Middle East banks are set to increase their share of global transaction banking revenues by at least 25 per cent, according to a survey conducted by iGTB, the world’s first complete transaction banking platform.

The iGTB Middle East Client Advisory Event brought together 68 elite industry thought leaders for a conference on “The decade of Transaction Banking: What share of this half a trillion dollar market will Middle Eastern Banks catch?”.

The survey of 18 Middle East banks, which took place during the Advisory Panel in Dubai, revealed that 93 per cent of the survey’s 48 participants – senior-level bankers from across the region – believe Middle East banks will catch a larger portion of the global transaction banking market worth $509 billion by 2025, with 62 per cent anticipating growth of 25 per cent or greater, and 34 per cent expecting the region’s share to increase by at least 50 per cent.

The attendees unanimously agreed that such success will hinge on the adoption of innovative technology, with 61 per cent identifying it as “the most critical factor” to success, and 100 per cent deeming it either crucial or important.

This tallied with the widely-held perception (50 per cent of participants) that Middle Eastern banks fall significantly behind other regions in their implementation of innovative technology. Altogether, 89 per cent of participants said the region’s banking sector needed to improve its technology adoption rate.

In addition, every single participant agreed that Middle East banks must further integrate their cash and trade functions, with 61 per cent acknowledging that these functions currently remain very distinct.

“The upbeat sentiment comes as no surprise,” says Manish Maakan, CEO, iGTB, Intellect Design Arena.

“Transaction banks here in the Middle East have an enormous opportunity to leverage the region’s increasing sophistication and strategic position as the gateway to international trade. Realising this potential, however, will require recognition of current shortfalls (particularly with regard to client-facing and internal banking technology) and a clear response to today’s integrated cash and trade needs,” he added.

 iGTB’s Middle East Client Advisory Panel – the first of what will be an annual event – brought together senior-level bankers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar to discuss key banking challenges, such as regulation and risk, and new approaches and solutions, such as “intelligent” dashboards.

Expert contributors included Andrew England, senior advisor, Transaction Banking, McKinsey, Harshit Jain, head of GTS Product Management, Solutions Structuring and Delivery, Mashreq Bank and Mishal Kanoo, deputy chairman of The Kanoo Group.

Intellect Design Arena, a Polaris Group company, is the world’s first full-spectrum banking products company with rich Intellectual Property developed over 25 years of deep banking domain experience, and the FT 8012 Design Centre, the world’s first design centre for financial technologies.  – TradeArabia News Service