Experts during the Arab Digital Banks Summit.
Doha: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the leading digital bank in Qatar, has participated in The Arab Digital Banks Summit 2021, the Arab region’s largest event on digital banking organized by UABdigital, the ecosystem digital transformation arm of the Union of Arab Banks.
The summit was held virtually from May 18 to 20, and QIB was represented by Dinos Constantinides, the Bank’s Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, who shared on the high-level executive panel discussion QIB’s expertise and digital transformation journey in becoming one of the leading digital banks in the Arab region.
Speaking in a panel titled “Digital Banks Launch Strategic Options: Spin-off, Organic, and M&A” Dinos said that Qatar’s efforts and investments in building the right digital infrastructure and ecosystem were beneficial to all businesses in Qatar aspiring for a digital transformation, including banks and financial institutions.
He added that in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, to build a knowledge-based and technologically enabled economy, QIB started significant investments in technology since 2014. Those investments quickly developed into a Bank-wide digital transformation program with the primary objective of improving the customer experience, modernizing the Bank’s offerings, and contributing positively to the bank’s results.
QIB’s Chief Strategy & Digital Officer added that because of this strategy, the Bank was successful in improving the customers’ banking experience with the introduction of end-to-end digital solutions that allowed both retail and corporate customers to bank with QIB 24/7 and through the channel of their choice. He added that having simplified, instant, and easy to understand digital processes was central in increasing the use of QIB’s digital channels for all its customers.
QIB’s investment in digital transformation has helped the Bank to serve better its existing customers and acquire new ones, while allowing them to fulfill most of their banking needs, including opening an account, getting personal finance or requesting and getting a Credit Card in only 5 minutes by using QIB’s mobile app.
Dinos added that digital transformation is of a high importance for Islamic banks as well as conventional banks, as it is the corner stone to better service existing customers and attract new ones nowadays.
Banks seeking an impactful digital transformation should not consider the digitization of products and services only as a supporting element but as an integral part of the business strategy concluded Dinos. He also noted that banks could only achieve a true digital transformation when digitization covers all categories of customers including retail, corporate, existing, and potential ones.
The Arab Digital Banks Summit 2021 was the largest virtual event in the Arab region on digital banks. Over 300 financial institution were invited to participate in Summit. The mega virtual event hosted 50 keynotes and panelists, with the attendance of over 500 senior bankers and industry experts representing central banks, financial regulators, conventional and Islamic banks in addition to FinTechs and digital entrepreneurs.
