Day Three Of Fintech Surge 2024 Spotlights The Evolving Collaborations Between Banks And Fintechs

Fintech Surge 2024 continued at Dubai Harbour today, with day three's insightful 'Future of Money' conference agenda run in partnership with MEA Finance. Focused on the connection between banks and fintechs, The MEA Finance Banks and Fintechs Forum & Awards gathered experts from top Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks, market-leading fintech businesses and innovative technology companies to debate and share predictions on their future.

Representatives from Gulf Capital, Al Etihad Payments, Abu Dhabi Global Market, EY, Ajman Bank, Visa, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), RAKBANK, and more, explored how their relationships will be impacted by the influences of society, changing consumer behaviours and the accelerating development of artificial intelligence (AI).

During day three, the panel "Coopetition" explored how the once predicted rivalries between financial institutions and fintechs appear to now be moving towards partnerships and cooperation.

Andrew McCormack, Chief Operating Officer, Al Etihad Payments, UAE, shared an example of this: "In our role as a central operator, we see the entire spectrum – banks, exchange houses and new kinds of digital licensed wallets – and we're starting to see some really innovative and important collaborations emerge. A specific example is with the National Bank of Fujairah (NBF), who recently launched a [payment]  acceptance scheme for clients who were not previously accepting cards. These merchants and small and medium-sized businesses were then able to do that on the Aani platform [our instant payments platform for digital transactions in the UAE], using QR code acceptance. This value proposition was available in a matter of weeks, giving these businesses a whole new lane to operate in. [NBF] did that quickly with the support of a fintech that had the technology ready. That's a good example of the collaboration we're seeing emerge across the UAE market."

Another forward-looking session discussed "The Realities of Inclusion", looked at how financial inclusion will improve the lives of the underserved and marginalised, the current challenges individuals and smaller businesses are facing in regards to financial services, and the crucial role fintechs will play here.

Christoph Koster, Chief Executive Officer of ruya, UAE, highlighted that "One of the key issues [with financial inclusion] is that SMEs don't have proper access to banking. They either don't get a bank account at all, or it takes three months. So [at ruya], we set out to foster financial inclusion on the retail and business banking side. For me, financial inclusion is about access, but it's also about enablement. Making sure both individuals and business have the capabilities and the knowledge – [that is the] financial literacy – to use the formal financial system to their advantage and not be taken advantage of."

Amith Rajan, EVP, Head, Wholesale Digital Banking & CEO NeoVentures at MASHREQ, also shared his views on financial inclusion and the important role of collaboration between banks and fintechs: "From our point of view, fintech collaboration is vital. Not every role can be fulfilled by the bank alone, there are partners in the ecosystem who are very well equipped to deal with purpose-built financing solutions, and we like to partner with them."

With AI a poignant buzz word of today, the panel "Disrupting the Disruptors?" discussed the expected effects of AI in the relationship between banks and fintechs. Hasan Kazmi, Head of Digital Partnerships (Fintech) & Ventures at Visa, UAE, commented: "For fintech and banks, it's a very symbiotic relationship where banks have the scale and capital that fintechs need, and the fintechs have the technology solutions and speed to innovate which banks need. When you look at the impact of Gen AI, I think you'll see a similar relationship."

He continued, "Banks have the data and, for the most part, the customers, while fintechs – typically –have the latest tech stack so they can build something very quickly. They also have more degrees of freedom as to how they can experiment, whereas sometimes banks aren't allowed to because of regulations – and that's the case around the world. The other advantage that fintechs have is that they are smaller and nimbler, which allows them to innovate quickly to address the customer needs. What this means for banks is that, if they're looking to develop a solution, sometimes it's much easier to partner with or buy out a fintech."

Fintech Surge 2024 will conclude tomorrow (16 October), featuring the SME Elevate track with and agenda focused on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises through fintech.

For more information, visit www.fintechsurge.com.