B. Chandrasekhar, CEO of Arab Financial Services (AFS), a leading payment provider in the MENA region and FinTech enabler, discusses the developments taking place in the arena of contactless solutions. Excerpts:

How is the FinTech revolution shaping up in the region?

The entire region is feeling the ripples of the FinTech revolution. In fact, the payment industry is going through a disruptive change moving towards a cashless society. Originally dominated by cash and plastic, there is a keen and rapid interest and movement towards mobile payments. Our region is no different to the rest of the world.

Avid smartphone users, as well as regional customers, today want online services and financial apps that make life easier, and banking faster and cheaper. This will provide financial access to previously unbanked populations, and its contribution to financial inclusion has been critical.

This is also seen at the highest levels, with regional regulators also taking an active role in encouraging FinTech innovation, offering sandboxes and tie-ups with global FinTech developers and solution providers.

Tell us more about these contactless, frictionless solutions

At AFS, we work hard to ensure our clients are ahead of the technology curve. We are transforming their propositions to be in line with the digital and mobile age. This year, AFS has been supporting its clients - banks and telcos - through the FinTech path, with the introduction of more contactless solutions.

We introduced EasyPay, the first frictionless payment platform to launch in Bahrain with near-field communication payments. We will soon launch a mobile wallet with Batelco, the leading telecom provider in Bahrain. It will be the first to offer unique features and benefits to customers such as cashback on purchases, cross-border remittances, and wallet-to-wallet money transfers in a secure and convenient manner. The AFS-powered wallet will utilise the latest Quick Response (QR) technology and have near field communication (NFC) capability.

The AFS FinTech conference was a huge success last year, should we expect another one?

Absolutely, we will be hosting the Second Regional FinTech conference this year and we would like to see you there.




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