New Age Banking Summit 2018 calls for a modern financial leadership in the digital age

The New Age Banking Summit 2018, supported by Oman Banks Association, drew a good response from the banking industry and fintech sectors. His Excellency Tahir Salim Al Amri, executive president, Central Bank of Oman was the chief guest at the event held on April 30, at Sheraton Oman Hotel. The event, attended by over 250 delegates, was organised by UMS Conferences. Ali Hassan Moosa, CEO, Oman Banks Association, in his keynote address said, “There is a gap that exists between what banks offer and what customers expect. Fintech is the innovative use of technology to deliver financial services. Bankers of tomorrow will be techno designers and architects of financial services.” The summit also hosted a CEO panel discussion titled ‘Way Forward to New Age Banking’. The panel comprising the well-known CEOs from the banking and fintech sectors debated on various aspects related to how banks are adapting to the disruptive market environment driven by changing economic dynamics as well as rapidly changing technology landscape. The panellists included Rashad Al Musafir, acting CEO of Oman Arab Bank; Lloyd Maddock, CEO of Ahlibank; Andrew Long, CEO of HSBC Bank Oman; Maqbool Al Wahaibi, CEO of Oman Data Park; Iyad Al Chammat, country general manager of Gulf Business Machines (GBM) Oman; and Ali Hassan Moosa. The summit was a unique platform for the banking and finance professionals to discuss the new developments in global banking and debate on the focus areas for Omani banks. The event hosted a line-up of speakers from Omani and global/regional organisations including IBM, GBM, KPMG, Infosys-Finacle, HPS, Morison MJS Tax Consultancy, HSBC Bank Oman, Oman Data Park, KuBitX and Government Blockchain Association (UAE). The deliberations helped the audience gain expert insights on disruptive technologies, global banking trends and new age customer needs, and an opportunity to network with industry peers and banking solution providers. Featuring sessions on cyber security, payment settlement, cryptocurrencies, mobile payments, data analytics, VAT and blockchain, the event stressed on driving efficiency across various channels for better monetization as well as the need to be in line with regulatory norms while embracing digitization. GBM was the digital transformation partner; Oman Data Park was the platinum sponsor; Infosys-Finacle and Cloud4C were the gold sponsors; HPS was the boardroom briefing partner; BMW was the associate sponsor; InfoFort and MMJS Tax Consultancy were the silver sponsors; KuBitX was the crypto exchange partner; KPMG was the knowledge partner; Yalla Wa’offer was the digital advertising partner; OER, Times of Oman and Al Shabiba were the media partners for the event.

Oman Banking & Finance Awards 2018 was also co-located with the New Age Banking Summit. The best performing banking, leasing, insurance and fintech companies were felicitated in the Awards, powered by OER. Overall, 14 awards were presented during the ceremony. Bank Dhofar won the overall Best Bank Award in the large banks category. Ahli Bank was presented with the overall Best Bank Award in the mid size banks category. Among the special awards, Best Foreign Bank Award was presented to Bank of Beirut; Meethaq- BankMuscat was felicitated with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Strategic National Development Initiatives; Excellence in Innovative Banking Solutions Award was given to Oman Arab Bank; Excellence in Mobile Banking Award went to National Bank of Oman; and Excellence in Islamic Banking Award was presented to Alizz Islamic Bank. On the leasing side, Oman Orix Leasing Company was presented with the Best Leasing Company Award and Taageer Finance was felicitated with the Excellence in Application of Innovative Technology Award. Among the special awards in insurance sector, Arabia Falcon Insurance received the Excellence in Insurance Award. On the special awards in technology segment, GBM was felicitated with the Excellence in Fintech Award. Data Centre Leader of the Year Award was presented to Oman Data Park. Excellence for Technology in Banking & Finance Award went to Macro Software Services. In addition, Waleed Al Hashar, deputy CEO of Bank Muscat, was felicitated with a special award for ‘New Age Banker of the Year’ for his exemplary 20-year long career in banking and leading from the front in the transformation of Bank Muscat into a leading new generation bank commanding great respect in the international banking community as well as trusted by its loyal base of millions of customers. The winners were selected based on a survey of banks and NBFCs done by OER & GBCM; the results were verified by Abu Timam Grant Thornton. The survey was based on the banks and NBFCs financial performance on 16 parameters over the last four years. The winners of special awards were selected by the editorial board of OER.