19th May 2022, Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Registration & Networking |
| 9:00 - 9:05 | MEA Finance Opening Note |
| 9:05 - 9:15 | Welcome Note Imane El Majdoubi, Director - Financial Services Industry - UAE, Microsoft |
| 9:15 - 9:30 | Keynote Address Raja Al Mazrouei, Executive Vice President, DIFC FinTech Hive |
| 09:30 - 10:15 | Panel 1: Open Banking, expecting exponential growth to continue The panel will debate the use of Open Banking & Open APIs as they continue their accelerating growth across the region and around the world through 2022. As customers and small businesses connect their accounts with authorised third parties, how can technology players help develop secure systems that build confidence and trust while providing richer user experiences? What effects will the accompanying rise in fintechs and neobanks have on the banking and financial technology sectors in the region and can Open Banking and API’s mitigate competition risk? Speakers:
Moderator: Mohamed Roushdy, Founder, Fintech Bazaar |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Around the banking world in 8mn : What banks have been up to?
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| 10:30 - 11:15 | Panel 2: The Digitisation of Wealth Management: Can premium service be maintained or even heightened? Discussing the innovations developed by technology for wealth management and asking whether digitisation can provide the types of specialized tailored services and advisory skills that HNWI’s are accustomed to receiving from premium finance services providers. As newer and more digitally native generations move into the wealth categories through advancement within family business, succession or inheritance, how is the demand for secure, intuitive and high-yielding asset and wealth management being satisfied by technology vendors and the traditional wealth service providers? Speakers:
Moderator: Arjun Singh, Head of Financial Services - MENA, Arthur D. Little |
| 11:15 - 11:45 | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 12:00 | Data Security for a Zero Trust World
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| 12:00 - 12:45 | Panel 3: Competitors, Vendors and Partners: The Blurring Line The application of fintech and other emerging technologies continues to change the banking and finance landscape and the borders between competitors, vendors and partners are more fluid than ever, giving rise to new business dynamics, relationships and models. The session will critically examine the attitude, the implementations and the preparedness of banks towards these new realities and how they can leverage this new situation to grow. Speakers:
Moderator: Angela Halawi, Strategic Account Lead, Financial Services, Microsoft |
| 12:45 - 1:30 |
Panel 4: Assessing existing cross-border payment infrastructures Blockchain-based technologies have indeed changed the landscape of traditional cross-border payment corridors that was marred with high costs, third-party intermediaries, and a long chain of data verification. With cross-border payments now one of the focal points for global enhancements, how are decentralized technology and tokenized assets transforming cross-border payments markets in MENA? Are borderless payment transactions the future of finance? In this session, the panel will focus on the proof of concept of blockchain-powered cross-border payments infrastructure that serves both retail and wholesale payments and utilizes currency exchanges and tokenized assets. It will also ask compliance and regulatory challenges and potential downsides such as security risks, volatility of digital assets, and the costly code errors in smart contracts. Speakers:
Moderator: Naim Alame, Senior Executive Financial Services, Accenture |
| 1:30 - 2:30 | LUNCH |
| 2:30 - 3:15 | Panel 5: Facing the challenges of the changing payments landscape in the Middle East & Africa What drives progress in payments for retail and commercial customers? Can technology not only bring about innovations in service ease, lower charges and convenience such as BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), Digital Currencies, Contactless and Open APIs, but can it also help improve the efficiency of institutions and also with keeping pace with changing regulatory requirements? With non-traditional payments providers like Apple etc. joining the field, can technology help financial institutions maintain margins in this highly competitive sector? Speakers:
Moderator: Shafique Ibrahim, Digital Transformation & Payment Leader, Sullivan & Stanley |
| 3:15 - 4:00 | Panel 6: How can technology help give banks an edge in retail banking? Digital retail banking is pretty much the norm and what was regarded as traditional banking is now the way things used to be done. In the new retail banking normal, distinguishing your services with innovation, growing business and retaining customer loyalty is becoming increasingly competitive. This session asks how can banks and technology vendors continue to work together to distinguish services and retain a competitive edge? Speakers:
Moderator: Neale Croutear-Foy, CTO-Digital Banking, Apex EDB |
| 4:00 - 4:30 | Coffee Break |
| 4:30 - 4:45 | Request to pay on real time payments
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| 4:45 - 5:30 | Panel 7: New Challenges and Recent Successes, the Emerging Landscape in Banking Technology The session will discuss key challenges facing banks and financial institutions in today’s digital environment, with particular focus on cybersecurity threats and solutions, regulatory challenges and fraud mitigation. Panelists will examine the current financial technology landscape, highlighting recent successes and looking into near-future developments. Speakers:
Moderator: Neale Croutear-Foy, CTO-Digital Banking, Apex EDB |
| 5:30 - 5:35 | Closing Remarks / End of Summit |
| 6:00 - 7:00 | Awards Registration |
| 7:00 - 8:00 | Awards Ceremony |
