9th ANNUAL MIDDLE EAST RETAIL BANKING FORUM OPENS IN DUBAI, UAE

The most awaited Retail Banking conference in the Middle East, the 9th Annual Middle East Retail Banking Forum kicked off today at The Address Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE. The conference commenced with the opening speech from the chair - Asad Batla, Head of Consumer Banking - Bank Nizwa( Supporting Sponsor), in the presence of over 100 attendees.

The keynote presentation was delivered by Sanjoy Sen - Managing Director: Retail Banking Asia-Pacific - ANZ entitled 'Innovation in Global Retail Banking: Looking into the Future'. In his pre-event interview Mr. Sen brought to the fore, crucial questions that will develop the future of the regions banking strategies such as, "The number of internet users in the Middle East will quadruple in the next few years. What does this mean for banks and how will it revolutionise their strategy? What are the key innovations and operating platforms that winning banks should adopt?". Sen's presentation spoke about understanding the next generation customers, the digital revolution, banking beyond boundaries amongst other insightful topics.

Khalil Khodr, Chief Executive Officer - Virtual Technologies – Virtech (Platinum Sponsor), enlightened the audience by his brief presentation on Video Banking – From Transaction to Engagement, which enables bankers to extend branch networks without breaking the bank or sacrificing customer experience.

The retail banking industry globally is undergoing a major transformation. Retail banks have introduced enterprise wide changes, spanning the dimensions of people, process, technology and retain a competitive edge. What impact will these changes have on today’s retail bank? What will the bank of the future look like? A panel discussion titled 'Guru Panel' discussed the 'Transforming Retail Banking into a Futuristic Banking Model'. Moderated by Hussein Al Sayed, Business News Anchor - CNBC Arabia, this panel discussion was joined by Sanjoy Sen, Managing Director: Retail Banking Asia-Pacific - ANZ; Suvo Sarkar, General Manager – Retail Banking & Wealth Management - Emirates NBD PJSC; Dean M. Proctor, Executive General Manager - Retail and Consumer Banking - The Commercial Bank of Qatar QSC; Suresh Bajpai, Head of Retail Banking - Doha Bank; Mohamed Zaqout, Executive Vice President: Head of Personal Banking Group - Al Hilal Bank; Asad Batla, Head of Consumer Banking - Bank Nizwa and David Power, Head of Retail Banking Group - Commercial Bank International PSC.

After the networking and exhibition session, Mr Vinod Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer - Samba Financial Group presented his view on 'Maximizing Customer Engagement across Delivery Channels' ; Asad Batla, Head of consumer banking - Bank Nizwa highlighted the significance of cross selling strategy and shared best practices and learning
on the same.

Capturing Generation Y and developing an organization wide intuitive and gut-level understanding of the way this group thinks, was the main focus in the presentation made by Suresh Bajpai, Head of Retail Banking - Doha Bank. Jeffrey Khater, Business Development Manager - VeriPark Gulf ( Gold Sponsor ) explained the CRM’s Role in Branch of the Future, while the future branch service model, was elaborated by Shaker Zainal, Regional Head of Distribution - Mashreq PSC.

Daniel Melo, Senior Director: FICO Advisors - FICO, elaborated customer centric decisions with FICO Next Generation Analytics which would help leverage next-generation analytics to get deeper insight and act with greater speed, relevance and value results in a win/win for both banks and customers.

Day one of the conference concluded with a Panel Discussion entitled Improving the Consumer Lending Distribution Strategy, which was joined by Tooran Asif, SVP – Regional Head of Personal Banking & CEO, Mashreq Al Islami - Mashreq PSC; Gary Mond, Head of Personal Banking - Al Khalij Commercial Bank ( Al Khaliji ) QSC; R. Narasimhan, Deputy General Manager – Head of Retail Banking Division - Bank Sohar SAOG; Ali Imran, Head of Personal Financial Services & SME Banking - Saudi Hollandi Bank and Daniel Melo, Senior Director: FICO Advisors - FICO

Tomorrow, day two of the conference will feature three Panel Discussion Sessions, titled as
Retail Banking Innovation – Exploring Strategic Options for Retail Banks
The Role of Technology in Channel Innovation
Taking Customer Experience from Universal to Unique!

Dean Young, Vice President Product Management - SunGard Retail Banking ( Gold Sponsor ) will present on Board vs. Branch- Bridging The Gap, where he will focus on strategies to educate and empower staff to deliver an enhanced customer experience while maintaining profitability and minimize risk. According to him “This enhances staff productivity and boosts branch efficiency to improve customer service levels, better respond to customer demand and increase revenue-generating opportunities.”

Other Industry presentation sessions will include speakers from HBL (Habib Bank Limited), Saman Bank Corporation
, Garanti Bank, LGB BANK (Lebanon & Gulf Bank), Emirates NBD PJSC, Riyad Bank, National Bank of Egypt, Backbase ( Gold Sponsor) ; EXUS ( Premium Silver Sponsor); Adastra Business Consulting (Silver Sponsor); Sutherland Global Services (Silver Sponsor); Sopra Banking Software (Premium Bronze Sponsor); Siegel+Gale (Official Brand Partner).

The thrid and final day of the conference will feature two interactive panel discussions and presentation by speakers from
Jordan Commercial Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, ITC Infotech( Bronze Sponsor), Bank Sohar SAOG, First National Bank Sal, Network International ( Associate Sponsor ), Suez Canal Bank.

Other exhibitors sharing their latest solutions at the two-day exhibition running alongside the conference include Dun & Bradstreet (Lead Analytics Partner); Wipro (Gold Sponsor); Oracle Financial Services (Premium Gold Sponsor); Cedar (Bronze Sponsor); Gemalto, Diasoft (Event Partners); Cassiopae, GBM, Fiserv, Halcom, Xerox, Openway, Baltic Amber Soultions, GMC, Quantta, GPS and R systems (Exhibitors).

Media Contact:
Sanjay Swamy
sanjay.swamy@fleminggulf.com

Founded in 2005, Fleming Gulf is young, dynamic and has fast become one of the leading providers of business intelligence through industry specific conferences, webinars and skills enhancement training courses. Our goal is to link professionals and provide them with commercial acumen, business investment contacts and a world of opportunities. Our reach is global-spanning serving organisations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and as far as Latin America.

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This release was published on openPR.