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The ascent of digital banks in the Gulf region: Prospects and challenges
Journal of Digital Banking,
6
(3),
277-286
(2021)
Abstract
This paper provides a practitioner’s and academic’s perspective on the impending challenges faced by the Gulf banks from the growth of FinTech and technology disruptors in the region. The authors provide a comprehensive view of the approaches taken by the banking industry in the Gulf to face these new challenges, including the support provided by their governments. The paper describes three dominant approaches taken by the banks in the region on the digital banking front. As practitioners and academics, the authors provide their recommendation through their four-corner strategy of action points that the Gulf banks should adopt in order to successfully overcome ongoing challenges posed by FinTech’s and technology disruptors and to stay relevant during this period of changing consumer behavioural patterns led by technology disruption and growth.
Keywords: digital; FinTech; Gulf Banks; collaboration
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Ala’ Azmi Abumughli Ala’ Abumughli is a Senior Banker with over 25 years of experience, holds the position of Chief Wholesale Banking Officer at Doha Bank in Doha, Qatar. He is well known in the GCC as a result of his extensive business development experience coupled with his strong and growing experience in digitalising the business. He is currently a PhD candidate at Hamad Bin Khalifa University majoring in the Islamic Finance and Economics.
Ahmet Faruk Aysan is a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, where he coordinates the Islamic Finance and Economy Programme in the College of Islamic Studies. He has been a Board Member and Monetary Policy Committee Member of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and served as a consultant at such institutions as the World Bank, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and Oxford Analytica. Dr Aysan serves on the board of various academic journals and is Senior Editor of the International Journal of Emerging Markets.
