The increase in the use of technology is changing the face of the entire banking and financial sector by filling the void of inaccessibility to financial services, Path Solutions - Kuwait, Group Chairman and CEO Mohammed Kateeb said.
Delivering the key note address on ‘Technology Impact on Future Financial Services’ at the Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia held in Colombo yesterday , Kateeb said that emerging technologies and disruptions would democratize financial services and products in the near future.
“The financial sector is continuously coming up with new and seamless ways to provide services to the global population and emerging technologies and disruptions will have a transformative impact on overall banking and financial sector.”
He noted that technology offers various components to enable financial institutions to provide amazing customer experience and to introduce a host of innovative products and services.
He further noted that banks and financial institutions will be compelled to move into openness owing to emerging technologies in the respective sector and this would lead to complete democratization of financial services.
“There is a lot of pressure on central banks around the world to actually move into this direction.”
According to Kateeb, regulators are already forcing banks in Europe to open their services to the public in a speedy manner. In the meantime, Public Enterprise Development and Patron Association of Alternate Finance (AAFI) Sri Lanka, Kabir Hashim speaking at the event pointed out that countries all over the world are adopting alternate finance and institutions such as ADB and World Bank acknowledge alternate finance as a key instrument in the financial structure of the world . This establishes the fact that Islamic Finance as a key financing source for investment both in advanced and developing countries and also as an ideal platform to diversify funding and curtailing risk exposure at both institutional and macroeconomic level. “How fast the industry grows and how best it can be used for the development of the country, should be left in the hands of industry stakeholders.” the Minister noted.
Islamic banking offers various sophisticated different types of instruments such as Islamic mortgages, car loans, credit cards, insurance, Islamic finance managed hedge funds which has come into the concept of alternate finance , the minister said.
The minister also underscored the need to organize brainstorming sessions and workshops to make the Islamic Finance industry more applicable, practicable and more popular among the people.
According to the Ministry, in 2014, there were over 75 countries all over the world, using alternate finance operating more than 300 institutions. The Minister further added that alternate finance assets account for more than US $ 2 trillion, and is expected to grow to US$ 3.5 trillion by 2020.
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