Chris Skinner, founder of the Financial Services Club in Europe, and writer of Value Web and The Digital Bank, mouths the words banks fear the most: think of the future as one where traditional products make no money. That’s exactly what the P2P lenders are doing—squeezing margins of banks hobbled by traditional structures and products, forcing them to make money other ways.

Vincent Lo, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, says as China transforms, restructures, and rebalances its economy, slowing down has become a necessity. Its Belt and Road is a golden opportunity for Hong Kong to be an investment, financing, and professional services centre for companies wanting to invest in the initiative.

The Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, His Excellency Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori discusses the transformation of the UAE Central Bank under its new Medium-Term Plan. Among others, the Central Bank will focus on SMEs and the private sector in line with the government’s thrust to move the economy away from dependence on oil production.

Mashreq Bank CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair talks about his focus on innovation, support of SMEs, and customer centricity; and the bank’s emphasis on growth within the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Innovations emerging from East and West African banking hubs are enabling the sector to take a lead in reaching Africa’s unbanked population but much remains to be done.

Banks face high costs of maintaining extensive branch networks while having their market share eroded by the ever-growing presence of payments solutions companies and mobile operators providing low-cost alternatives.

The industry has to look beyond growing their market presence through traditional brick-and-mortar branches by exploring new channels like mobile banking and agency collaborations.

Alex Thursby, group CEO of NBAD, highlights the importance of liquidity as he discusses the bank’s new customer-focused strategy.

CEO Tirad Al-Mahmoud discusses his vision of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank as a top-tier transaction banking institution as the industry evolves and seeks new sources of growth.

Social media, coupled with data analytics, gives a more complete picture of the customer but banks face the challenge of having to make sense of masses of unstructured information.

Mobile banking in Saudi Arabia is still growing and its development is contingent upon customer needs, as the actual number of mobile transactions is low.

Even with the Middle East’s lifeblood, crude oil, stuck in prolonged doldrums, bankers remain optimistic about the future of the trade finance and supply chain business in the region

Increased use of electronic cash management facilities to enhance cost and operational efficiency is the dominant theme in the transaction banking industry in the Middle East and Africa

With over 53 million unbanked still transacting in cash, Egyptian banks are looking to target this potentially lucrative market through mobile or prepaid cards but uptake has been slow

New payment options in the market are creating new opportunities, making competition fiercer, and reducing the use of cash and cheques.