Oman could become a financial tech hub

ABU DHABI: According to Chris Skinner, a leading global figure in the field of Financial Technology, CEO of TheFinanser.com, and one of the keynote speakers at MEFTECH, Oman along with other key GCC markets is perfectly placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital revolution.

Skinner, one of the keynote speakers at MEFTECH, he believes the MENA region is perfectly placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital revolution.

“The Western world is re-booting how it interacts with consumers while the less mature emerging markets in Asia and Africa are booting up for the first time as technology is allowing them to deliver to consumers they have never been able to reach before.

“The UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman are perfectly placed both geographically and in terms of resource to deliver to these markets by becoming financial technology hubs.

They need to do all they can to attract the right people, skills, technology and businesses to the region to ensure they can become financial technology hubs. They just need to do it quickly before they miss the opportunity. “The GCC countries can definitely make this happen though. For example, look what’s been achieved in Dubai, it was recently rated the 18thmost significant financial hub in the world, but that has been achieved in just 12 years. Imagine what achieve in the next 12 years.”

Skinner also urged financial institutions not to fall into similar traps of the western banks by employing younger fresher talent who understand technology into board level positions. “The board level bankers I meet in London are generally over 50 wearing suits and from a banking background, but when I meet the people leading financial technology businesses they are normally in their early to mid-thirties and wearing jeans.

“Banks aren’t banks anymore, they’re financial technology businesses therefore their boardrooms should be split 50/50 by financial and tech people.

Again, banks in the Middle East are well placed to make sure they adopt this kind of thinking.”

Skinner was joined at MEFTECH by a series of leading figures from the financial technology sector who delivered keynote speeches, while global giants IBM, Comarch and Facebook Finance also gave insightful presentations on how they see the industry developing.

Chris Fountain, Managing Director of Turret Media, organisers of the MEFTECH 2017 said: “We were delighted the region’s major banks represented at MEFTECH and I’m sure they got a lot from our extremely packed schedule.” it can