MANAMA: The ‘No-touch economy’ and ‘Bank of the future’ were key themes of Bank ABC deputy group chief executive Sael Al Waary’s keynote at the 4th MEA Fintech Forum.
Most notably, he mentioned the need for banks and financial institutions to reassess their priorities as they emerge from the pandemic.
Highlighting that “2020 was a year in which the line between our digital and physical lives became blurred like never before.” Mr Al Waary noted that new habits and behaviours formed in response to the pandemic are expected to continue and will contribute to growth in what he terms the “no-touch economy”.
The effects of the pandemic are so great that it has significantly changed the way we live and work, resulting in what many imagined for 2025 becoming a reality in 2020.
As Mr Al Waary explained such extraordinary times, require extraordinary measures.
“We have witnessed support from governments and regulators at a scale never seen before.”
This gives him cause for optimism, as greater collaboration between businesses and regulators is expected to further accelerate digital transformation; something that was previously slowed down by regulation.
The arrival of the covid-19 crisis turbo-charged the digitisation of financial services and Mr Al Waary pointed out that the path to recovery must be digital if the sector is to capitalise on the opportunities of the ‘no-touch’ economy.
That the world chose to embrace technology during the pandemic is perhaps not a surprise but that it chose to welcome digital banking highlights just how far the industry has come in terms of securing the public’s trust.
Mr Al Waary acknowledges the importance of retaining this newly discovered customer confidence, highlighting in his speech that, “the bank of the future has to be one that reflects customer’s pain-points, their ambitions and dreams.”
Such an approach appears integral at Bank ABC, who as early adopters of innovation have identified the need for a more tailored digital approach; “banking that reflects you”.
In moving beyond digital Mr Al Waary forecasts banks must look at increasingly providing customers with access to a greater range of non-banking services in the development of ‘open banking’.
Bank ABC is already ahead in expanding their ‘open banking’ approach aided, in part, by a regulator in Bahrain that welcomes a more progressive customer-led approach to fintech.
While the retail bank of the future can be expected to be more digital; enhancing the use of data, AI, the cloud and agile working practices they will need to develop a more connected ecosystem that successfully enables “invisible banking”.
Mr Al Waary warned that with the expectations of customers rapidly evolving they are no longer prepared to rely on traditional relationships to access services.
Instead, he believes, “they won’t hesitate to switch banking services in the same way that they select utility providers, insurance companies and retailers”.
Ultimately, those traditional banks that don’t adopt the concept of ‘invisible banking’ and maintain a superficial approach can expect to lose customers to those challenger banks and technology companies willing to offer personalised, responsive, digital, mobile-only services.
In addition, Mr Al Waary voiced the need for more open banking in the corporate banking sphere, detailing the importance of more product innovation in supply chain financing, cash management and the next generation of digital payments.
He went on to share his opinion that success in this sector would require the development of more joint ventures and consortiums as AI and smarter use of digital channels would be needed to replace off-the-shelf products.
Mr Al Waary recognises that all this can only be achieved if the regulators are willing to allow it “the future of digital banking is likely to evolve at an even faster pace.
“The future remains a place of infinite possibilities,” he notes. But all these changes will require universal measures to be taken which protect the entire ecosystem.
“Looking ahead, we all to be more collaborative if we are to make the most of the opportunities available to us and move beyond digital.”
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