby, Chief Executive Officer, Labuan IBFC; Dr. Qais Al Yahyaei, Executive Vice President, Central Bank of Oman; Taliya Minullina, Chief Executive Officer, Tatarstan Investment Development Agency.
