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| King bullish on Qatar’s credit card market |
“Qatar’s credit card industry is expected to grow by 20% annually driven by low credit losses, strong economic growth and more competition,” Philip King, head of retail banking at IBQ, told the MEED’s Middle East Retail Banking 2011 in Dubai.
Currently, the industry was earmarked with stable sources of funds with customer deposits accounting for 53.7% of banks’ funding on average, he said, adding the differentiation in the marketplace would be led by investments in IT, technology and customer services delivery – three of which rank very highly on IBQ’s banking channels.
In a panel session exploring retail banks of the future and strategies to maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, King highlighted the banking landscape in Qatar in light of the country’s recent economic ratings and also spoke about the challenges of an over-banked market, products shifts in response to customer demands and product differentiation through m-banking and e-banking in a highly saturated industry.
“The retail banking sector looks healthy with strong opportunities for expansion,” he said, adding the Qatar Central Bank’s regulations would certainly have a very “positive impact” on the short-term credit growth in Qatar and would protect the sector from “over-heating”.
