The BioCatch and MEA Finance Executive Roundtable, titled “Accelerating Digital Growth While Strengthening Customer Trust,” took place on 14 October at the Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah Hotel, Dubai, bringing together more than 30 senior executives, industry specialists and influential decision-makers from across the UAE’s banking, financial services and technology sectors.
Organised in partnership with BioCatch, the exclusive roundtable provided a platform for senior industry leaders to examine one of the most pressing challenges facing financial institutions today: how to accelerate digital growth and improve customer experiences while maintaining robust security, preventing financial fraud and protecting customer trust.
As banks continue to expand their digital capabilities, the need to balance convenience, innovation and security has become increasingly important. Financial institutions are expected to deliver seamless, accessible and personalised services while navigating an increasingly sophisticated fraud landscape and evolving regulatory expectations.
The roundtable brought together leaders representing banking operations, digital transformation, fraud risk management, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity, customer experience and financial technology, reflecting the importance of collaboration across different functions in addressing these challenges.
Discussions centred on the relationship between digital innovation and customer protection, highlighting the importance of ensuring that advances in banking technology are accompanied by equally strong approaches to fraud prevention, risk management and operational resilience.
The gathering also provided an opportunity for participants to exchange perspectives on how financial institutions can continue developing their digital services while preserving the confidence and trust of the customers they serve.
Bringing Together Senior Banking and Financial Services Leaders
The event welcomed a distinguished group of executives and specialists representing leading financial institutions, technology companies and advisory organisations.
Participating industry leaders included:
- Muhammad Iqtadar, Chief Compliance Officer, Ajman Bank
- Jiten Nagda, Head – Fraud Risk Management, Al Maryah Community Bank (Mbank)
- Wafa Alketbi, Head of Regulatory Compliance and Sanctions, Al Masraf
- Pradeep Kumar, Head of Fraud Risk Management, Commercial Bank of Dubai
- Melwin Pinto, Senior Manager – Transformation Management Office
- Anup Bhatnagar, Head – Director of Core Banking Systems & Digital Channels, Emirates Investment Bank
- Haseeb Ansari, Chief Compliance Officer, Emirates Islamic Bank
- Leslie Isaac, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Islamic Bank
- Abdulla Mashaal, Head of Open Banking, Emirates NBD
- Ali AlHaddad, Head of Agile and Program Management, Emirates NBD
- Graham Fleming, Senior Director – Head of Retail Products Implementation, Emirates NBD
- Irfaan Alibathsha, Head of Digital Products, Emirates NBD
- Shabbir Naqvi, Principal Agile Coach (Digital Products), Emirates NBD
- Mohit Bablani, Head of Money Mule and First Party Fraud Risk – EMEA, HSBC
- Paul Williams, Head of Fraud Management, HSBC
- Aladdin Al Deesi, EVP, Head of Mashreq Gold/Plus Distribution (Retail Banking), Mashreq
- Navin Chokhani, SVP, Head of Client Value Management – Private Banking, Mashreq
- Santhosh Vaidya, Global Head of Operations Technology and Digital Services, Mashreq
- Pratick Dalal, Group Chief Financial Officer, Mawarid Finance
- Sherif Elbehery, Chief Executive Officer, National Bank of Egypt – DIFC UAE
- Madhavi Bhatia, Global Business Strategy & Compliance Leader
- Oleksandr Bodryk, Cybersecurity and Cyber Fraud Director, Visa
- Walter Lironi, SVP – Head of Advisory & Value Added Services, Visa
- H.E. Maher Alkaabi, Advisor to Group Chairman and Independent Board Member, Alserkal Group of Companies; Member, UAE Circular Economy Council
- Bryan Stirewalt, Executive Advisor, Grant Thornton
BioCatch Team
- Ali Godrej Patel, Country Manager, BioCatch
- Jonathan Frost, Global Advisor, BioCatch
- Syed Hussain, Presales Manager, BioCatch
- Charanjeet Singh, Consultant, BioCatch
