Digital Government Specialist at Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), Waleed Ali (left) and CEO of Doha Bank, Dr. R Seetharaman addressing the event.
Doha: Fintech, which provides opportunities for economic diversification, will transform the digital banking experience in Qatar, an official has said yesterday at the Qatar Fintech Summit.
Speaking during the event, Digital Government Specialist at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) Waleed Ali, who spoke on the topic ‘Digital Transformation and the Future of Banks’, said all the major banks around the globe now provide digital services through their websites or mobile applications. 0
“Digital transformation is the adoption of innovative technologies to increase productivity, value creation, and social welfare. In 2020, when the COVID-19 hit, the global economy shrank by 5 percent. But on the other hand, the adoption of digital banking services increased due to lock downs and moving restrictions. Financial companies knew that working from home was the new normal, and they started building remote work models which accelerated the digital transformation agenda in the banking sector,” he added.
According to Ali, to understand the future of banking, one needs to look past at where companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Uber changed e-commerce, entertainment, and the transportation sector by using technology. The expert reiterated that technology giants like Apple and Google are providing financial and payment solutions at a fast pace. He explained how banks can transform and become digital by nature to compete and survive in this ecosystem by highlighting cloud technologies, APIs, Block Chain, AI, Big data analytics and others.
The day-long virtual expo and summit presented product showcases, exhibitor virtual booths, panel discussions, and live webinars and forum discussions on Fintech. It also facilitated multi-stakeholder dialogue with power packed networking opportunities among C-Level executives, leading industry experts, decision makers, policy makers and government officials from across the value chain to foster collaboration.
Also speaking during the event, CEO of Doha Bank Dr. R Seetharaman discussed the ‘The Future of Mobile and Digital Only Banking’. He said: “We are recognising the future of mobile and digital only banking and how it will accelerate the global growth and economy and in turn redefine the way we live personally and professionally”.
Seetharaman said global Fintech investments reached $98bn in the first half of 2021 from $87bn in the same period last year. While Fintech investments in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region stood at $39bn during the first half of 2021, an increase of $14bn compared to the same period last year.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitisation and reiterated the growing importance of Fintech across the globe which is visible through technology acceleration and adoption by all regulators, banks, and customers.
“The pandemic prompted a massive increase in online distribution, highlighting the bigger picture of Fintech in the Mena region. Roughly 85 percent of the Fintech firms in the Mena operate in payments, transfers, and remittance sectors,” Seetharaman added.
He noted that Fintechs in Qatar are focused on improving the customer experience by providing access to financial services. “Fintech solution providers are helping with enabling greater financial inclusion so that everyone is part of the banking system. Financial institutions worldwide are recognising they need to focus on innovation, modernised infrastructure and improved customer experience,” he said.
Seetharaman added that the venture capital investments in Qatar tech startups have surged by 180 percent during H1 2021, totaling around QR31m. Investors in Qatar back industries such as commerce, delivery services and Fintechs which have also seen increased demand during the pandemic.
He went on to reiterate the Qatar Fintech Hub’s support to the growth of the Fintech industry in Qatar. “The number of operating Fintechs has increased three fold in a year from 20 in 2019 to 60 in 2020. Large banks are tapping into startup system to incubate and create alliances on a variety of platforms such as wallets, payments, investment inter mediation, and online credit acquisitions, he added.
The event also featured an exhibition which saw the participation of Doha-based Fintech exhibitors such as Cwallet and Fatora.
