The role of the chief information officer (CIO), which has now shifted to introducing innovative models and redefining customer experiences, will come under the spotlight at the upcoming Middle East Banking Innovation Summit in Dubai, UAE.

Organised by Expotrade, a global conference and event organizer, the seventh edition of the event will take place on September 18 and 19.

Tariq Al-Usaimi, CDO of National Bank of Kuwait said: “The role of a CIO/CDO is extremely crucial for the survivability of banks today. With the rise of fintech in the GCC and central bank’s support in the form of issuing regulations governing fintech operation, the pressure on the banks is now to either innovate or get in line with the 50% of the S&P 500 companies that cease to exist today due to digitalization.”

Emirates NBD’s social banking product, ADCB’s digital banking centre - uBank, and Commercial Bank’s introduction of biometric to its mobile banking app are some of the recent innovative banking solutions launched in the region.

UAE Banks Federation’s Emirates Digital Wallet, Mashreq Bank’s vision for a branchless future and Emirates Islamic introducing blockchain technology into its cheques to prevent fraud will prove to be game changers in the Middle East banking industry.

Banks have not only deployed digital tools to enable seamless transactions, offer enhanced customer-centric services and overall, make banking more efficient, but the focus on digitization has allowed banks to gain insights from a customer’s banking behaviour and offer customized products to suit their requirement.

Brad Hariharan, regional director, Expotrade Middle East, said: “CIOs are driving technology-driven innovation within banks. As catalyst of innovative change, CIOs are embracing digital transformation, driving new business processes and reinventing customer engagement models within the organizations to maximize growth.” – TradeArabia News Service