Bank ABC and AFS (Arab Financial Services) announced that the 3rd Middle East & Africa FinTech Forum, the region’s premier fintech conference, will be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bahrain on February 20 and 21, 2019.

The forum, being held  under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain, brings together internationally renowned thought leaders, practitioners and innovators from the FinTech and artificial intelligence (AI) arenas to discuss a wide range of issues including the future of banking, potential impact of AI and how it will transform the future, open banking, crowdsourcing and financial inclusion.

Sael Al Waary, deputy Group CEO of Bank ABC and chairman of AFS, said: “Banking is beyond disruption. Huge advances in digital capability, AI, and greater financial inclusion are changing the way we do banking. Our FinTech Forum will build upon the success of the past two years and focus on the key opportunities and challenges of Fintech and innovations.”

 “The Forum will examine technology’s impact on both banks and humans, as well as the evolution of the customer experience. We are witnessing massive growth in new AI-based solutions on our daily lives and a deeper understanding of these trends is critical to shape the future of the financial industry,” he added.

The FinTech Forum also features the region’s widest congregation of business leaders, FinTech entrepreneurs, policy makers and regulators, representatives of the investor community and some of the financial industry’s largest organisations who discuss and promote the next generation of FinTech innovations in payments, Artificial Intelligence, open banking, Blockchain technology and more in a highly engaging format.

The last MEA FinTech Forum brought together leading and well regarded global experts and industry leaders in a highly engaging format of talks and discussions addressing the most pressing issues in the fast evolving FinTech landscape.

More than 450 delegates attended the Forum, including representatives from the central banks of Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain and 40 banks and financial institutions from the Mena region. The 2019 Forum is expected to be an even bigger event with wide representation from all industries across the region. – TradeArabia News Service