Doha: Financial Technology (Fintech) can play an important role in financial inclusion by bringing in more people into the fold of banking services, said a senior official during an online event.
Forbes Middle East, in association with Dukhan Bank, QFC and TASMU, hosted its inaugural event entitled ‘Digital Qatar Symposium & Awards 2021’ with the theme ‘Leveraging Digital Innovation for Continued Excellence’ which discussed insights about the digital uplifts being taken by Qatar as it gears up for one of the most memorable sport’s events on the planet, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, Chief of Financial Sector Office, Qatar Financial Centre said QFC has an onshore platform with Qatari companies. This has helped us to attract companies to Qatar and to Qatar FinTech Hub. Speaking about the biggest challenge in the digital transformation of traditional finance and how QFC is enabling this transformation he noted, the biggest challenge is with the pace of technology.
“As QFC, we try to understand what is going on with the fintech and how it can help banks. We noticed that 90 percent of the fintech companies deliver to financial institutions, so those companies do not need to be regulated and only the companies that are involved in payments need to be regulated. Therefore, we in QFC came up with a solution to help those technology providers and we gave them the opportunities to get a commercial registration in QFC,” he added.
He said, “Fintechs can help with financial inclusion, and I would call for quicker adoption by the regulator and by the banks to make sure that we can provide fintech solutions to those unbanked areas and especially in the area of SMEs. We can learn this from other markets that have done this before as there is a great need and opportunity.”
Responding to a query during the panel discussion about the opportunities and benefits that a digital marketplace has and in Qatar how can it empower trade finance and international collaboration, he said “We are a small country and we do not only want to be successful in our country but create help by expounding for example in Africa to be a gateway to Africa and to nearby markets. We have a good starting point to develop Islamic finance more. Islamic finance is a very old and pure way of financing but with technology and interpretation of all kinds of products we can do much more, so I would encourage more Islamic fintech in general and cooperate with the countries nearby and this is an area Qatar still can take a leading position.
Narayanan Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer, Dukhan Bank said “The entire country is going through a digital transformation. Discipline that we followed was based on four pillars such as connectivity that is how do we ensure to enable ourselves, a bank accessible to our customers 24/7 beyond the traditional banking channels of branches, call center or an ATM.”
He said “Just month ago Dukhan Bank launched its AI-powered virtual assistant which helps our customers do 90 percent what they come to bank for, on self-service mode. We were the first bank in Qatar to offer Apple Pay in April and we also launched wearable Pay in February of this year and invested in point-of-sale technology. We are also investing heavily in digitizing and making our branches smart. Our partnership with Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH) has been helpful which gives us the opportunity to look at what is happening in the wider world from a fintech, and a technology perspective and it is curated for what a bank and finance industry needs.
Speaking about how Dukhan Bank has facilitated SMEs and entrepreneurs into the regions digitization drive and how can these businesses contribute to the growth of Qatar, Srinivasan said “Its early days for Dukhan Bank and we are leveraging the partnership with QFTH and there are a couple of fintech providers that are seeking to bring the platform into Qatar, and we are exploring that what kind of role we can play. There are lots of areas that need deeper dive from contracting, leveraging blockchain, smart contracts, and some regulatory approvals which are currently being looked at closely.
