Middle East Retail Banking Confex concludes 12th edition

The annual Middle East Retail Banking Confex concluded its 12th edition at the Le Meridien Hotel Dubai. The event hosted more than 200 delegates from leading regional, international retail banks, fintech companies and service providers, coming together to deliberate on the evolving retail banking landscape in the region.
The Middle Eastern retail banking industry today is growing at an unprecedented rate. With an increasingly savvy and demanding customer base, the industry is being driven by the way customers choose to interact with their banks. A high rate of mobile penetration in a majority of the Middle Eastern companies coupled with recent fintech innovations has been a game changer for retail banking in the region. In order to thrive in the competitive retail banking space, banks need to focus on developing a true omnichannel experience for customers and staff alike.
“The world is going digital and there is a huge focus on fintech and clever products and fancy mobile solutions. The reality is that the key challenges we face today are bigger than most of these,” said Akshaya Gaur, chairman of the conference and founder and CEO of Aayan Consulting.
“Banks have, traditionally, focused on efficiency and not true relationships with their customers. More importantly, the better way to do banking has, usually, been about keeping the focus on what is better for the bank. The time has come to realize that our goals are not just about efficiency or technology or products or operations, but about how we use these to add lifetime value to our customers’ lives.
“We need to build digital experiences that are truly centered around the customer by delivering personalized touchpoints and experiences. We need to start thinking about the customer journey outside-in rather than the other way around,” Gaur added.
An exhibition showcasing the latest technological products and services, was running alongside the conference. More than 25 international exhibitors participated, such as RB Technologies, Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH), Qarar, Newgen, Simon, Kucher & Partners, Tata Consultancy Services, Temenos, Finesse, Cloud Cherry & Software Group, Loxon, Vayana, Xpress Money and Backbase.

Source: Arab News