The finance world is rapidly changing, and traditional
companies everywhere have to manage some pretty big threats popping up on the
horizon.
In the Middle East, where banks and financial companies are
going through rapid modernization processes, some regional conferences and
industry meetings are reinforcing these concepts by helping banks and other
commercial businesses brainstorm about where to take their models in the coming
years, as technologies like blockchain continue to evolve, and digital payment
technologies sprout up like daisies.
One such event is the Retail Banking Summit organized in
Lebanon. This event, which happened July 26, hosted speakers from various
financial institutions such as Bank Audi, Fransabank, Credit Libanais, Banque
Libano-Française, Banque Du Liban and Bank of Beirut.
The organizer, Efma, is a nonprofit working since 1971 to
facilitate communications between banks and insurance companies in the region.
With over 3,000 members and 130 countries, Efma wields a lot of influence in the
finance sector.
Officials from Efma said the event was planned to
shine a light on some of the big challenges facing the industry — including
the digitization of transactions, the rise of mobile payments, and the
distribution of technologies that will change the customer experience across
the board. The event also pointed to “the emerging role of
fintechs in the economy.” Fintech is a new term used to describe the merging
of finance and technology, and how it affects markets.
“The banking sector in Lebanon has
grown tremendously over the past few years.” Fahim uz Zaman, Efma General
Manager Middle East, said. “Banks in the region are looking for opportunities to serve customer
needs in more innovative and profitable ways with a membership base
consisting of almost a third of the world’s largest retail banks, Efma is
focused on reaching out to industry professionals to discuss and debate the
ever-changing banking landscape and seek pragmatic solutions to the challenges
facing the sector.”
Rik Willard heads the Agentic Group, a global company well
versed in the evolution of blockchain and other fintech advances.
In recent interview, Willard spoke to the Gulf News Journal
about what banks need to do to be proactive about the looming changes.
First, he said, it’s critical that financial companies get
involved in peer-to-peer lending (P2P), which is becoming a major force in the
industry.
“The movement toward P2P in that region is opening up
applications for micro-financing and micro-lending.” Willard said. “As capitalism
changes, we’re going to see more people giving money to each other in informal
but secure and trackable ways.” He added that this effort will “asset in the sustainable uplifting of the region as a whole”.
Mentioning blockchain as an immutable record of
transactions, but conceding that many digital technologies still need to focus
on identity and verification, Willard said banks need to be seen as “trustworthy.”
Another opportunity, he said, comes in the form of
Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations.
“A lot of countries are concerned about money getting into
the wrong hands,” Willard said. “Banks have an edge — they’ve already vetted
customers and identified them.”
Will banks be able to stand against the rising tide of
technology? That depends how well they continue to innovate and adapt.
