ORGANISED BY

Looking Beyond the Payments Horizon

12 September 2024
The Ritz-Carlton JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates


  • img-responsive 400+ Regional Banking, Finance, Fintech and Technology Leaders, Standardisation Organisations, Regulators, Financial Trade Associations
  • img-responsive 30+ Thought Leaders, Innovators and Market Makers & Experts
  • img-responsive 7 In-depth and lively sessions on the future and state of Payments in the region
  • img-responsive 6 Hours of Peer Interaction and Networking
  • img-responsive 1 Awards Winners Presentation
    Ceremony

Overview

Payments development and activity across our region has been energetic in recent years and is set to remain so for some time to come. Digitisation and technology, regulators and governments, multilateral cooperation, standardisation and competition, fintechs and non-financial institutions, global circumstances and consumer demand all, individually or collectively keep pushing the rate at which payments are evolving.

Payments are becoming more than only agile, intuitive and convenient, but also, as these features become more embedded, they can now have real positive influences for economies and societies as efficiencies aid productivity and foster greater inclusion.

As more generations of clients and diverse consumer groups become increasingly familiar with new payment choices, the beneficial conveniences and more flexible options that digitisation brings them, this period of growth potential looks set continue.

We saw that our region has been largely resilient to the numerous challenges currently facing the world, with many local economies coping better with the stresses than many of their international counterparts. This has relaxed the brakes on the wheels speeding along the payments rails, helping the region keep pace with, even begin to overtake other world centres.

Likewise, the region’s banking and finance sectors maintain consistently positive performance, helping to boost them purposefully toward their digitisation and technologically supported destinies.

MEA Finance Payments Summit, 2024, will gather regional leaders in Banking and Finance, Technology and Fintechs, Regulators and Multilateral Organisations in a series of lively and highly topical panel debates. The Summit discussions will focus upon the current evolution of payments in the region, the changes technology can bring, their potential benefits to societies as well as the trends that are leading them and the shape of the tasks ahead needed to establish effective, efficient and safe payments systems

What to expect?

  • More than 400 regional banking, payments 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 communities with your brand visibility in the networking and exhibition area during breaks and through participation in panel discussions and keynote presentations.
  • Opportunities to be recognised and celebrated as a bank or technology business at the forefront of payments transformation and progress at the MEA Finance Payments Awards

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

Agenda

Thursday, 12 September 2024
The Ritz-Carlton JBR, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Instant Payments are an expectation of all banking users, and FI’s in collaboration with technology companies and fintechs have made great efforts to bring them about. Nearing the first anniversary of the launch of Aani by Al Etihad Payments and with the earlier inception of Sarie by Saudi Payments, how have these and other examples of nationally instituted payments initiatives affected the banks, businesses and economies of the region? Is the need to adapt systems and the high cost of new technology infrastructure hampering the growth of instant payments? What are the enterprise benefits of instant payments for businesses? What are the possible downsides too, and what might these be?

Since the advent of e-commerce, Payment Gateways have constantly evolved reflecting the shifts and expectations consumers and spurring the capabilities of financial technology companies to match them. But their development journey is far from over as the pressure to stay ahead of changing consumer behaviours and keep pace with technology advances is unrelenting. How will payment gateways meet these demands and stay competitive in this busy market? Can we expect new forms of transaction verification such as gesture or voice-based payments? How does AI feature in their growth and can the ever-debated Blockchain find a role? What is the future for payment gateways?

Payments firms compete and develop to gain advantages, but competition is not always in the shape of market rivals. For example, with advances in use cases like e-commerce and retail shopping, could Pay-by-bank, which lets customers make purchases directly from their bank accounts without debit or credit cards affect existing sectors such as payment gateways and card issuers? With the expanding role of payments and its effect on the wellbeing of economies becoming more apparent, how will conventional competition develop, and what “left-field” forms might emerge to join the fray?

AI in payments brings many rewards, reducing human error allowing greater efficiencies and customer-friendly, cost-effective services by improving security, processing and the management of digital transactions with accuracy. What more can AI do to enhance payments for all interested parties perspectives - banks and their corporate or retail clients? But are the inherent risks of AI in payments, such as well-equipped cyber criminals, over-reliance on technology or weak training, possible consequences of inherent bias in algorithms and the security and privacy of the necessary data volumes, surmountable? Can they be eliminated altogether? AI is here to stay in payments, but can the rewards leave the risks in the distance?

Banks, Fintechs and technology firms are now forever entwined within the payments realm. So how do they collaborate to engage with consumers to understand how they actually feel; what they want or need next or what they do not want? How can they distinguish between long-term trends and short-term fads and which regional or cultural features should take a role in the shape of the end products and services? Is enough work being done by banks, fintechs and technology vendors to improve or innovate the payments processes for SMEs and corporations? How are the providers of payments overcoming the challenges of corporate payments in trade finance or and transaction banking, and how much of this market remains untapped by them?

The G20 prioritised enhancing cross border payments, believing if they are cheaper, faster, more inclusive and transparent, economies will grow, improving the lives of millions. Launched in 2020, The Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments attempts to face the challenges of cross-border payments holistically. A key element is the Financial Stability Board’s quantitative targets focused on wholesale and retail payments, and remittances. What noticeable moves have been made in our region toward reaching the target? Are the ideals of the Roadmap attainable? What more must be done to reach its goals, and given the shape of the world since 2020, can the target be met?

Speakers




MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED



Highlights

Looking Beyond the Payments Horizon

Payments, how they are made, how new options are developed, the increasing choices they bring to consumers and the wider effects of how they are provided and executed,have emerged as an important influence on the performance of economies and a top concern for financial institutions.

As the leading engagement touchpoint for financial institutions with the daily lives of their diverse consumer sets, payments carry much of the weight of responsibility for their brand’s image, and how they are processed, from start to settlement, is central to the bank/customer relationship. As such, payments are vital to a financial institution’s success

In our region, the activity around payments have been hectic, spurred not only by general sectoral development and competition, but also by features unique of this part of the world – favourable demographics, comparatively robust regional economies and increasingly diverse business communities, naming just some. In recent years, we have witnessed the initiation of nationally instituted instant payments systems to boost economic performance, regional nations collaborating to create multilateral organisations to enhance cross-border payments, banks and fintechs partnering at pace to develop smart, agile and innovative services and technology firms applying their talents to create a previously unimaginable payments ecosystem.

Once again, The MEA Finance, Leaders in Payments Summit will debate these challenges and address the very real opportunities for the financial institutions and payments providers of our region today.
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Categories

Click below to view individual award categories and submit nominations.

Awarded to the Payment Gateway business, clearly providing the best service across factors including payment options, reliability, security, market integration, pricing and currency support.
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Awarded to the bank or financial institution that has put in place and/or operates a payment gateway providing secure service, verification and confirmation, plus options for flexible purchasing experiences for customers.
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Awarded to the business providing the most comprehensive opportunity for online companies to manage their payment processes in one place, from beginning to end.
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Nominees for this award will be companies in the region that have shown the most innovation in making quick clearance and settlement of payments a reality, using underlying payments rails.
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Winning this award will be a bank or financial institution in the region that has shown market leading initiative in commissioning and implementing quick clearance and settlement of payments using new or underlying payments rails.
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Awarded to the provider of ancillary services for a real-time payments method that definitively shows the best provision of options beyond core payment processing and adding value to standard payments.
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Nominations for this award will be from business that, in addition to providing leading edge technology in payments has through their implementation also helped to advance their local payments environment.
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Nominations for this award will be from business that, in addition to providing leading edge technology in payments has through their implementation also helped to advance their local payments environment.
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The award will be presented to the financial institution, fintech or technology company that can show it has brought the best ease of process and delight to users of their payments systems or methods.
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The award will be presented to the financial institution, fintech or technology company that can show it has brought the best ease of process and delight to users of their payments systems or methods.
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Awarded to the technology provider that can demonstrate the best solutions and services for the provision of cross-border payments in the region.
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This award will go to the business or organisation that has been judged to have made the most significant contribution to the regional cross-border payments landscape in the recent past.
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Nominees in this category will demonstrate the best cloud-located services across the payment value chain including cost optimisation, improved scalability, high security, faster functionality roll-out and flexible pricing.
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The threat of cyber-crime remains a key concern across all payments related systems and stakeholders. The winner of this award will have shown innovative and proven measures and approaches toward safeguarding payments in today’s fast-evolving digital landscape
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The winner of this award will be users or providers of payments solutions that brought easier access for third party providers or enabled financial institutions to comply with the regulations and increase their services.
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This will be won by the technology company, fintech or financial institution that is or has been actively engaged in a digital payments transformation initiative. Consideration will be given to transformative outcomes from either from the operations perspective, the societal perspective or a combination both.
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This will be awarded to the company that has developed and launched a mobile application that successfully offers a wide and flexible range of convenient, innovative and secure user payments options.
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This is awarded to the company or financial institution that best demonstrates both the specific intention and results in bringing all communities the opportunities to transact and create improved life options.
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Awarded to the bank or financial institution that commissioned and completed an instant payments technology implementation that enhanced the services offered to their clients and contributed to their wider banking technology development objectives and profitability.
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This will be awarded to the financial institution or bank that has implemented an innovative payments solution bringing new customer opportunities to use with marked improvements or upgrades to legacy or existing systems.
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Awarded to the business that provided a payments technology implementation that enhanced the services offered to their clients’ markets but also, through the overall commission of their activities, contributed to the wider national payments and banking technology development objectives.
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This award goes to the Financial Institution and/or Technology Vendor for the most effective, efficient, innovative and successful implementation of a corporate banking collections systems . Nominations are welcome from Banks and Technology Businesses for their own part in a project, or jointly as a Bank and Technology firm who have successfully collaborated on such implementation.
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This award goes remittance payments and over the counter foreign exchange services company providing the best access via a broad branch network, digital services, speed of service and readily available range of currencies, meeting the needs of the communities depending on these services.
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Awarded to the company that or financial institution that has stood out for the implementation of a payments system. Key considerations, assessed both individually and collectively will include security, flexibility, transaction speed, ease of operation or use and wider levels of inclusivity
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In the highly populated and diverse payments services space in the region, this award will go to the company or institution judged as having made the most successful and beneficial contribution to this sector.
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This award will go to the Bank that has been judged as having made the most successful and beneficial contribution to this important and highly competitive sector.
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Nominations are welcome from companies, financial institutions, organisations, associations or individuals that, over the past year to eighteen months, can demonstratively define an innovation of note in the regional payments market.
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Nominations are welcome from companies, financial institutions, organisations, associations or individuals that, over the past year to eighteen months, can demonstratively define an innovation of note in the regional payments market.
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This award will be presented to the company that in the past twelve to eighteen months has shown the most original and dedicated focus in supplying technology that has offered the most potential or definitively improved the payments experience for the market.
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This award is presented to the individual that through their efforts has been assessed to have made the most noticeable contribution to the technological advancement of the regional payments sector.
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This award is presented to the individual working in non-bank financial services who through their efforts has been assessed to have made the most noticeable contribution to the technological advancement of the regional payments sector.
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This award will be presented to the executive in a leading position that has worked through their career to guide and lead businesses through the ever-evolving digital payments landscape, keeping them at the forefront of their respective markets.
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The winner in this category will have demonstrated, through the application of Artificial Intelligence, both innovation and imagination leading to visible enhancements and improvements to payments systems or processes.
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This award is presented to the individual that through their efforts has been assessed to have made the most noticeable contribution to the advancement of service and management in the regional payments sector.
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About the awards

Conceived and based in our exciting, dynamic and promising region, MEA Finance was established with the goal of serving the regional banking and financial services sector. We are committed to providing dedicated news, insightful interviews, the highestlevel events and thought leadership from the region’s financial service providers and banking technology leaders. MEA Finance is best placed to cover the full range of the banking and financial sectors, from retail to investment banking; wealth management to Islamic finance, and the fast-developing technology that powers the industry today. As part of our integral role in the region’s banking sector, we benchmark, recognise and actively encourage excellence within institutions.

Now that the activity around payments across our region has been relevantly emerging, MEA Finance Leaders in Payments Awards 2024 will give due recognition and celebrate the achievements of the region’s top innovation and prestigious efforts of the banks, financial institutions, payments providers and technology suppliers have put into making the region’s payments systems the envy of the world.
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  • Open for Entries: 17th June 2024
  • Submission Deadline: 27th August 2024
  • Judging Process: 4th September 2024
  • Awards Ceremony: 12th September 2024

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 28thAugust 2024.

Judging Process

The awards will feature a rigorous two-step judging process by a panel of industry experts in collaboration with the MEA Finance editorial team.

  1. All nomination entries will be meticulously evaluated and analysed based on relevant market knowledge, industry research, and accurate company financial statements. The MEA Finance editorial team will then create a shortlist which will be given to the judging panel.
  2. The judging panel will be composed of senior executives from professional services firms working with the banking industry. They will review the shortlist and the submitted materials for each category and place a score from 1 to 5 for each category nominee. All scores will be sent back to the editorial team.
  3. The MEA Finance editorial team will independently score shortlisted institutions per category. Score values will be from 1 to 5. All scores will be kept confidential and will not be released publicly, nor will they be discussed with any individual applicants.
  4. Scores from both the judging panel and the editorial team shall be collected and combined. The editorial team will hold an official tabulation of the scores to determine the highest scoring institution per category which will be declared winner

Sponsors


 

EVENT PARTNERS

  • LEAD SPONSOR

  • PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS


SILVER SPONSOR

  • STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY PARTNER

  • OFFICIAL EXHIBITION PARTNER

  • SUPPORTING PARTNERS

  • BADGE SPONSOR

FOR SPEAKING, SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITION ENQUIRIES:

Nap Estampador
+971 50 100 5488
nap.estampador@mea-finance.com

Andrew Cover
+971 50 931 3236
andrew.cover@mea-finance.com

Kenneth Mitchen
+971 55 289 1739
ken.mitchen@mea-finance.com

FOR SPEAKING & AGENDA ENQUIRIES:

Natasha Cristi
+971 58 527 1219
natasha@mea-finance.com

Venue

The Ritz-Carlton JBR, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

MEA Finance Leaders in Payments Conference & Awards 2024
12 September 2024
Ritz Carlton JBR,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
CONTACT US
Contact No. +971 50 100 5488
Office 404, Building B, Al Saaha Offices, Old Town Island
Burj Khalifa District,
PO Box 487177
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
www.mea-finance.com