November 6th 2016, Dubai, UAE – Today, key stakeholders in the regional finance industry gathered at Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai for the first edition of the Fintech Summit MENA, organised by business facilitation company Naseba and supported by the UAE chapter of ISACA. At the summit, over 120 pre-qualified BFSI decision makers and representatives of the fintech sector explored the latest developments in financial technology, networked with their peers, and heard from the experts and innovators who are driving the regional fintech revolution. The day began with a welcome address by Nicholas Watson, Managing Director at Naseba, followed by introductory remarks by the summit's Chairperson, Bhavani Suresh, Vice President at ISACA – UAE. The day's agenda of informative, productive sessions also included tech talks from Pinaki Aich, Vice President of Group Strategy at Dubai International Financial Centre, Dr. Noah Raford, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Future Foundation, Promoth Manghat, Chief Executive Officer at UAE Exchange Group, and Mark Roper, Commercial Director at Collinson Group. Aich spoke about the rise of fintech and how it is set to disrupt the financial services of developed and emerging markets, providing real-world examples of technology trends that are pushing the industry forward through constant innovation. Roper's talk delved into the importance of driving digital engagement and loyalty with customers through the adoption of new mobile and financial technologies. He also explored the latest solutions in creating and enhancing loyalty programmes, which is an area of expertise for Collinson Group, given that their Priority Pass programme is one of the leading loyalty programmes in the hospitality industry. Deniz Devrim Cengiz, Group Director of Digital Banking at Turkish Economy Bank, gave a tech talk exploring the successful experience of being a purely digital bank -CEPTETEB, and addressed the challenges encountered along the way. "Fintech, particularly block chain is being embraced very actively across the globe and the region. The Dubai Future Foundation is committed to driving technology innovation and is partnering with organisations like Naseba and DIFC to help enable our goals.", said Dr. Noah Raford, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Future Foundation. "We invite the industry to be part of this evolution and be our partners in change." The summit featured a series of other in-depth discussions that explored the regulatory implications ofdigitization and fintech frameworks, the future of blockchain in the region, key ingredients to meet customer expectations in banking products and services and more. The highly anticipated panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation gathered representatives from Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Finance House, Union Insurance, Wacom Europe GmBH and Loxon Solutions. The panel discussion on staying ahead of the competition withinfintech featured contributions from Emre Karter, Managing Director, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions MENAPT at Citi, Saeed Al Nahdi, Head of ATM Network at Arab National Bank; Indranil Guha, Head of IT Infrastructure at Commercial Bank of Dubai; and Zoeb Adamali, Vice President of Operations and Change Management at Abu Dhabi Finance PJSC. Toward the end of the day, participants engaged in focused networking at the Naseba networking hub, where they each had one-to-one meetings with up to 20 industry peers, giving them the opportunity to create valuable business connections, expand their professional network and build their reputation among BFSI movers and shakers. "Naseba is proud to have hosted one of the region's first fintech-focused business platforms," said Nicholas Watson, Managing Director at Naseba. "This is a crucial time in the Middle East for the finance sector – a time when ‘digitise or die' is no longer a soundbite, but a harsh reality. Traditional financial institutions need to embrace fintech if they are going to compete successfully on the global stage and drive growth throughout the region." The Fintech Summit MENA is generously supported by the UAE chapter of ISACA as the association partner; Collinson Group as the gold sponsor; Loxon and Wacom Business Solutions as silver sponsors; and Crossvale and RT Consulting as bronze sponsors. It is further supported by UAE Exchange as the strategic partner; and Fintech Weekly, Banking Technology, Entrepreneur Middle East, Khaleej Times and Capital Business among others as the media partners.
