5TH ANNUAL MIDDLE EAST BANKING INNOVATION SUMMIT BEGINS TODAY

The 5th Annual Middle East Banking Innovation Summit 2015, with Visa as the Title sponsor got underway in the city today. Organized by global conference producers, Expotrade, the two-day summit, in its fifth year now, is widely regarded as the region’s most distinguished banking technology conference. As a one-of-its kind summit in the region, it provides a cross-industry perspective on the real solutions and challenges faced by the banking industry in the region. 

The summit featured over 15 absorbing and enlightening track sessions including keynote speeches, case studies and panel discussions. Keen to gather knowledge on the latest trends and technologies impacting the banking industry, over 450 professionals from across the GCC were in attendance.

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The summit commenced with a keynote address from Mr. Marcello Baricordi, General Manager UAE & Global Accounts Lead, Visa followed by Mr. Ziad Youssef, ITB Vice President for Gulf Countries & Pakistan, Schneider Electric and Naveed Minhas, Banking Industry Leader MEA and Turkey, Global Business Services, IBM. Mr. Nilanjan Ray, Managing Director – Global Consumer Banking, NBAD gave the opening address on the topic Trending Themes on Innovation: Where do Banks Stand? that highlighted the breakthrough outcomes of innovation in banking. The engaging address was followed by Mr. Paul McCrea, Vice President, Head of Products, Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA), Visa, who threw light on the organization’s approach to developing and delivering innovative products and services in the face of this constantly evolving payments ecosystem.

Presentations from Mr. Jonathan Duncan, ITB MEA Director for Integrated Solutions & Data Center Applications, Schneider Electric on Data Center Efficiency through Software and Naveed Minhas, Banking Industry Leader MEA and Turkey, Global Business Services, IBM on The Event of the Digital Design Studio garnered a high amount of interest from the audience.

Mr. Brad Hariharan, Regional Director, Expotrade Middle East, said, “In its fifth year now, the summit has witnessed a record attendance. The Middle East Banking Innovation Summit’s continuing growth demonstrates the need for a platform to stay abreast of the trends and innovations shaping this industry. The summit has brought to the fore some of the most sought after perspectives from the leaders in the industry.”

Sessions from Gary Collins, Head Mobile Banking, Westpac Pacific on Mass Market Product, Payments and Innovation in Developing Markets – Digitization and its Impact on Emerging Market Banking Business Models, Mark Roper, Commercial Director, Collinson Group on Delivering the Future of Loyalty in Financial Services and Nurdan Ucer Evlambios, Chief Design Officer, Entera on End-to-end Secure Fax Banking & Optimising Efficiency by Bank-wide Intelligent Workload Management Platform delivered valuable information to the industry that could be directly translated to business.

The Summit took an in-depth look at the payments industry segment in a panel titled Smart Payments Strategy: Managing Risk while Offering Flexibility & Simplicity, that was moderated by Amru Kotb, Senior Vice President - MEA, Cryptomathic and supported by experts such as Dr. Haroun Dharsey, SVP-Head of Technology & Projects, Dubai Islamic Bank, Ehsaan Ahmed, Head of GTS and Corporate Strategy, Noor Bank, Gary Collins, Head Mobile Banking, Westpac Pacific, Jassim Al Tamimi, Head of Payment Solutions & Business Innovation, Commercial Bank of Dubai.

The summit received the support of over 43 companies in total, ranging from established industry leaders to startup companies, including Sestek, Oberthur Technologies, IMTF group, CSC, Backbase, Infrasoft Tech, Comarch, Entera, Intellect Design Arena, Collinson group, Cryptomathic, Appello, SAS, Xpress Money, BPG Possible, Wynyard group, Evolvus Solutions, CRIF, Krypton Security, Yethi Consulting, ValueLabs, i2c and Market Simplified. At the Innovation Lounge in the Summit, participating companies showcased their technological advancements and innovative solutions designed for the banking industry.