Qatar should open its banking system to fintechs and standardise its regulations to facilitate fintech set-ups, operation and mobility, a leading expert in the field said yesterday.
Samer Mahfouz, who is leading the applied innovation at Thomson Reuters for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, made this observation considering the country’s absorptive capacity for the disruptive technologies.
It assumes significance considering that Qatar’s Second Strategic Plan (SSP) for Financial Sector Regulation 2017-22 had said fintech will play an important role in driving financial services in the near future due to the expected boom in E-commerce and increasing focus on cost-efficient delivery. 
Addressing a seminar, organised by the International Chamber of Commerce, he said in the first half of 2018 the global investments in fintech companies have hit $6bn across 875 deals.
Highlighting that the blockchain is changing the future of transaction-based industries, Mahfouz said last year, global remittances reached $600bn, of which $30bn (5%) are transfer fees.
He said the innovation concept is the application of technologies to improve productivity of goods and services. It aims to achieve four goals; higher productivity, greater output, more improved goods, services, and economic growth, he noted.
Fast-growing and techno-savvy Qatar aim to leverage fintech to address pressing social, technological and financial services challenges. Under the strategic goal 2 of the SSP, the country will develop and implement a fintech strategy.
Early this year, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) governor Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud al-Thani had said the country has developed a strategy to create a ‘fintech hub’ in the country. Fintech is slated to create huge opportunities, thus helping Qatar achieve goals in the financial sector strategy.
The fintech industry in Qatar remains very small, but it has seen a few startups such as Hasalty, a mobile application improving financial literacy for children supported by the Qatar Business Incubation Centre, according to the Qatar Islamic Finance Report 2017, a joint initiative by the Qatar Financial Center, Thomson Reuters and Islamic Research and Training Institute.
However, fintech has been gaining popularity as financial institutions begin to explore avenues for digitalising their business and transforming their current practices, the report had said.
Qatar has already established a high level task force to develop a strategy and ecosystem for the Fintech, which has been gaining popularity, and many entities are believed to have consulted the Qatar Financial Center.
As investment continues and traditional policies governing the financial services sector evolve to capture new technologies, fintech is likely to flourish in the region, according to Deloitte, a global consultant.
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