DigiPay: The Future of Digital Payments Summit begins today

DigiPay 2021 brings together top-level industry leaders who will provide insight into the present nature of the payments industry.

As the world marches into a new era amid unprecedented circumstances, activities in the finance and payments sector have become one of the most disrupted owing to rapidly-evolving preferences.

As such, service providers are in a race to beef up their offerings for users, who have a new-found penchant for utilising digital means to carry about their transactions in simple and in-the-palm-of-their-hands methods.

All these and more will be tackled at the second edition of DigiPay: The Future of Digital Payments Summit, which begins today in Dubai.

Presented by Khaleej Times, DigiPay 2021 brings together top-level industry leaders who will provide insight into the present nature of the payments industry and how its future is shaping up to be.

The event aims to help organisations — in many cases compelled to alter their strategy when it comes to this key financial vertical — understand all the factors needed to not just keep pace but to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to both streamlining their operations and serving their customers.

“Summits like DigiPay are important as they increase the industries understanding of how and where the markets are developing — and this I believe is vital for companies in the UAE, so they can stay ahead of the innovation and digital curves. I’m very pleased that Daman and I are contributing to this summit,” said Frederik Bisbjerg, executive director for digitisation at Daman —– National Health Insurance Company.

The GCC has emerged as a key financial hub in the wider region, especially the UAE and Dubai, where the biggest names in the industry have banked on to enhance their operations, thanks to the best available infrastructure, services and talent on offer.

Companies have also been able to leverage the market dynamics in the eEmirates, the population of which has always been open to embracing new ideas, therefore allowing these organisations to roll out several unique initiatives that enhance the payments experience.

“There are several exciting trends that will shape the payments ecosystem in the GCC during the next few years,” said Sridhar Iyer, executive vice-president and head of NEO (Digital Bank) and liability products at Mashreq.

“The key ones would be the emergence of open finance/banking, integrated payments offered by merchants and significant advancements in real-time payment authentication.”

The shift to digital payments also plays an intricate role in boosting economies. With several cities — especially key business hubs the world over — increasingly focusing on becoming smart, the adoption of new-age payment technologies will pave the way for more avenues for advancement, which in turn will spur economic strength.

“Digital has become an essential ground to accommodate and accelerate Saudi Vision 2030 for enhancing’s the financial sector and support the development of the national economy ultimately,” said Majed Alshodari, chief information security officer of Saudi Arabia’s Salama Insurance.

“Therefore, we see DigiPay becoming one of the main platforms of the financial business to have an advanced and digitalised market without weakening the local and global financial sector’s stability and security.”

It is also expected that when more robust infrastructure are in place, digital payments would be the go-to method, and will entice more people to use it for more daily purposes, which will touch all stakeholders to create a fluid ecosystem.

“While all the talk has been about the e-commerce boom during the pandemic, as we turn to physical shopping, we expect there to be a growing need for digital commerce and payments capabilities to radically transform the in-store customer and staff experience,” said Paul Carey, executive vice-president for cards and payments at Al -Futtaim Digital Payments Services.

business@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai