Banks and Fintechs Forum & Awards 2024

In Partnership with Fintech Surge 2024

15 October 2024
Dubai Harbour - Marina, United Arab Emirates

200+ Regional Banking, Finance, Fintech and Technology Leaders, Standardisation Organisations, Regulators, Financial Trade Associations
30+ Thought Leaders, Innovators and Market Makers & Experts
5 In-depth and lively sessions on the future and state of Payments in the region
6 Hours of Peer Interaction and Networking
1 Awards Winners Presentation
Ceremony

Overview

There can be no doubt that the co-existence of banks and fintech, once predicted to be adversarial, has morphed into partnerships that are providing consumers more convenient, flexible and accessible financial services. With the vital assistance of banking technology, their cooperation has also breathed fresh vigour into banks bringing them new business opportunities and more clients and customers, and clearly also benefitting the fintech sector too.

While digitisation of banks and cooperation with fintechs was ongoing before, adapting to the restrictions of the global pandemic boosted use and wider understanding of the opportunities fintech allows the public and banks. This heightened realisation that for banks to remain viable into the future, change was not optional. And so the daunting tasks of corporate culture change, building functional trust, meeting the requirements of legislators, multilateral bodies and regulators, and shouldering the expenditure of adopting new technologies, were put into higher gear.

Today the day-to-day financial landscape has been reshaped by the collaborations of banks and fintechs. The MEA Finance Banks and Fintech Forum, held in partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre during Fintech Surge 2024 will debate the current issues of the day in the relationship between Banks and Fintechs and look into how their collaboration will adapt going ahead and into the 2030’s.

The summit will cover matters such as inclusion for SMEs, lower earners and the unbanked; how fintech will develop and grow to provide better options for corporate banking; the role of banks and fintechs in climate and sustainability; the effects of AI on the world of fintech and its relationship with banks, and how enduring the relationship between fintech and banks actually is.

The MEA Finance Banks and Fintech Forum will, by airing the thoughts, insights and opinions of our market leading panellists, provide essential understanding and realisations about the relationship between banks and fintechs, their increasing influence on the world we live in, and the future for their collaborations.

What to expect?

More than 200 regional banking, fintech and technology leaders with a format attracting the entire spectrum of interested professionals including regulators, technology companies, startups, fintechs, central banks, innovators and other stakeholders from the value chains.
Solid engagement opportunities for your company with decision makers, to directly detail your company’s solutions to today’s most pressing payments related issues.
Exposure to the regional banking and fintech communities with your brand visibility in the networking and exhibition area during breaks and through participation in panel discussions and keynote presentations.

Who should attend?

Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Information Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Chairman
Chief Audit Executive
Chief Commercial Officer
Chief Economist and Head of Research
Chief of Shared Services Officer
Chief Risk Officer
Managing Director
MD - Head of Treasury, Capital Markets & FI Department & Section Heads
Partner - Financial Services
Advisor - Investment Management
Commercial Advisor
Executive Director
Head of Client Relations
Head of Payments, Remittances & Foreign Exchange
Head of Regulatory Advisory and Assurance
Head of Transaction Banking
Head Corporate Relations and Strategic Partnerships
Head Digital Strategy and Change
Head of Corporate Communications
Head Digital Strategy and Change
Head of E-Banking
Head of Market Risk
Head of AML & Sanctions
Head of Bancassurance
Head of CAD, Remedial & Collection
Head of Central Operations
Head of Change Management
Head of Client Experience
Head of Compliance
Head of CRM
Head of Disclosure and Issuance Department
Head of Enterprise Architecture
Head of Enterprise Banking Platforms
Head of External Communications
Head of Finance
Head of Financial Institutions
Head of Government Relations & PR
Head of Information Security
Head of Investment Solutions
Head of Issuance
Head of Prepaid Cards
Head of Regulatory Compliance
Head of Retail Banking
Head of Risk Specialist
Head of Strategic Planning
Head of Strategy - Technology
Head of Transaction Banking
Head Product Manager
Manager Audit & Compliance
Manager Operational Risk
Payments & Contract Manager
Portfolio Specialist - Insights & Strategy
Project Manager
Regional Compliance Manager
Regional Manager - Compliance & Risk Retention & Vigilance Manager
Senior CRM Project Lead
Senior CX Manager
Senior Manager - Digital Transformation
Senior Manager Treasury
Information Security, Senior Strategic Advisor
Senior Trade Officer, Strategy & PMO
Assistant Vice President - Global Customer Relations
Associate VP - Strategic Engagements
AVP Agile Delivery - Retail Banking
AVP Credit Risk and Portfolio Manager
FS Strategy Manager
SVP & Head of Compliance - Personal Banking Group
SVP & Regional Head - Corporate & Commercial Banking
Vice President, Compliance
VP Risk and Change Management
VP Wealth and Asset Management
VP - Strategic Initiatives & Bancassurance

MEA Finance Summits, Forums and Conferences

The MEA Finance collection of cutting edge, topical events are known for bringing together regional banking, fintech and technology leaders for immersive discussions on the latest developments and most pressing issues being faced across their sectors of the banking industry in the Middle East and Africa. These exclusive gathering include audience presentations and panel discussions, with an array of the region’s industry-leading experts, innovators and distinguished speakers who meet to discuss the future of banking and innovation in finance.

Agenda

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

11:50 - 12:00 Welcome Address

12:00 - 12:15 Keynote Address

12:15 - 13:00 Panel 1: “Coopetition”

Once predicted rivalries between financial institutions and fintechs currently appear to be moving toward partnerships and cooperation. At a basic level, this makes sense - banks have the licenses and the customers, and fintechs help banks become more tuned-in and responsive to their client’s, keeping them competitive. Will relationship dynamics always be harmonious? Will banks become the customers of fintechs? Are they already? Or will banks, with access to hefty resources, just absorb them. Do fintechs need to strike a balance with banks, retaining competition with them while identifying areas of cooperation too? Are we entering an age of on-going Coopetition?

13:00 - 13:15 Presentation

13:15 - 14:00 Panel 2: The Realities of Inclusion

Financial inclusion will improve the lives of the underserved and marginalised. Whether making financial services available to the unbanked, improving choices for lower earners or opening facilities to micro-businesses and SME’s, it is moving from an ideal to reality, with some spurring on by multilateral organisations, and the realisation that it can bring business opportunities for financial institutions. How crucial are fintechs to the development and the role of inclusivity in finance? What are the key roles they play in envisioning possibilities and making them real? How important is the relationship between banks and fintech businesses in widening financial inclusion across the region?

14:00 - 14:15 Presentation/ Raffle Draw

14:15 - 15:00 Panel 3: Disrupting the Disruptors?

AI - the buzz-letters of the age. There is no escaping AI coverage nor its uses in the world of banking. What might the effects of AI in financial services be to the ecosystem that has grown around the collaboration between banking and fintechs? What are the realities of AI in the relationship between banks and fintechs? Following the fall in VC’s financing of fintechs in 2023, and with it being the new kid on the block, does AI pose a threat to the funding of fintechs going forward? Could banking’s adoption of AI cut fintechs out of parts of the market?

15:00 - 15:45 Panel 4: The Business of Business

Fintech was integral to the modernisation of retail finance, making Open Banking a day-to-day reality, equipping banks for a world where the customer demands flexibility and convenience. But how does the role of fintech differ in corporate banking? Does corporate banking have the inherent conditions and requirements that made Open Banking so readily applicable to the retail sector? How far into corporate banking has fintech penetrated across our regions and how much further can it go? What are the main considerations in the application of fintech to the world of corporate banking in the Middle East and Africa?

15:45 - 16:00 Raffle Draw

16:00 - 17:00 Awards Ceremony

Speakers

Anshu Sharma Raja Chief Transformation Technology Operations Officer, Africa and Middle EastStandard Chartered Bank
Andrew McCormack Chief Operating OfficerAl Etihad Payments
Asim Chohan Vice President Global Operations COOMorgan Stanley
Bryan Stirewalt Financial Services Regulatory LeaderEY
Christoph Koster Chief Executive Officerruya
Gabrielle Inzirillo Head of Ecosystem Development - FintechADGM
George Hojeige Chief Executive OfficerVirtugroup
Giovanni Everduin Chief Strategy and Innovation OfficerCommercial Bank International
Hani Idris Chief Executive OfficerInternational Development Bank
Hasan Kazmi Head of Digital Partnerships (Fintech) & VenturesVisa
Krishna Kumar Nair Chief Operating OfficerEmirates Development Bank
Mamoun Alhomssey Chief Technology OfficerAjman Bank
Mike Sigal FounderSigal Ventures
Mohamed Mansour Head of RegionRemitly
Mohamed Fairooz Middle East LeadSC Ventures
Mohammad Amin Osman Head of Strategic Partnerships & InitiativesEmirates Foundation
Nabil Ismail Executive Director - Head of FintechGulf Capital
Pradeep Negi Vice President & Portfolio Delivery ManagerRAKBANK
Praveen Sekar Chief Strategy OfficerGSS
Ronit Ghose Global Head, Future of FinanceCiti
Saad Ansari Chief Executive OfficerXpence
Saleem Ahmed Chief Operating OfficerGSS
Srinivasan Sampath Group Chief Information OfficerFirst Abu Dhabi Bank

MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED

The connection between fintechs and banks can be likened to a symbiotic relationship where prolonged association between two or more different parties brings them benefits from their interaction. These relationships, common in the natural world, have existed for eons but will the analogous partnering between banks and fintechs also endure? Will banks and fintech be BFF?

The MEA Finance Banks and Fintech Forum (BFF), held in partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre during Fintech Surge 2024, will bring top banks from around the GCC together with market leading fintech businesses and technology companies to debate the future of their relationship and how it will change under the influences of wider society, the pressures of ever demanding consumers and the accelerating development of AI.
NOMINATE NOW REGISTER NOW

Submission Process

MEA Finance conducts its own research to ensure that our awards categories accurately reflect the current payments ecosystem and comprehensively recognise the achievements of the industry.

As a result, we have determined 24 award categories that provide regional recognition to exceptional banks, financial institutions and technology providers who are shaping the new digital financial landscape and have made outstanding contributions to the future of the industry. Institutions can nominate themselves in all relevant categories as deemed appropriate, provided the submission is sent in before the deadline, and in the required format.
NOMINATE NOW

HOW TO ENTER

STEP 1: Choose your category.
It is important to review the individual descriptions and criteria before choosing your category.

STEP 2: Upload relevant financial performance documents or other relevant information.

STEP 3: Confirm submission of your entry.

*Submissions deadline 04^thOctober 2024.